Contender Accuracy

[Mack in N.C.]

Got a Contender(since 79) with 6 barrels. 1 is a 30-30 10 inch with T/C fiber optic sights thats shoots great out to 75 with a black ryanite forend. I saw online the pacamar sp? forend that uses the hanger bar and got one. I like the looks of it,  but will it effect the accuracy. I know forend pressure on a rifle can but i dont think it will with irons and it still uses only one screw to the barrel...what does everyone else think?...Thanks Mack

[Grumulkin]

I think accuracy with the Pachmar forend will be fine.

[shot1]

You may get BETTER accuracy with the hanger bar. I either pillar bed my forend or use the Packmyer with the hanger bar and all three of my scoped barrels, 10" 357mag, 14" 6mm-225 Win, 14" 30-30AI will shoot under 1" at 100 yards.

[Keith L]

Since the  forend grips the barrel the advantage of the hanger bar is questionable.  But saying that I have never had a problem with accuracy with mine on any barrel.  They are ugly but seem to work well.

[Hopalong7]

     I have used Pachy's, forend & grip, almost exclusively for years and love 'em!!!  I will agree w/ Keith that they won't win any beauty contests but to me are the most functional grip and forend set available.  I do have a couple of sets of custom made furniture that are quite nice and I do use them from time to time, but when it's time to go to the woods, the Pachys go on,  especially on the barrels with a little recoil.  As for accuracy???...if it's any difference...it's been an improvement.  I like the weight that the forend adds...helps balance, hold and really helps tame recoil .
Walt

[Mack in N.C.]

Thanks, mainly wondering if I needed to adjust my sights but I dont think it will make a difference since i limit shots to 75 yds or less with the 10 in barrel, and its irons....thanks Mack

[Flash]

The hanger bar will effect accuracy big time. The screw tension on the bar will be consistent as opposed to screwing walnut forends on with the screw tension ALWAYS being different. Barrel harmonics are very important when trying to squeeze accuracy out of a barrel so why ruin those harmonics by applying varying screw pressure on a compressable wooden forend? I used to use rubber faucet washers on my forend but found the hanger bar to be much better. Walnut forends can be milled to accept the hanger bar but new holes in the forend might have to be drilled.

[Keith L]

I agree with your point on a Walnut forend, but the rubber one in question does not react like walnut.

[Flash]

You can drive a nail wth a T/C composite forend. They're certainly not rubber and they don't react anything like rubber.. If ya really want to see what works and don't, shoot a scoped barrel without a forend while resting it on the lug. Then apply the composite forend and see the impact point move. Take it off and reinstall it and see if the barrel shoots to the same spot as the last with it installed. This is when you'll come back to this thread to see who knows what. Contenders can shoot if they're set up right. Slap them together and you have something that looks cool but will print shots all over the target.

[Bullseye]

I use walnut forends and no hanger bars and change barrels at will.  My POI does not change and my accuracy is what is expected.  Try the Pachy, it it helps stay with it.  After all, I might not know what I am talking about.

[Flash]

I use walnut forends and no hanger bars and change barrels at will.  My POI does not change and my accuracy is what is expected.  Try the Pachy, it it helps stay with it.  After all, I might not know what I am talking about.

Depends on what you call "is expected". Contenders dominated silhouette compition for years but certainly not from accuracy that "is expected". Some of the high end stock makers design their forend with a hanger bar too. Pachmayr hasn't sold so many forend by being wrong. If you look through some old magazine issues, you'll see the Pachmayr forend being used for silhouette matches. The concept of a hanger bar is akin to free floating a barrel on a bolt action rifle. Like i said, the barrel must vibrate the same way every time otherwise, you'll have what everyone else is trying to avoid,a barrel that won't shoot. Im talking 1/2" groups and under st 100 yards, not a 15" wide body cavity of a white tail deer. No skin off my butt if you're content with 3" groups, i know im not.

[Keith L]

Flash, please read the original post.  You are the only one discussing a TC Composit forend.  The rest of us are talking about the original Contender forearm made by Pachmeyer.  Apparently you have never seen one or you would know it is rubber. 

[Flash]

Flash, please read the original post.  You are the only one discussing a TC Composit forend.  The rest of us are talking about the original Contender forearm made by Pachmeyer.  Apparently you have never seen one or you would know it is rubber.

I have. Doesn't the first sentence mention the composite forend in a 30-30 barrel shooting good out to 75 yards? Instead of picking my language apart, you May want to try a hanger bar forend. You mention the forend in question and then you say rubber. The forend i see mentioned is the composite. The other issue i see mentioned is the hanger bar, which keeps the forend away from the barrel. So yes, I've seen them, I've owned them(still do) and have done so for the past 35 years. Im not just spouting off because i need to maintain a governing status on a discussion forum.

[Bullseye]

I do not think I would be happy with 3" groups at 100 yards either, or 15" as you say.  But I am happy with MOA, under an inch at 100 yards and I can get that without a hanger bar and have for years.

[Flash]

I guess i should have posted this earlier but i never expected so many disbelievers or uninformed.
 http://www.strattoncustom.com/Forend-Hanger-Bars/

[Keith L]

Flash, please read the original post.  You are the only one discussing a TC Composit forend.  The rest of us are talking about the original Contender forearm made by Pachmeyer.  Apparently you have never seen one or you would know it is rubber.

