45 colt in a 'tender?

[todd9.3x57]

i have a tc contender (original, not g2) in 7-30 waters with a 14" muzzle brake barrel. it was my dad's gun and i don't like the muzzle brake. instead of taking out the 7-30 waters, i was "thinking" of a 45 colt 10" barrel. it will be my deer gun and it will only go to 60+ish yards. i don't want a 45/410 barrel, just a 45 colt. i've heard and seen too many bad things with the 45/410 barrel.

i might try Ed's Contender barrels first just to see if i like the 45 colt. i might load the 45 colt up with black powder.
http://www.edstc.com/


what do you think?

[Daekar]

I think it's a brilliant idea. I don't know anything about Ed's barrels, but usually people who have a website like that offer either very good or very bad service and products, lol.

45 Colt with modern powder is more than capable of putting down a deer at 60 yards, but I will wait for the wizards of the holy black to comment on its performance with the powder of yore.

[Dan Cash]

A .45 Colt with a 250 grain bullet over 38-40 grain of 2Fg is a powerful piece of equipment that has an excellent track record over the last 140 or so years.

My personal choice for what you are going to do with the pistol would be a .44 mag barrel but that is just me.

[MT Gianni]

I bought a 45 colt bbl this past month and have had little time to play with it. $210 on gunbroker. It has iron sights and does good at 50 yards with 6.5 gr Red dot and the 454424. That is the only load I had on hand.

[stubshaft]

The 45 Colt should be adequate for deer size game out to 60 yards. If you are going to load it with black powder, you would essentially end up with a long barrel 45 ACP. I personally prefer a 10" 30/30, 30 Herrett or 7mm TCU for general hunting and plinking where I might stretch the legs out a bit.

JFTR - I personally have not had a positive experience with Ed.YMMV You might consider looking on other forums like Specialty Pistol or Graybeards for a used T/C barrel. You can also post a WTB right here and see if anyone has one, they might want to get rid of.

[tward]

I have a Contender 10” barrels with the long 410 chamber and one by Bullberry which is 45 Colt only. The 45 only Bbl shoots slightly better but I don’t think a deer would notice at 50 yds. I remember reading that the 45 was designed to go thru a horse and rider. Tim

[Catmanran]

I had a 12” barrel made at mgm this summer. I haven’t spent much time on it yet. I’ve loaded 5 rounds to try it. I’m not sure without checking if I loaded little gun or w296 with a 250xtp. Looks like it’s going to be a shooter. When it cools off some I’ll get it dialed in. Planning to use it for whitetail at ranges you mentioned

[lar45]

I bought a 45 Colt barrel that was supposed to be 45Colt only, but when it arrived it had been reamed to 410
I'm a big fan of the 45 Colt. In a Contender, it should do everything you need for Deer and more.

[John in PA]

The standard 10" Contender barrel was rated for near 44 mag pressures in the original Contender. I used to shoot CCI Mag primer and 22.5 gr W296 under a 250 gr Hornaday JHP. (Source: Speer Reloading Manual #9) VERY accurate, VERY powerful. I chronographed them at 1525 fps MV average. I shot plenty of them over the course of a number of years. That is the load I'd use for deer hunting were I to use a .45 LC in a Contender.

Your game animal deserves a powerful enough load to guarantee a clean kill. If you want to use BP, I'd respectfully suggest a cartridge with more powder capacity and muzzle energy.

**Speer listed those loads for Ruger Blackhawk and TC Contender ONLY!!!!!!**

[upr45]

I have a handi with a 20" 45 colt barrel. Weighing 5 # it a dream to hunt with in thick tag elder swamp i am usually at. I have shot a friends 10" contender in 44 mag, with full power loads, which quite honestly was brutal. If you use a tame load it will be manageable. The 45 colt has worked really well for me on deer, i can only see 50 yds max so most shots are 25-40yds.

[todd9.3x57]

I have a handi with a 20" 45 colt barrel. Weighing 5 # it a dream to hunt with in thick tag elder swamp i am usually at. I have shot a friends 10" contender in 44 mag, with full power loads, which quite honestly was brutal. If you use a tame load it will be manageable. The 45 colt has worked really well for me on deer, i can only see 50 yds max so most shots are 25-40yds.

i can imagine the 44 mag being brutal in a 'tender. i killed a few deer with my Ruger SRH in a 7.5" barrel in 44 mag with 240gr Hornady XTP with a warm load of Win296. i got a few deer with my Ruger SBH in 4 5/8" barrel in 44 mag and 44 spl. i'd use unique for both of them, but i luv the 44 spl with 255gr Keith-type and 7.5gr of unique. it sure plows thru deer at 20-50 yards.

[Rockzilla]

Big Contender fan here, have a bunch of barrels.
410 / 45 Colt barrels are okay never had a problem with one, my barn rodent barrel
45 Colt bull barrel, is a nice hunter loaded with some heavy cast Elmer Keith Loads
44 Mag bull barrel is a nice shooter also, the old octagon / external choke one can be a hand full
again load with heavy Keith style SWC's and a healthy charge of 2400
The Herretts are fun in 10" Bull Barrels, used them a lot for hunting, not to bad recoil
Leupold 2X & 4X EER glass
Now the JDJ rounds are more interesting a nice snap to them.
35 Remington also. Like me the hand cannons

-Rock