45 LC pistol barrel question - Contender

[encore58]

I am considering a custom SS Contender barrel in 45LC. What barrel length, contour, twist, etc. would you guys suggest? I plan to use it with iron sights.

[encore58]

Currently, I am leaning towards a 10" heavy or bull barrel. Really curious as to what contour to get??? standard, heavy or bull???

[Lone Star]

I've had a 10" blue Bullberry barrel in .45LC for about ten years, and it is an excellent game getter.  Mine is a full bull - you will probably want the weight - but I use a 4X scope exclusively.  The twist rate is ~1:16" IIRC.  I use Pachmayr forend and grip to increase the weight and reduce the slam into the hand.  Recoil with heavy loads of H110 or AA1680 and 250-300 grain bullets can be uncomfortable because that big hole in the barrel reduces the gun's total weight a lot with thin barrel contours.  I settled on Hornady 240/250 XTPs and BlueDot powder for deer loads - this is relatively pleasant recoil-wise and consistently shoots 2.5-inch, 5-shot groups at 100 meters off a good rest.




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[encore58]

Thanks for info Lone Star! Just what I was looking to hear. This will be used without a scope initially: although, I am not ruling out never installing one. I want to use in my Bandito rig to carry when running hounds for yote control. Thanks again.

[doc-and]

I have a factory 10inch bull barrel.  This is a non-45/410 and no choke    Not sure how to answer your question, there are several ways to go and each has it's merits.  You could go straight bull or even a stepped barrel.  What kind of loads do you plan to shoot?  And how will the barrel be used?  If you can answer these then you'll know how to order your barrel.  Again mine is a 10 inch factory bull barrel that I plan to plink with.  I have a set of custom grips comming and a Case-Harden G2 Frame order, should be here by the middle of next week.  It'll have the look/feel of the old Colt Bisley target models.




This is a picture of the grips in progress still need finishing

docand