A year or so ago I developed a wildcat for my 10-inch .45/410 Contender barrel using the longest brass case I could find to fit into the long chamber of the .45/410, the 9.3x74R European round. Loaded with a 300-grain cast lead bullet, my little 10-inch barrel Contender has proven to be quite accurate compared with a standard .45 Colt round in that gun. This is because the long, almost three-inch brass case allows the unfired bullet to get very close to the rifling of the Contender barrel, whereas the .45 Colt bullet has a couple of inches of freebore gap before it hits the lands at high speed.
This year I got to try the long case / short barrel Wildcat on game. I was sitting in the woods and spotted a nice four-point whitetail coming down a trail about 30 or so yards away. I was hoping he would pass right in front of me for a classic broadside shot, but instead he took a turn away from me, so I had to hurry the quartering-away shot. I quickly centered the crosshairs on the rear of his about-to-disappear ribs to drive the bullet forward through his chest, and fired. The deer ran ahead, away from me, for perhaps 50 yards or so. The big cast lead bullet had passed completely through him, smashing his liver and the tip of one lung. He did not bleed much externally, but his chest cavity was a bucket of blood when I field-dressed him.
So, my Contender wildcat, which I call an 11.4 x 74R, proved itself with its very first shot at game. I do not have it loaded very hot, around 900 fps with the 300 grain bullet, as my goal was not to recreate the .45/70, but an accurate .45 Colt. This I have done. I tried the little barrel with more powder, but it kicked and snorted way too much for my aging joints to handle anymore. I shot the four-point buck with a brass case that I had already reloaded 15 times in developing the load, so it is a mild load indeed.
In earlier hunts with this barrel, I have killed squirrels with a three-inch .410 shotshell. It does a good job as a .410 within 25 yards or so with the choke in the barrel.
If I had to pick a gun to put in a backpack for wilderness survival, this would be it. From feathers to fur, I believe the .45/410 Contender can't be beat.
