T/C Contender Carbine - Caliber Advice

[FLS]

I put a 23” barreled Contender carbine together for my boys to shoot. Using 120 grain ballistic tips they killed a dozen or so deer and feral hogs. It was a great little rifle to hunt with. Very accurate with minimal recoil. 7-30 Brass and dies may be hard to find.
If that’s the case, I would go 30-30 with a 125 grain ballistic tip style bullet. I’ve used that combo out of Contender pistols and carbines on deer and hogs and it worked really well. It will surpass your energy requirements and work well on your roe deer.
Any of the companies listed above will make you a fantastic barrel.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Yeah ssk has 30/30 Ackley improved instock...

 

[Steve O]

Dang, I miss my Contender Carbine in 22 Hornet.

 

[Leezie (UK)]

Shipping may be an issue, but Ebay is one of the better sources. Mike Belm is another to contact. He usually has a selection of barrels.

One last option is to find what you can, and use it as a barrel stub to rebarrel. There used to be a maker of stub kits called Eagle View Arms, but I don't think they are in business anymore. Anyhow, you can use any barrel you have, cut it down about 1/2" from the lug, bore it, and thread the stub to make it whatever you want. I've made two that way from pitted barrels that went through a flood. Granted, I did the work in my own shop, but it might be an option.

Jeremy

Thanks Wapiti1...Now that is a thought. The rifle I have, is chambered in .17 Rem, which I seem to think had a parent case of a .223 / .222 Rem, so my gunsmith should in theory be able to chop it down as you’ve said and re-chamber it into the larger 30-30 and thread the stub and screw on a nice, new Bartlein barrel!

Think I'll give him a call.

Many thanks,

Lee.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Dang, I miss my Contender Carbine in 22 Hornet.

I'd like to get a 22 hornet barrel in 12 or 14 inch

 

[shtrbc]

I also think the 7-30 Waters would be great. I have used it in handgun and carbine configuration and both work great! Easy to make brass from std 30-30. The order in which I would consider companies to purchase from would be 1. Match Grade Machine 2. Mike Bellm 3. and use Bullberry if you can find them. Mike also sells a ton of accessories and replacement parts for the Contenders. Find and ready his info on reloading too. Alot of great info. I would recommend his locking bolt and hammer springs for sure. Best of luck!

 

[Leezie (UK)]

Shipping may be an issue, but Ebay is one of the better sources. Mike Belm is another to contact. He usually has a selection of barrels.

One last option is to find what you can, and use it as a barrel stub to rebarrel. There used to be a maker of stub kits called Eagle View Arms, but I don't think they are in business anymore. Anyhow, you can use any barrel you have, cut it down about 1/2" from the lug, bore it, and thread the stub to make it whatever you want. I've made two that way from pitted barrels that went through a flood. Granted, I did the work in my own shop, but it might be an option.

Jeremy

Thanks Wapiti1...Now that is a thought. The rifle I have, is chambered in .17 Rem, which I seem to think had a parent case of a .223 / .222 Rem, so my gunsmith should in theory be able to chop it down as you’ve said and re-chamber it into the larger 30-30 and thread the stub and screw on a nice, new Bartlein barrel!

Think I'll give him a call.

Many thanks,

Lee

I also think the 7-30 Waters would be great. I have used it in handgun and carbine configuration and both work great! Easy to make brass from std 30-30. The order in which I would consider companies to purchase from would be 1. Match Grade Machine 2. Mike Bellm 3. and use Bullberry if you can find them. Mike also sells a ton of accessories and replacement parts for the Contenders. Find and ready his info on reloading too. Alot of great info. I would recommend his locking bolt and hammer springs for sure. Best of luck!

Agreed shtrbc. The thing is, I'm in the UK and 7-30 Waters reloading gear over here is a nightmare to get hold of and guys / companies in the US don't want to ship it here.

Years ago (when the caliber first came out) I converted .243 cases to 6.5 Creedmoor....22 Hornet to .22 K Hornet. It's not that I can't be bothered with the 7-30 Waters, it's just that simple things like dies etc are a nightmare to get hold of here in the UK - European caliber stuff is a piece of cake, but it's not so easy to get some of the US stuff...it's taken me several years of searching to actually find a TC Contender!

