Author Topic: What caliber contender ? (Read 2822 times)

TCG34 · « **on:** March 02, 2007, 04:06:07 PM »

Im wanting a Contender barrel for Whitetail deer hunting or varmit hunting. I've looked at the 6.8 remington spc, 7mm tcu
30-30 winchester or 35 remington cant decide which one to get

. I will hand loading for them.

Graybeard · « **Reply #1 on:** March 02, 2007, 05:34:25 PM »

7-30 Waters.

curteric · « **Reply #2 on:** March 03, 2007, 12:36:27 AM »

I agree with Graybeard ! 7 X30 Waters

ourway77 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 03, 2007, 02:34:13 AM »

I agree with gentlman above, 730 Waters all the way. Easy to make brass from 30-30. Took deer with mine with 120 grain bullets and W-748 powder. Hard to beat caliber, easy recoil, won't beat you to death. Lou

longwinters · « **Reply #4 on:** March 03, 2007, 03:37:39 AM »

I went with the 7-30 waters also. Shooting 100-120 gn bullets and you have everything covered up to deer. You can resize 30-30 brass or buy them through a couple of different businesses like EABCO. And in mine the fireforming loads are just as accurate as the finished product. See my 7-30 in the new Furniture topic.

Long

Doc T · « **Reply #5 on:** March 03, 2007, 05:08:19 AM »

Another vote for the 7-30 Waters.

swampthing · « **Reply #6 on:** March 03, 2007, 07:20:38 AM »

45colt.

SD Handgunner · « **Reply #7 on:** March 03, 2007, 10:00:15 AM »

The 7-30 Waters is never a bad choice.

Though most will not agree, if you are going to mostly be shooting Varmints with an occasional Deer thrown into the mix personally I would prefer something along the lines of a 6mm-223, 6mm T/CU or even .250 Savage. Granted these are not offered as standard T/C Production Chamberings, and some may say they are too light for Deer sized game, they will indeed do the job provided the range is kept within reason, the right bullet is used for the task at hand and that bullet is put in the right place.

Personally if shooting Varmints I would perfer a 14" .223 Remington or one of the 3 cartridges I recommended, and for shooting Whitetail Deer I would prefer the 7-30 Waters or the .30-30 Ackley Improved (the .30-30 AI will offer a velocity gain over the standard .30-30 Winchester but yet standard .30-30 Winchester ammo can be fired in the chamber if need be).

When all is said and done the beauty of the T/C System is that you do not need to restrict yourself to One Barrel or One Caliber / Cartridge to do the jobs you want to do.

Larry

chuck m · « **Reply #8 on:** March 03, 2007, 04:42:23 PM »

7 x 30 waters. you can't go wrong

chuck m

honkeetonkin · « **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2007, 06:47:11 AM »

When in doubt, buy'em all, simmoms 2x6 variables. and dont go cheap on the bases

TCG34 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:25:19 AM »

Hey guys, thanks for the good advice on calibers. I really like wht I'm reading and learning about the 7-30 Waters. I was wondering what the 7-30 Waters recoil is like. I had a Smith&Wesson 629 in 44 magnum with a 5" full lug barrel. Shooting it with factory 240 grain magnum loads, I found it manageable. I was wondering how the recoil of the Contender in 7-30 Waters with a good game (whitetail and hog) load might compare to the 629?

Gdbyrd · « **Reply #11 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:59:34 AM »

This is slightly off topic but Ive always wondered..is it pronounced Waters(As in H20)..or Waiters..

azmike · « **Reply #12 on:** March 04, 2007, 09:25:00 AM »

Quote from: SD Handgunner on March 03, 2007, 10:00:15 AM

The 7-30 Waters is never a bad choice.

Though most will not agree, if you are going to mostly be shooting Varmints with an occasional Deer thrown into the mix personally I would prefer something along the lines of a 6mm-223, 6mm T/CU or even .250 Savage. Granted these are not offered as standard T/C Production Chamberings, and some may say they are too light for Deer sized game, they will indeed do the job provided the range is kept within reason, the right bullet is used for the task at hand and that bullet is put in the right place.

