contender 7/30

[myronman3]

so the other day i stumbled upon a contender 7/30 that had been fired all of two times.    i scored the pistol, the remaining 18 rounds with the two pieces of brass, a pro point sight, and case for 300.  i've shot it twice, nice. 
    problem is that i dont want to get yet another set of dies for yet another cartridge.  i already have 30/30 setup for my dillon, so i will probably shoot up what i have left of the ammo and trade this off for a 30/30 barrel.   
      i had a 30/30 barrel years ago on a contender i had, and it was accurate.   unless someone can convince me there is a really good reason to keep that 7-30, that's my plan. 

[Richard P]

If you haven't disposed of it yet may I point out the difficulty in obtaining bullets in .30.  7mm bullets have been available (at least in 120gr). So having a 7 around as an alternative can be a blessing.  It's always good to have things that take common components; it's also good to have a few that use non standard components so you can still shoot something.  rp

[BCB]

 I have them both…
 
The 7-30 Waters is more accurate, but not by very much…
 
Didn’t know that .308 caliber bullets were difficult to get, but there is a much better selection of 30 caliber bullets than .284 caliber bullets…
 
Brass is the same.  Make your 7-30 Waters brass from 30-30 Winchester cases…
 
I don’t know the setup for Dillon so I can’t respond on the price of dies—does Dillon take a special setup?...
 
A bit more velocity with the Waters cartridge which can help at 200 yards +.  But, I seldom shoot that distance anyhow…
 
The Hornady 120 V-Max is a very good bullet for the Waters.  I used to use the SSPSP 120 grain bullet by Hornady but it is discontinued…
 
I prefer cast boolits in the 30-30 Winchester.  Plenty of .308 caliber boolit molds…
 
But, overall I prefer the Waters in my opinion…
 
Good-luck…BCB
 
 
 

[Mike Scott]

In the real world, the 7-30 Waters is probably not that different than the 30-30 for hunting deer type critters most of the time.  However, there is something about the 7-30 Waters that I really enjoy and it is a great hunting cartridge.  My 30-30 has not been shot a long time but I just bought another 7-30 Waters barrel.  Buy/swap/keep whichever one works best for you.