I have. Doesn't the first sentence mention the composite forend in a 30-30 barrel shooting good out to 75 yards? Instead of picking my language apart, you May want to try a hanger bar forend. You mention the forend in question and then you say rubber. The forend i see mentioned is the composite. The other issue i see mentioned is the hanger bar, which keeps the forend away from the barrel. So yes, I've seen them, I've owned them(still do) and have done so for the past 35 years. Im not just spouting off because i need to maintain a goverspouting off" but correcting ning status on a discussion forum.

The OP mentioned hanger bars with the Pachmeyer forend he just bought.  With that forend the hanger bar has no effect of keeping the forend away from the barrel.  In fact the forend tightly wraps around the barrel. 
I am not " spouting off" but correcting a misunderstanding you are pushing.  As I said with rigid forends the hanger bar is effective.  With the Pachneyer it is more the forend than the hanger bar.  Proof is the G2 forends do the same thing without a hanger bar.

[Flash]

What are you saying Keith, the hanger bar does keep the Pachmayr forend away from the barrel by screwing the forend into the bar, not the barrel. Im not pushing any misunderstanding, im answering the question of the original poster. Whether or not you think the bar effects accuracy isn't relative to my answer.. All i know is that the bars have proven themselves to me and many other shooters and again, whether you think the subject is questionable ir not has no bearing on what i and many others believe. Perhaps the one who's pushing his opinion is the one who thinks its questionable. I posted a link to the site of a successful business owner who agrees. It doesn't matter if the forend us made from rubber, neoprene(Pachmayr), wood or anything else. The point of the matter is the hanger bar works and im truely sorry you can't figure out why.

[Keith L]

I win't argue with you on this.  You are not seeing the point I am trying to make.  I have and use hanger bars, but separation from the barrel is not the reason for the hanger bars on the Pachmeyer forends.  There is plenty of contact with them even with the hanger bars and they still work fine. 
I am through with this.  Have a great life.

[Flash]

Good thinking

[Ladobe]

I used Contender Pachy's from pretty close to when they first became available.   Didn't care for the Presentation design, but the Gripper's were top drawer for hunting.   Even when I still had my last 20 EO frames, besides all the custom and factory furniture for them I also had Pachy Gripper sets for all of them.   So similar to Walt I had used them forever and preferred them for most of my handgun hunting and for shooting IHMSA.   However, I also had to modify many of them, some grips and the forends, and I always used custom hanger bars instead of those that came with them once I had a source for them in quantity.  With some grips "slag" conflicts with mounting without bind; and with the forends to be truly "floated" they have to be relieved or shimmed to not ride on the barrel at all.   Became a first thing with every new set of Pachy's I bought to remove slag.   Just manufacturing tolerances and design, not that hard to fix.   But also maybe not always necessary with forends except on Contenders being used for long to extreme ranges.   How much a Pachy forend effects barrel harmionics if at all is speculative and probably specific to the handgun/cartridge.  Easy solution for me to not worry about it at all was to use the custom hanger bars on every barrel I owned for factory, custom or Pachy furniture, and if needed with an added shim to always have them off the barrel completely whether handgun or carbine. 
 
Contenders have always been about some tinkering, and the tricks to make them the best possible are well known.  Few took it as far as I did maybe, but also few probably used them as much at long ranges as I did, especially for very small varmints and for predators.   Smooth as glass trigger and action, faster lock time and the best glass I could afford and knowing the exact ballistics made a lot of difference on precision shooting at longer ranges.
 
To each his own, just my opions, but the abilities that can be acquired with them is in part why the Contenders played such a large roll in my shooting and hunting since the first in '68 until the health failed.
 
 

[Flash]

Was hoping you'd chime in Ladobe.

[Bullseye]

I do take all my walnut forearms and sand the barrel channel so the only place it hits is at the top hats or whatever the proper name for them is.

[jdl41389]

Ihave had the pacmeyer grips and forend on mine in 22lr an223 for 20 plus years and my 223 barell wil shoot 1.5 inch groups with old tc2.5 power scope all day long If I domy part.

jdl

[mbopp]

Nothing special but I've used the standard Pachy forend and the walnut one in my avatar, no hanger bar. The 357 Herrett barrel goes 1-1/4" at 100 yards, and the 218 Bee can go 3/4" with my best load on a good day.

[barber]

ok, you  will think me stupid, but what is a hanger bar?

[ratgunner]

I've always snugged the forend screws and then backed them out about a quarter turn.  Never had any accuracy problems.

[Ladobe]

I've always snugged the forend screws and then backed them out about a quarter turn.  Never had any accuracy problems.

If it works for you you've found your niche.   But doing so can be a problem with the serious handcannons and open a window for sheared off screws.   They like to loosen anything and everything by default.   I always preferred a hanger bar on all my barrels, even the rimfires, for the benefits of them.   And I always mounted snug with my built in torque wrench trained over decades of doing.   I had zero problems even on the meanest of the handcannons, some that saw more heavy rounds fired in a single frange session and over the years than many would ever shoot in them.  That was just my niche, but the one I recommended to others.

[deerman406]

I have a pillar bedded forend and also a couple of the pachmyers with hanger bar, if the rest of the gun, frame and trigger have been set up right, I can swith out the forends and with my .204 Ruger and shoot groups .25-.40 all day and with my 7-30 waters shoot .5" all day long as well, could never get great accuracy with any of the rynite or walnut forends. Shawn