Personally if shooting Varmints I would perfer a 14" .223 Remington or one of the 3 cartridges I recommended, and for shooting Whitetail Deer I would prefer the 7-30 Waters or the .30-30 Ackley Improved (the .30-30 AI will offer a velocity gain over the standard .30-30 Winchester but yet standard .30-30 Winchester ammo can be fired in the chamber if need be).

When all is said and done the beauty of the T/C System is that you do not need to restrict yourself to One Barrel or One Caliber / Cartridge to do the jobs you want to do.

Larry

Can the Contender frame handle the 250 Savage safely? I have never heard of anybody having a Contender chambered for this round.

If it will, I guess I'll be calling Fox Ridge for a new barrel

.

Back on topic, I really like my 30-30 carbine for the purposes you mentioned, but would have bought a 7-30 instead if I had found one. Love those 7mm's!

OLDHandgunner · « **Reply #13 on:** March 04, 2007, 10:09:13 AM »

Love my T/C 14" Hunter barrel in 7x30 Waters. Had it for many years. It is super accurate & deadly on game.

SD Handgunner · « **Reply #14 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:27:39 PM »

AZMike

The .250 Savage Contender Barrel I had was a 14" Stainless-Steel Barrel made by SSK Industries. SSK I think is the only company that still chambers for the .250 Savage, but there used to be a few custom shops that chambered for this excellent cartridge.

According to what I was told when I order my barrel the .250 Savage is perfectly safe in the Contender PROVIDED you do not load it hotter than the SAAMI Maximum Chamber Pressure Specs of 45000 CUP. I used my .250 Savage for Varmints with 75gr. Hornady Hollow Points with great results. I also used it on Whitetail Deer with 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips (as did a friend of mine) with good results.

At the time I was having a hard time finding .250 Savage Brass so I bought 500 New Remington .22-250 Brass, tapered the neck expander button in my dies and necked them up to .25 Caliber. This worked great also in my opinion.

The only Factory Ammo I fired in my .250 Savage was Remington 100gr. Pointed Soft Point Core Lokt Ammo. While I never did shoot a Deer with this ammo, it produced 2400 + FPS and 1" 100 yard 5 shot groups from the bench.

Larry

SD Handgunner · « **Reply #15 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:29:49 PM »

Quote from: TCG34 on March 04, 2007, 08:25:19 AM

Hey guys, thanks for the good advice on calibers. I really like wht I'm reading and learning about the 7-30 Waters. I was wondering what the 7-30 Waters recoil is like. I had a Smith&Wesson 629 in 44 magnum with a 5" full lug barrel. Shooting it with factory 240 grain magnum loads, I found it manageable. I was wondering how the recoil of the Contender in 7-30 Waters with a good game (whitetail and hog) load might compare to the 629?

The only 7-30 Waters I have shot or hunted with was a 10" Bull Barrel. It has been a few years but if memory serves me correctly in the 10" Barrel the recoil was similar to that of a .44 Magnum. I would assume the 7-30 Waters in a Super 14 would not produce that level of recoil though.

Larry

MnMike · « **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2007, 03:15:33 PM »

The recoil on the 14" 7-30 is not totally mild, but if you keep your off hand away from the parts that can bite you, it is pretty tame. I did get bit the first couple of times I shot it. My .45 WinMag bites easier on both hands and is probably my limit for handguns.

mike

Gregory · « **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2007, 05:05:12 PM »

A 10" 357 Maximum is my deer caliber here in Illinois. Can't use a bottlenecked cartridge longer than 1.4". The Max has done well for me.

Moe · « **Reply #18 on:** March 15, 2007, 07:47:35 PM »

7-30 or 30-30AI

HL · « **Reply #19 on:** March 16, 2007, 01:38:38 AM »

For over 27 years, my favorite caliber, in the contender, for deer was the 6mm-223. Killed many whitetails fro 40-225 yards with no run offs.

In the last year I got a 7-30 Waters and went deer hunting this past season.

Now, my favorite is the 7-30 and the 6mm-223 is in second place.

