New guy has questions

[chiefs50]

I have had a Contender in .223 with a 10" barrel for some time now and have shot it with both commercial and military ammo but that is the extent of my experience with TC Contenders.  I have a couple questions for you TC gurus:  (1) Will the forearm on my Contender fit a 10" octogon barrel?  (2) What is the difference between a 14" Hunter and a 14" Super barrel?

Thanks,

Mike

[358jdj]

Welcome. 

The 10 inch forearm will not work on an octogon barrel.  YOu will need to buy another one specifically for the octogon as well as a 14 inch versio if you get one.  None of the available forearms will cover all these uses.

The hunter barrel is arrested so functionally it is a 12 inch with a 2 inch brake.  The super 14 on the on ther other is a 14 inch barrel wo any brake.

[chiefs50]

Thanks 358JDJ - for the welcome and the fast answers to my questions.  I appreciate it.

Mike

[Hopalong7]

Also Super barrels come with sights or at least drilled for them.  Most Hunter barrels are only drilled for scope mount. Walt

[Hopalong7]

Let me correct myself.  14" Hunter barrels don't come with sights, as I said.  12" Hunter barrels did come with sights.  I don't think they are available any longer. Walt 

[skarke]

The 223 is an excellent round in the TC.  I have a good factory barrel in Super 14 that averages high 5s, and is getting better with tuning.  I bought a great Bower Rest that is fantastic, and I have a forend and grip that Denzel Roberts made me out of Maple that contrasts nicely with the walnut Bower Rest.  I am shooting Hornady 53 HP Matches with 332 getting this result, and am considering better bullets to shave off a couple of tenths.  Try replacing your trigger return spring with something lighter if you find the trigger a little heavy, but the factory triggers on the pre g2s are pretty good.

Try a 7x30 Waters, a .17 something, and 45 ML.  They are all a blast, pun intended :-)

[chiefs50]

Yeah, I'll have to try working up some handloads.  I've been kind of disappointed in the accuracy so far and thought it might have been the short barrel but others claim excellent accuracy out of the 10" tube so I'll have to do some load development. I bought a set of .223 dies some time ago as I also have a Ruger #1V that is kind of finicky about what it digests. Looks like I've got another winter project lined up.

[neald]

On my .223 (and a couple of other factory barrels I must reload to get the max performance out of them. Read that as accuracy not speed. My reloads are usually never MAX.
 On all three I must not set the shoulder back any further than it is after firing. The chambers are just a tad bit  long.
 I do watch my over all length and trim when needed,at that point I may have to touch the shoulder and bump it a little, very little..
 Good luck
 Neal

[Curtis]

I like IMR 4198 and lighter bullets (45 gr) in the .223 ten inch tube.  Much less blast, fire and brimstone..........especially compared with factory ammo which doesn't do well in the short barrels.  No chrono so I don't know my velocity but accuracy is excellent.

Curtis