.458" bores in Contender barrel....?

[alan in ga]

am I overlooking something, or is there no cartridge in the Contender smaller than a 45/70 in .458" bore?
I've owned a 45/70 in a 12.5" handgun Contender and it was nice. What I enjoy is PAPER PATCHING for .458" and have had a few rifles that I've had a lot of fun with. A bore tends to only get smoother it seems when you shoot soft lead paper patch bullets. I've shot PP in a .458 Win Mag Ruger 77, then my home built Ruger 77 Mark II short action in .458 AMerican, and had a Handi in 45/70 that I took a nice buck with a PP bullet [Speer 250 grain swaged SWC patched].
The 45/70 is a bit much in chamber space, and I'm "used to" patching .451 pistol bullets up to .460" or so. SO....I don't care to use a .451" chambering [Colt/Win Mag/ACP] because there are fewer ready made lead bullets that adapt to PP'ing in those bores.
I made a 1.5" 45/70 round with a case trimmer just for a picture.
Does anyone think a 458" 'SHORT' 45/70 would be nice in a Contender Rifle barrel [or pistol?].
Thinking out loud.....maybe a "458 SHORT" round???

[Mike Scott]

try Trail Boss

[Camp Cook]

Great answer...   

[darkgael]

 The idea of a shorter case using a .458  bullet is not new.
Frank Barnes shortened the .458 Win mag case to produce two similar cartridges - .458x1.5" and the .458x2" - back in 1962.
What you have done is the .45 Silhouette.
Dick Smith developed the 45 Silhouette (45/70 shortened to 1.5") in 1984.
Gary Reeder used a blown out and shortened .348 Win case to produce the 450 GNR in 1991.
Only the Smith cartridge is suitable for the Contender frame AFAIK.
Pete

[alan in ga]

I built a .458 x 2" [American] on a Ruger 77 Mark II short action. That project started when I saw a 'take off' barrel in a local gun shop. It was a .45/70 Ruger #3 barrel. Took my calipers and figured out it would be PERFECT for my Ruger 77 and that a .458 American reamer would 'clean up' the 45/70 chamber after I lathe cut off the face of the barrel just enough to remove the milled extractor relief....how cool is that!?
It made me wonder if Ruger takes #1 and #3 barrels that 'mess up' when milling the extractor relief, and toss them over into a 'Ruger 77 barrel bin'! When you turn off the extractor relief from a single shot Ruger barrel you get a PERFECT barrel shank for a 77 action!
We thoroughly enjoyed shooting the 77 in .458 Americana and I wish I hadn't sold it : (

FYI: 2 months after completing the .458 American Marlin announced their .450 Marlin.....so really the .458 American is dead.....not worth building when the ALMOST identical .450 marlin and it's cheap dies are available. I wish Ruger had made some short runs of their 77/Hawkeye in .450 Marlin....I'd have to buy one. Fun with 300 and 350 gr bullets, AND paper patched .452" lead pistol bullets if you are into that.
 
I think a Contender in 45 Silouette would be COOL! Great round and more efficient than the 45/70 in shorter barrels!