Good shooting,

HL

maineturkeyman · « **Reply #20 on:** March 17, 2007, 02:12:23 AM »

I have a "super 14" 30-30 and my cousin has a "ditto" in 7-30. Very little difference. In Maine, we do alot of "close up" hunting, like inside of 75 yd shots.
In these cases I'm using a 10" 7MM TCU which easily get to a hundred yds. I love the 7mm and would like a 14" barrel.

spinafish · « **Reply #21 on:** March 17, 2007, 04:37:15 AM »

Its pronounced Waters as in H2O..named after its inventor Ken Waters...

EdK · « **Reply #22 on:** March 17, 2007, 07:02:40 AM »

Like maineturkeyman I live in the northeast and I believe the best choice for anyone is likely a round that has proven itself regionally. I prefer the straightwalls e.g. 357 max or a 35 rem here in NH where the ranges rarely exceed 100-125 yds. That would not be the case in many areas of the country but where it is and the flat trajectory is not needed, I think a medium bore hits harder and is added insurance in an area where the deer can often run 200-225lbs. If on the other hand your shots run to 200+ yds, the 7-30 is a great choice as well as the JDJs, etc.

Rodent · « **Reply #23 on:** March 20, 2007, 02:15:29 PM »

I have a Super 14 barrel in 35 REM and it is deadly on deer. I flat out love it. I am going to get a 6.8 barrel for silhouette though.

rickyp · « **Reply #24 on:** March 23, 2007, 06:40:56 AM »

some things no one talked about.
You should check with your state, county, town and even with the land manager you plan to hunt on. the regs can change from one place to another.
Around me I can not use any handgun on the state hunting land but a few miles down the road on the wild life management land I can use anything legal for the area and game. in the eastern part and western part of MD I can use any handgun that meats the min. requirements but in the Central part of me (where I live) I can use only a 209x50 handgun for deer.
DO you reload? This could make a big difference in your caliber selection. If you do not reload you need to stick with a round that is readily stocked around you. it will do you little good to get a 7-30 and no one any place around has them in stock.
Now If you do reload I would look into maybe a 309JDJ you have a good selection of bullets that range from varmint to heavy game. The 309 JDJ will give you performance close to that of a 308 winchester.
The biggest problem with a 7 mm round is bullet selection they do not make many bullets designed for varmints and you have to really watch what they bullet is designed for not all will expand at handgun speeds. at least with the 30 caliber you can get bullets to fill about anything you want.

Darrell H · « **Reply #25 on:** March 23, 2007, 02:56:06 PM »

TCG34 states that he will be handloading so the 7-30 will work fine for him. For varmints and deer you don't really need a bullet other than the 120 grain ballistic tip. Another vote for the 7-30 Waters.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

X

Dusty Miller · « **Reply #26 on:** March 23, 2007, 03:30:01 PM »

I just ordered my Encore in 25-06 onnacounta as how I already have those dies and some bullets and brass. How does it stack up against the 7-30 waters with a 120 gr. bullet?

OLDHandgunner · « **Reply #27 on:** March 24, 2007, 02:09:51 AM »

Quote from: Dusty Miller on March 23, 2007, 03:30:01 PM

I just ordered my Encore in 25-06 onnacounta as how I already have those dies and some bullets and brass. How does it stack up against the 7-30 waters with a 120 gr. bullet?

The 7x30 Waters is a great cartridge and I use mine alot on deer & varmints with 120 BT. But the 25-06 is flatter shooting & has more range. The 25-06 is traveling 3000-3300 fps ( depending on the bullet ) vs. 2300-2400 fps with 120 BT in the 7x30 Waters in my 14" Hunter.

jhalcott · « **Reply #28 on:** March 24, 2007, 05:46:44 AM »

Dusty ,that 25-06 with 120's might be too hard of a bullet to open on small deer. Try seveal different weights and do some penetration tests with wet paper or phone books to see what works best in the gun. If a deer around here runs 100 yards AFTER being hit ,several other "hunters" will shoot at it.

ga41 · « **Reply #29 on:** March 25, 2007, 05:28:43 PM »

I shoot a Bullberry 14" 300 Savage, I use 150 Nosler Solid Base. Shoots great and hits hard....on both ends