Fred and I met via a mutual friend who originally got me into contenders. He and I were talking one day about contenders and knives, shooting etc. Well, when he found out that I made damascus knives he had to have one. When it was nearly finished, I called him to let him know that. And, of course, we got to discussing my desire for a 17ah as a first custom barrel for my contender. As I was picking his brain on the details, length, twist, etc.; he said I just needed to call his good friend Fred at Bullberry. So, I did. OH BOY!!!! I called Fred and as a way of introducing myself I mentioned the knife I made for our mutual friend and Fred decided he wanted to have a custom built damascus skinner. So I agreed and moved onto want the call was actually about, 'ME' ordering my first custom barrel for a my contender. Fred is an extremely nice and knowledgeable man, hunter and gunsmith. As he and I got to talking about 17's and he offered that the 17ah is probably his absolute favorite round for the contender. I thought that was pretty neat. Well, if you ever want more information about contenders and the 17ah, call Fred. I promptly figure out that he has forgotten more about the subject than I would ever know. So, in the end, I decided to let him take over the project and build it as he would for himself. We agreed that everything would take a while, the knife the barrel and all. Well I sent out the knife a little while ago and yesterday...'IT' arrived, my first custom Bullberry contender barrel, including all the dies and options, bells and whistles I could imagine. Just the way Fred wanted it. I think it was a sucker punch, he knew he was ruining me. I can never own a regular barrel again. And boy am I glad!!! If you have ever thought about ordering a contender barrel, do it and I can't recommned Fred highly enough. The barrel is a 12inch bull barrel, with hanger bar, minimum chamber, target crown, high polished blue. A work of ART.
I'll let you know how it shoots,
Doc