At least with the 30-30 reloading gear, it'll be like trying to find .22 LR ammo...the stuff is everywhere!

Kind regards,

Lee.

 

[Wapiti1]

Thanks Wapiti1...Now that is a thought. The rifle I have, is chambered in .17 Rem, which I seem to think had a parent case of a .223 / .222 Rem, so my gunsmith should in theory be able to chop it down as you’ve said and re-chamber it into the larger 30-30 and thread the stub and screw on a nice, new Bartlein barrel!

Think I'll give him a call.

Many thanks,

Lee


Agreed shtrbc. The thing is, I'm in the UK and 7-30 Waters reloading gear over here is a nightmare to get hold of and guys / companies in the US don't want to ship it here.

Years ago (when the caliber first came out) I converted .243 cases to 6.5 Creedmoor....22 Hornet to .22 K Hornet. It's not that I can't be bothered with the 7-30 Waters, it's just that simple things like dies etc are a nightmare to get hold of here in the UK - European caliber stuff is a piece of cake, but it's not so easy to get some of the US stuff...it's taken me several years of searching to actually find a TC Contender!

At least with the 30-30 reloading gear, it'll be like trying to find .22 LR ammo...the stuff is everywhere!

Kind regards,

Lee.

At the very least, the 30-30 is a good start, and can be enhanced if you find a set of dies for one of the 30-30 based wildcats. An Ackley Improved 30-30 is nothing to sneeze at for the bump up in performance. Not that the 30-30 hasn't killed a lot of game in it's original configuration. One thing to keep in mind is the throat length in a TC gives you the ability to load the bullet out and gain a grain or more of powder space. There is no COAL limit in a single shot.

I've stubbed a couple of barrels. It's pretty simple work, and anyone familiar with mono-block shotgun or rifle barrels (Merkel's double rifle is an example) will be able to envision the work. Any TC barrel can be used as a donor since you are boring it out for the mono-block anyway. I made a 20" .22LR for my father, and the other became a 7mm International Rimmed 16" barrel. I used Douglas blanks.

Good luck, and keep us posted on the results.

Jeremy

Jeremy

 

[Wyobohunter]

7mm TCU and 7-30 Waters will not likely achieve his minimum energy requirement. A 7mm-08 in a 15” barrel with a 130 gr bullet going 2550 fps gets over 1800 ft lbs and would be very manageable. Slow it down to 2450 fps and it still exceeds 1700 ft lbs. 7mm-08 is also pretty inherently accurate and barrels for the Contender can be found. Also, 7mm-08 is fairly common. As others said, 30-30 win wouldn’t be a bad choice either. But if given the choice I’d take the 7mm-08 every time.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Contender has a threshold on which cartridges can be used 7mm08 is a no go. 7-30 waters in Federal ammo carries over 2000 lbs of energy.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Contender has a threshold on which cartridges can be used 7mm08 is a no go. 7-30 waters in Federal ammo carries over 2000 lbs of energy.

I was looking at Encore barrels. My mistake. At what barrel length does the 7-30 get over 2000 ft lbs? What is the bullet weight and advertised velocity (and what barrel did they use to come up with those numbers)? I looked at Hodgdon load data for the 7-30 using a 15” barrel and got 1362 ft lbs with a 130 gr bullet at 2172 fps. You’d need to push that bullet to 2450 fps to get 1700 ft lbs. I didn’t look at all the data for all powders listed though.

 

[Wmmichael20]

I believe it's a 139grain bullet at 2600 think they use a 24 inch barrel for test...since the op is in the uk he's stated he's running a rifle length barrel..so probably 21 to 23 inches

 

[Wyobohunter]

He said over 14”. And said carbine. I used 15” barrel data.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Ahhh gotcha

 

[FLS]

Contender factory 7-30 Waters carbine barrels were 23”.

 

[Wmmichael20]

I think he's set on the good ol 30/30 and it gets him the numbers he needs....ssk does stock 30 30 ai barrels and that would be a hammer.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Not a bad choice IMO