contender w/44 mag vent rib

[tcrace]

I received a Contender pistol as a gift today. It has a 44 mag barrel with vent rib and folding rear sight. The front inside of the barrel is threaded. It locks up tight, has some bluing wear and a small chip out of the grip, but overall appears to be in pretty good condition. Looks like it's been holstered and carried more than shot. Searching GBO forums it looks to be of 1976 manufacture, s/n 62XXX. My BIL bought it for $260, is this a good price? Are the threads for choke tubes? If so what is their purpose? To pattern 44 mag shot capsule cartridges? Thanks in advance for any info or opinions.

[rescue_171]

Don't know much about the barrel but the frame is almost worth what he paid for the gun...

[DANNY-L]

The threads are for a choke tube to use with fine shot. You can get alot of enjoyment out of the contender. If you put a choke on it dont shoot 44mag. bullets with it on,be sure to remove it first.

[tcrace]

Thanks rescue_171 and DANNY-L.
I'll let him know, he'll be as tickled to hear that as I am to finally have a Contender.
I didn't get the tubes with it so no worries there.
I'm heading out to shoot it today and will report back later.

[tcrace]

Got out to shoot this contender yesterday with a box of Rem 180gr. JSP. The gun and cartridge combination are past the level of recoil I want to endure. As I found it too punishing to shoot I was not able to settle in and try for good accuracy. I'll be looking for a box of 44 special to try and watching the classifieds for other barrels of calibers I want. In spite of this I really like the way the gun handles and functions and it fills in that empty spot I had in my tiny gun collection.       

[P.A. Myers]

This is a hot-shot barrel, the choke is there to stop the rotation of the wad of a 44 hotshot. Without the choke the shot will pattern like a donut. Hot-shot ammo was available in 357, 44, 45. The 45/410 barrel is a different deal. If you get a choke [44&45 are the same]dont use it as it necks down to about .380 and a .429 bullet will cause bad things to happen. I had a choke bored out to use as a muzzel brake.

If you dont reload 44special is your only option, however those original style grips are just not good with heavy recoil. The contoured grips handle recoil much better [look better too]. They are very available used at reasonable cost. They may allow you to shoot the 44magum.

   $260 for that is bargain!

                        Beware of the fever.

P.A.Myers

[Curtis]

Got out to shoot this contender yesterday with a box of Rem 180gr. JSP. The gun and cartridge combination are past the level of recoil I want to endure.

My 44 mag 10" octagon barrel is the same way.  Not much metal in the barrel to weight the muzzle down.  It kicks, flips and torques!!!  My 44 mag 10" bull barrel with a scope and mounts to mitigate the recoil is still strong but tolerable for a range session.  Since I hand load I plan on trying some reduced loads in the octagon for plinking.

Curtis

[qwikrick]

Yup factory loads in a 10'' 44 mag contender can be a real stinger.

I picked up a barrel just like that one at the last gun show I was at and was thinking about boring out the choke section for a muzzle.

Hey P.A. Myers do you have pics of the one you did ?

[tcrace]

Tried to find 44 specials but no luck. Bought dies, primers, and Hornady 300gr HP/XTPs. Loaded up the cleaned brass with 8 grains W231. Heading out again tomorrow, we'll see how these are. Hoping these will be somewhat milder than the Remington 180gr JSP factory loads.

[P.A. Myers]

The Contender at the bottom of that fuzzy picture in my post has the unchoked barrel. It looks the same as any choke except no splines.  I sold it in a package deal some months ago. I'm slowly replacing my octagons with bulls.

Also, Heavy bullets=recoil. My favorite 44 'plinker' bullet is the poly coated 205 grain. Lighter bullets are available[180,165]. I think the w231 is a good choice. I load 300grain 45s that I have to use a shoulder stock to fire and even then the recoil is grim.

[tcrace]

The 300gr HP/XTPs in front of 8 grains of W231 was a real pleasure to shoot out of my newly acquired Contender.  Recoil was very tolerable, it reminded me of medium strength 357 Magnum loads through my 6" GP100. I was able to enjoy the nice light trigger pull and even started hitting the targets. My only regret is that I only had 50 to shoot. Thanks to everyone for their comments. I think I'll keep this barrel and look for a 357 and 22lr.

[qwikrick]

I think I'll keep this barrel and look for a 357 and 22lr.

looks like the fever is starting already.   

[P.A. Myers]

Definately feverish.