I own two older Contenders, a pair of 22lr barrels, .223, 30-30, and .357 Max, all from the Fox Ridge days.
The 30-30 and the .357 Max shoot really well but I have not gotten consistent accuracy from the .223, could be me. These were all purchased for my kids, both the 30-30 and the Max killed several deer and are fun to shoot. In the .357 Max I eventually settled on a mild load of 4227 under a 180 grain XTP, just under 1700 fps, accurate and deadly out to 100 yards. The 30-30 gets fed 28 gr IMR4895 under a 150 grain BT, very mild just for fun load that is stoopid accurate. Hunting load is 31 grains IMR 4895 under the 170 gr Nosler Partition, 2075 fps and has killed deer deaddeaddead out to around 125/130 yards. And as a bonus the Partition load hits the target an inch lower than the BT load so no scope adjustment needed.
Owned an Encore, bought it to start hunting with black powder. Very accurate! But then tried a couple centerfire barrels and was unimpressed...it eventually went down the road.
