T/C Contender, off to crazy town!

[coop44]

In a fit of nostalgia, I purchased a t/c contender. I will likely go down the rabbit hole never to be seen again! Came with 357 mag, and a 22 l.r. match barrels. Need rifle calibers, probably start with a 30-30 and go from there. The 375 jdj specs and reviews scare me, so it's on the list. Anyone have any barrels for sale or trade? Carbine or 10 inch, never cared for the 14 inch.

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[Member 34319]

One day I'll get one of these and SBR the thing. Then have a smith work up some interesting barrels. Like 500ne or 10mm. Maybe a 4-8" 9mm. A 1/5 twist 300 black would be cool too like 5" long!

 

[oremike]

I've had a bunch of the T/C handguns the smallest was a 222 and the biggest was 45-70. This morning I saw a .223 in the classifieds here and had one before. I thought about getting this one because it was fun to out shoot the AR's at the local 100 yd rifle range with a pistol. Then I realized the T/c wouldn't do anything better than my CZ 527 so just got on with my day. I still wouldn't mind another someday........

 

[Hemlock]

I have a Contender and two barrels for it. Each have their own scope. A 7-30 Waters 14" compensated and a 221 Fireball. Deer hunting and varmint.
Accurate. Fun. Haven't had them out in a while.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

One day I'll get one of these and SBR the thing. Then have a smith work up some interesting barrels. Like 500ne or 10mm. Maybe a 4-8" 9mm. A 1/5 twist 300 black would be cool too like 5" long!

I need to SBR mine and then get someone to thread the 50 ae barrel I got for it.

 

[Member 34319]

I need to SBR mine and then get someone to thread the 50 ae barrel I got for it.

I'm jealous! That caliber would just be fun, especially suppressed.

 

[Spitpatch]

I have a Contender and two barrels for it. Each have their own scope. A 7-30 Waters 14" compensated and a 221 Fireball. Deer hunting and varmint.
Accurate. Fun. Haven't had them out in a while.

Have two frames and 6 or 8 barrels. In the pistol barrels (14" and less), the Fireball is hands down my favorite, and it makes perfect sense; the cartridge having been developed for the XP100 pistol (10.5" barrel). The Contender bull barrel (10") easily delivers sub-1'' groups and is a devastating killer.

Tried a Super 14 in .223 and that was stupid, watching a fair portion of the powder set fire to anything in a city block radius of the muzzle with only marginally higher velocity than the Fireball in 10".

Commissioned BullBerry Barrel Works in Utah to construct a 15" braked .75" diameter barrel in .25 BullBerry: (.30-30 sharp shouldered and necked down), and took a nice Pronghorn at 175yds.



BullBerry also built for me a 21" carbine barrel (.75" dia.) in .22WMR, tight-chambered. Best Sage Rat gun I own and groups better than any .17HMR I've seen.

For pure fun, trap shooting with the .45 Colt/.410 barrel gets a lot of attention.

A buddy thought it intriguing to collect all the original Contender barrels. He sort of gave up when he started bumping into stuff like .357/44 Bain and Davis.

 

[awags_86]

7-30 waters would be a really cool round in a contender. Load it with some 120 grainer conventional (non blunt nose) bullets

 

[Throckmorton]

30-30 re loaded with 'pointed' bullets can be a real screamer, brass is everywhere, lots of powder choices, even Unique for plinking rounds using cheaper cast bullets.

 

[Throckmorton]

I should get another Contender, our 300 yd range at Florence would sure test it,would love another one in.357 MAX, like I stupidly let go.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I'm jealous! That caliber would just be fun, especially suppressed.

I believe it will be. It will be quite the thumper.

 

[Member 34319]

I believe it will be. It will be quite the thumper.

I keep telling myself I should buy another 12g suppressor for my hand cannon now that there is one with 0 barrel restrictions. Then just shoot slugs out of it! 7.5" ain't burning all the powder and I'm fairly certain it will stay subsonic.

 

[coop44]

Needed an octagonal forend for the 357 barrel, got it! Found a 375jdj barrel, factory t/c, but I will likely hold off for a bit, I will need a carbine stock and forend (scope too) so it will run up to a few bucks.
Is the carbine barrel drilled and tapped for iron sights? Or is it just set up for a scope?

 

[Hemlock]

7-30 waters would be a really cool round in a contender. Load it with some 120 grainer conventional (non blunt nose) bullets

Tried a number of different 120 gr bullets. Settled on 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. Very accurate.
They open up fast, so they work good with the lower velocities of the Contender and are deadly on deer.

 

[Twodogs]

My 10" 44 mag.

 

[gmerkt]

I had Contender insanity in a couple of phases. In fact, having a .30-30 barrel is what got me into reloading in the early 1980's. Because .30-30 rifle ammo I found incompatible with the Contender bbl. I dug up some .30-30 loads that were tailored to the shorter bbl. and that particular problem went away. But it launched me into all sorts of other reloading arenas.

10mm

In my second round of Contender insanity, I had several frames and many barrels, including a factory 10mm which is fairly scarce. At that time, the second phase of Contender interest intersected with my 10mm Auto phase. Another of the barrels I had at that time was a .41 Mag, which is also a hard one to find.

On another thread lately, .223 Rem. in reduced charge was being discussed. When I had Contenders, I always had a .223 bbl., and I'd load down for that with little 40 gr. bullets. But using fast rifle powders, not pistol.

I don't know what's going on with new Contenders these days. Most of us know that Smith & Wesson bought T/C in 2007. It was a business thing, S&W carved up T/C assets and ran the product into the ground. Last I read somewhere, S&W was trying to sell the brand. As far as I know, you cannot buy a new Contender because they are no longer made. I watched a Youtube video about this, the guy said all the T/C equipment that S&W got in the purchase has been repurposed.

There are a number of firms that make aftermarket Contender barrels. There is a guy, Mike Bellm, who is one of the Contender gurus out there. If I needed work done on a Contender, he would be my first choice as a contact.

 

[RVTECH]

In my second round of Contender insanity,

Always wanted to give one a try, would find one, think about it and then lose interest but power to all of you who have them!

 

[gmerkt]

Always wanted to give one a try, would find one, think about it and then lose interest but power to all of you who have them!

Mine are all now long gone. Fact was, I could never master shooting one well.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.Tried a Super 14 in .223 and that was stupid, watching a fair portion of the powder set fire to anything in a city block radius of the muzzle with only marginally higher velocity than the Fireball in 10".

This is why M4's are no longer manufactured with 14" barrels.









not really

 

[MymuttBear]

I'm getting back into Handgun Metallic Silhouette so a 7 mm TCU is on the cards. I have the dies, cases made, RCBS 145gr mold and sizing die. All I need now is a 14" barreled Thompson Contender.
I had one years ago and shot some good scores but the eyes were a lot sharper back then.