You folks shooting these marvelous guns, what pull weight do you have your trigger?
Both these are 4oz. and may be amongst the most crisp I’ve ever felt.
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Sidearms & Scatterguns Thompson Contender
- Thread starter pepperbelly
- Start date
You folks shooting these marvelous guns, what pull weight do you have your trigger?
Both these are 4oz. and may be amongst the most crisp I’ve ever felt.
so lets say you were going to buy a contender barrel specifically to run subs with a can. What caliber would you go with?
I have a 45 pistol can and a 30 cal rifle can, but will probably pick up a Dead Air Primal in the near future..
38 special? 300 BO? 8.6CM? 44 special? 22lr?
I have a blackout AR upper I'm finishing now, but don't mind going with something a bit "different" just to have something different. I don't mind hand loading and finding brass as anything I shoot will get hand loaded. Or buying a mold to cast big bullets.
kind of leaning towards the 8.6BO since it's the new hotness and I have a bunch of 6.5CM brass I could use to convert if needed (I prefer proper headstamps though to lessen any confusion).
I have a 45 pistol can and a 30 cal rifle can, but will probably pick up a Dead Air Primal in the near future..
38 special? 300 BO? 8.6CM? 44 special? 22lr?
I have a blackout AR upper I'm finishing now, but don't mind going with something a bit "different" just to have something different. I don't mind hand loading and finding brass as anything I shoot will get hand loaded. Or buying a mold to cast big bullets.
kind of leaning towards the 8.6BO since it's the new hotness and I have a bunch of 6.5CM brass I could use to convert if needed (I prefer proper headstamps though to lessen any confusion).
Me, I’d do 300BLK especially if you’re already set up for it.
But, I’ll throw another one into your mix, 45LC. Easy to load subs at 250-300gr, and throwing big pills if you’re shooting predators or varmints. Being a Contender, you could up the ante pressure and velocity wise, and while no longer subsonic, 45LC in “+P” ranges is a serious hammer. Pretty versatile.
Yup, I have a 12" 6.5 CM that sounds like a mouse fart suppressed. Also one in 300 BO, 357 in 8" as well as a 22 and a few more. TC's are very quite when suppressed.
I'm setting up for 300. I've got a 247gr NOE mold that I can powder coat.
I reload 45LC and actually have a bunch of new Starline 45 Schofield cases for cowboy loads that would be fun and shouldn't be too hard to find a heavy mold.
Currently have a 22lr that I will probably get threaded, a 22 hornet and 35 rem barrels but neither are threaded.
the contender has my eye because the action would make it about as quiet as it could be. Along with a Ruger #1/#3.
alrighty folks, so I'm watching this show called Fate/Zero and this character uses a T/C Contender in .30-06! now I look at my contender in .30-30 and go well 06 would hurt but .308 would be cool. researching the contender it looks like .44 mag was as high pressure that the contender could take. but I have a .556 barrel that works on both G1 and G2 frames. .556 is higher pressure than .44 mag right?
so, is it possible to have a barrel chambered in .308 win ? (there are obviously no factory barrels in .308) and would it be safe to fire?
someone please break this contender pressure thing down for me barney style!
and yes I know that its an anime show and Japan doesn't really do guns so show writers probably just fucked up. but if i can get a 308 barrel for my contender I'd do it.
now excuse me while i break the landing gear again.
so, is it possible to have a barrel chambered in .308 win ? (there are obviously no factory barrels in .308) and would it be safe to fire?
someone please break this contender pressure thing down for me barney style!
and yes I know that its an anime show and Japan doesn't really do guns so show writers probably just fucked up. but if i can get a 308 barrel for my contender I'd do it.
now excuse me while i break the landing gear again.
The contender does have pressure limits, but I can’t remember what top end cartridges are. The Encore was made to handle higher pressure cartridge, they look similar but are larger. TC Encore
It's not the pressure so much as 'total pressure'. Pressure in relation to size of cartridge. While the 5.56 has a high pressure it doesn't have a lot of size. A simplified explanation is if you had a container with 5 psi in it, a 2"x2" (4 sq in.) access plate would require 20 lbs to open it. A 10"x10"(100 sq in.) access plate requires 500 lbs. Translate that to cartridges and if you had a 1 cu. in case with 55k pressure you'd have 55k total pressure. A 2 cu in case would have 110k total pressure. It's actually area not volume. But the comparison is relevant.
