Best Caliber for competition 21 1/2" Contender

[Doc Highwall]

Irascible, what are you going to shoot at paper or steel. I mention the 357 mag earlier as it is close to the 32 Miller for power/size. I have the Browning Traditional Hunter in 357 mag and have shot the Lyman 358315 205gr boolit and have also the RCBS 35-200 FN to try in it. I have used AA-9 powder with the Lyman out to 300 yards and it is a ball to shoot. My second choice of caliber would be the 6.5mm TCU followed by the 7mm TCU because of the high B.C. of the boolits along with the lack of recoil and plenty of die sets for them. I have looked at the 30 Johnson but the special dies, chamber reamer etc puts it on the back burner for me.

[TCLouis]

30X357 Max.
See Jim Rock, guess he still does these
OR 30X221 to whatever length you choose to set the die using 357 Max brass though the 30X357 Max would be easiest, but it does have a very short neck.

[Irascible]

Paper at 100 and 200yds. 150 to 180gr bullets. At 1400 + or - I looked at the 30 X 357 max and thought that the boiler room was too small for what I wanted.

[TCLouis]

are held down to 1000-1100 fps to stay subsonic and so with the extra capacity you may be able to reach the 1400 you are looking for.

I get 1705 fps out of a 10" Max with 180s

Heck, I just went and dug out some Whisper data I was given, they are reaching your proposed velocities with 190 grain jacketed bullets and a 10" barrel.
30-357 Max should do it in a rifle with lower pressures and you have a rim for extraction. I have no idea about die availability
Just a thought.

[JSH]

I see you are still looking and discussing. I ran across Wade from MGM this past weekend at a GS here in town. I would suggest giving them a long hard look for a rechamber or a new barrel. His turn around time he quoted to several people 4-6 weeks tops.
If you go with the "super slows" keep an eye on what twist you decide on.
I have no connection to MGM other than having a couple of their barrels. A good friend of mine is a TC collector/dealer/seller. His prices are reasonable for the most part and I think a fair comparison for price overall on new barrels. The factory "custom shop" barrel compared to the MGM price is around $50 difference.
I myself would suggest you inform them you are going to be shooting CB's and have it chambered/throated how you want it. Rather than how some one thinks you need it. A true Custom IMHO is just that, how you want it.
jeff

[rhbrink]

Since you are still looking there is a old design called 30-30 Wesson that canbe made on the .357 Max case that would work nicely. Rim case and small primers are a plus. If you are looking to shoot to 200 yards a 12" twist with anywhere from 160 to 190 grain boolit should work. My 2 cents worth.

[Irascible]

Well, I've been shooting a 311291 bullet after having the mould shortened to remove the gas check (155gr). I'm still using the original 32 H&R case and getting 100 yard 2" groups and 1300fps with 296 powder (SD in the 2 to 6 range) and thats with a forcing cone instead of a proper chamber! It's a blast! It has also changed my mind about powder capacity. I recently shortened a 357 max case to 1.5" and ran it into a 30-221 (300 whisper) die adjusted up enough to produce a .400 neck. This looks like the ideal case capacity/neck length for my 311291 and also for the 311299 bullet. AND no custom die set!

[Doc Highwall]

Do you have any pictures of the cartridge?

[stubshaft]

I would go with the 30 Herrett. I always preferred rimmed cartridges when I was competing in sillywett, and the 30 H has a near optimum case capacity.

FWIW - I have eight barrels made by MGM and they are all great shooters. T/C Custom shop is NOT an option as they no longer exist.

[wallenba]

I have nothing to do with MGM (Match Grade Machine) but I've heard some mighty good things about them and I believe that their turnaround time is comparable to the TC custom shop. It might be worth a phone call.

http://www.matchgrademachine.com/

Gordon

I have three MGM barrels. I highly recommend them. Excellant quality and performance. Quick turn-around too. One is a 30 Herrett, a good choice if you don't mind spending time making brass for it. You will need some rather expensive dies too, if you don't already know.

7-30 Waters maybe?

[Irascible]

I was going with a long neck Herrett, I even made some cases, but after shooting the 32 H&R I realized how little case capacity was really needed for paper and for 200yds. This is just what the guys shooting the 32 Miller and Miller short had figured out. I actually could get away with the 32 H&R case, but I need to re-chamber to get a proper chamber with out a revolver style forcing cone.
I shortened the 357 max to 1.500 and ran it completely into the 300 whisper sizing die. I now have a rimmed 300 whisper with a .400 long neck. It looks great and should not be hard to cut a chamber for. A standard 300 whisper reamer + a counterbore for the rim and possibly(?) a throating reamer or lathe work to extend the neck to .400.
I'm getting excited now, I think this is really going to work well as it is basicly a 30 cal version of the 32 Miller. I might even have to build a single shot, fixed barrel, rifle for this!
I'm going to take a picture and see if I can post it.

[Irascible]

Best I can do with cheap camera. Left to right 32 H&R, Rimmed .400 long neck 300 Whisper on a 357 Max case, and a .500 long neck 30 Herrett.
All with 311291 bullet.

[Doc Highwall]

I love shooting my Browning Low Wall in 357 mag with 200 grain and heavier bullets. I did chronograph it once with a 210 grain bullet and it was over 1400 fps with out trying. I am going to work on a slower load to make it a little more enjoyable shooting. I have two of them and I was thinking of putting a period scope on one and leaving the other one with Iron sights. The bottom one is new never fired.

[leadman]

IIRC Mike Bellm does a rimmed version of the 300 Whisper already. Might be exactly what you are looking for.
My 300 Whisper has a longer neck than standard but it does not seem to make any difference in accuracy if I use 221 brass or make longer brass from 223.

[quilbilly]

My 7mm TCU is almost scary accurate in my carbine barrel. I get regularly sub-2" groups at 200 yards even with my 4x scope. At 400 yards I can get a popcan about half the time if the wind is down. Boolit is a Lee 130gr and the load is 19 gr of 4198.

[Irascible]

Yes, I know. Mike is the guy who is going to rechamber for me. His current 357 wildcats do not have the long neck I want, but he says he has all kinds of tooling for 357 Max wildcats and said mine would be no problem. He has already rechambered a 14" TC barrel to 30 Bower Alaskan (307 Winchester-Ackley Improved) for me and it is VERY accurate. I just need to part with the barrel long enough to send it to him.

[45r]

got around to trying out my 23 inch 30-30 contender barrel with several powders and it shoots 1 inch at 100 with 28 grains h-4895 using brp 173gc's.happy with that for a factory barrel.shot some hornady 160 lever e's with 32 grains h-4895 and they went 1 inch in my marlin texan,happy with that also.me thinks the 30-30 is pretty awesome with h-4895.maybe 30-30 would make a very good competition rifle.

[marshall623]

My 7mm TCU is almost scary accurate in my carbine barrel. I get regularly sub-2" groups at 200 yards even with my 4x scope. At 400 yards I can get a popcan about half the time if the wind is down. Boolit is a Lee 130gr and the load is 19 gr of 4198.

Another vote for the 7 TCU deadly accurate, and I can vouch for that load of 19gr. of 4198 with 130 lees and my 10" also shoots the 160 lyman silly wet boolit with precision. The recoil is not bad in a pistol and I think it would be pleasant to shoot in a carbine.

[Longwood]

7 tcu

[Irascible]

It would be hard to re-chamber my 308 brl for a 7 TCU