The pressures limit bigger cases. I know they put .45-70's on the contender, but it's supposed to be low pressure. The biggest case I've seen them regularly chamber is the 30-30 case. And those are supposed to be held to lower pressures in the Contender. The Encore takes all the way up to 30-06 based cases.
The problem with either is it's a break action and therefore doesn't have the same holding power at the top of the barrel as it does at the bottom of the barrel. They hold well until you get to top pressures.
The pressures limit bigger cases. I know they put .45-70's on the contender, but it's supposed to be low pressure. The biggest case I've seen them regularly chamber is the 30-30 case. And those are supposed to be held to lower pressures in the Contender. The Encore takes all the way up to 30-06 based cases.
The problem with either is it's a break action and therefore doesn't have the same holding power at the top of the barrel as it does at the bottom of the barrel. They hold well until you get to top pressures.
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For the record, I own a 7TCU and .222 Rem in contender barrels and use them on a G2 frame. An absolute ton of fun out to 500 yds.
I shoot a passel of cartridges through my contender barrels.
Among them a few that many frown on.
Careful handloading and an awareness of pressures allows me to do this.
Never stretched a frame in over 35 years of shooting
222 Rem Mag Imp., 30 Raptor, 6.5 Grendel, 250 Savage, 308 Bellm, 7mm Bellm, 358x444 Imp., 375 JDJ, 444 Marlin
to name a few
Be mindful of the consequence of your formulations.
Remember: all points of support to your barrel's closure on the break-actions are
BELOW THE LINE OF BORE
Among them a few that many frown on.
Careful handloading and an awareness of pressures allows me to do this.
Never stretched a frame in over 35 years of shooting
222 Rem Mag Imp., 30 Raptor, 6.5 Grendel, 250 Savage, 308 Bellm, 7mm Bellm, 358x444 Imp., 375 JDJ, 444 Marlin
to name a few
Be mindful of the consequence of your formulations.
Remember: all points of support to your barrel's closure on the break-actions are
BELOW THE LINE OF BORE
Thank you all, i still do think it would be fun in 308 but i have a 30-30 and a 30 carbine barrel (super fun)
also @sandwarrior thanks for the explanation!
also @sandwarrior thanks for the explanation!
and now they've come up with the Legend's competition the 360 Buckhammer!
always a new flavor ...
always a new flavor ...
It’s a blown out .30-30 case. Remington’s answer to the 360 Legend. Other than the 360 offering more speed, heavier bullets and more recoil, its biggest difference is that it’s a rimmed cartridge that easily works in lever actions. This will please the traditionalists and be ignored by those that already are using AR platforms. Each has a slightly different niche and should do fine in the Midwest.
It doesn’t meet the hunting restrictions in a few Midwest states that require a pistol/straight walled cartridge. This is probably every bit as good as a .35 Rem, but is allowed for use in those states. Most of these states used to have a slug shotgun only requirement.
Break-actions are MUCH more reliable when the cartridge has a rim
... just my 2¢
... just my 2¢
I would kind of concur. The most accurate 30-30 I ever shot was a Contender. Just a lot easier to get accuracy when all the components of the rifle are matched the way Contenders are. And, of course one can make better precision ammunition to run through them. The method of firing of a lever action with a rimmed case does not hold the tolerances of a Contender.
However, I will say one way to get repeatable accuracy out of a rimless (or rimmed case for that matter) is to NOT load them too hot. Stretching brass and having to size down too much, make the reloaded case not form fit the chamber. Compared to if you had gotten it to where it's efficient and extracts just fine. Necking down a tiny bit, so there isn't much force stuffing a new bullet in.
My 7mm TCU holds wonderful accuracy (1moa or 100% hits on rams) when loaded to 1900 fps. Not as much when loaded hotter. It takes a shade more elevation, but that 7mm is traveling efficiently enough to provide plenty of energy to knock down rams
