Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots 30-30 T/C Contender Purchase

Mike Bellm is the man to ask about the T/Cs. His trigger springs are as good as it gets you can tune your T/C for a very reasonable amount and his step by step walks you thru it no sweat. If you decide to do the trigger mod buy a set of his pliers an excellent investment. I have done several and each one turned out well.

I got good news last night. My barrel arrived at the importer. He's going to check it and have the barrel in the mail on Monday. I have a mount, rings and a Burris 2-7x35 ready to attach. Things are coming together.

Alright!

Look forward to hearing developments.

I got the barrel yesterday. It is installed on the action and the scope is next. I'll put the 2-7 on later today. Maybe a bipod to prop it up for pix.

I talked to the barrel importer about ordering a 357 Maximum. I just placed an order for an Accurate 180gr. .358 mold.
r.

I like the Maximum too. I think one shooting the apparently solid gold Swift A-Frame bullets would be an awesome whitetail gun.

Congrats on your patience finally paying off.

The more I look at the Maximum, the more I want one. Beside the 180 gr. Accurate Mold I ordered, I will probably order the Lee .358 200 gr. RNFP. I'll nose around at castboolits.com later for reviews.

In the meantime, just like everyone else does when they get a new rifle or car, time to show it off. The pix were taken with my smellphone camera. The wood looks quite nice. The flash washed some of the grain out, but you get the idea.

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This bonus photo is a corner of my office. I bring stuff up from my shop, so I can have it close by when I'm on my laptop. It's messy because I have 3 projects on the go, so stuff kind of piled up. I'll clean it up later.

Steve, as you build your barrel collection you might want to consider an alternative or two for sights. The picture I posted earlier was shot with an old El Paso Weaver K2.5, as were the groups below.



Another that I'd recommend is the older Leupold 2.5X which does yeoman duty.



The Sneezer likes the red dot as well.



My view on the Contender and the likes of modest velocities is that the handy nature of the platform is not handicapped by low power glass. Smallish scopes do not encumber the gun with bulk and complexity, but they do perform beyond the needs of the platform. I have 3 barrels for my own with another on order. Two of the three wear Millett SP1 red dots and they do fair enough from day to day.

My short shooter w/red dot:

Thinking of a 10-12" Maximum from MGM as well. If I go with that I will have Bellm cut the chamber.

Should be a nice whitetail cartridge for a handgun in the woods.

What? You don't like my 2-7?

It's easier to get a Contender up here than the proper Leupold scope. Or Leupolds at reasonable prices. Most shops only stock what are perceived to be the best sellers - 3-9s, "tactical" scopes, etc. With our dollar being in the tank, even a cheap 2.5 Leupold Ultralight is $500, and a special order item to boot. A 4x33 is $560 taxes in. It's madness! Madness I tells ya!

We need our dinar to be worth around .85 to .90 for business and commerce to recover up here. The exchange rate improved from when I bought the Contender - a couple of months ago it was approx. 1.35 CDN for 1 USD. Now its 1.28 Canuckian for 1 USD. Lot of businesses up here are doing the minimum stock thing. The exchange rate is a real commerce killer.





I agree. Get that barrel and have fun with it! I wish I could do the same, but here in Canuckia, we are not allowed to hunt with a handgun - unless you're a police officer, that is. The minimum barrel length for a rifle is 16". Crazy, ja? But true.

Can I ship you a 2.5x Leupold w/o causing an international incident?

Your scope is fine, and I'm kinda of the opinion that on that platform smaller is finer.

My other scope is a 1.5" Unertl about 2' long with springs and stuff.

Good heavens, don't do that!

The Dept of Homeland Security would come down on you hard! Scopes, even low power hunting scopes, are on their list of controlled goods. They cannot be sent out of the US without the proper paperwork. I appreciate the offer, but you really don't want to go there.

It's a strange world fo' sho'!

https://www.ice.gov/eecc

Is strange a Canuckian euphemism for retarded? Sounds like it.

I sorta get the part about weapons, and unlike our last retard-0 prez I'm not going to break the law, but not even Lizzie Borden could hurt anyone with the damn thing. They are petite.

Dang it all....

I was trying to be polite.

As for silly rules...

Earlier in this thread I mentioned not getting a hinge pin with my action. I phoned the T/C customer service line and was told that since I live in Canada, they could not send me a pin. The reason is because it is a gun part. It had to be forwarded by the T/C rep up here.

I rationalize it this way. It would be impossible for the US govt to go through every firearm part to determine whether exporting them would constitute a danger to the country. As a result, they said that if it attaches to a firearm, it's controlled.

Consider what I went through to get the frame and barrel. I ordered the action in mid April. The barrel a few weeks later. I just got the barrel last week. Three and a half months!

Frame: Went through an exporter (and paid his markup) to get a single shot action sent here. Extra time, and the paperwork had to be filled out. Final cost: $705 CDN ($520US)
Barrel: Same. The exporter's markup and added expensive for shipping. My barrel ended up costing $770 CDN ($570 US) because of the added fees and markup.

Total, not counting scope and mount: $1445 CDN ($1090US)

Believe it or don't, the barrel I just ordered from Bullberry has about a 90 day wait. Nothing special really, a .22 LR match with threaded muzzle. Will have about $450 into it.

Dies: 90-120 days
Brass: 90 days
Mould: 90 days

I gotta hope Armageddon waits for my schedule...

This is what happens when you let a bunch of clowns here on the 'Fire talk you into developing a wildcat....
They didn't even volunteer to be targets either.

phffft........

Now I don't feel so bad about some of my projects, though a 2400 dollar AR will make you ask yourself questions.....but, it is a nice one!

Damn you and your posts steve. Made me buy a frame again. I can stop anytime I want. Itch. Twitch.

My 357 Maximum barrel is going to come from MGM. No reason. I just like the acronym - MGM. Machine Gun Mike's.

You shouldn't listen to the people around here. Just sing.





But just think of all the joy you'll have paying the credit card bill. You'll know that the bankers will be able to send their kids to a good university like Haaavid - not some lowly state college.



Of course you can stop anytime you want. You just don't feel like it. I think of it as spending my kid's inheritance.

Yeah, we need to stop passing down the wealth. Kids today need to learn again about Mother Necessity.

Couple days back the kids and grandkids were here. I asked one of the 14 y.o. lads what he was gonna do when the grocery shelves were barren. He told me he would shoot something. I told him the ammo shelves were barren too. I swear I saw a light bulb wink on between his ears. -Oh the horror!- He paid remarkably close attention as I showed him how to recharge a primer, cast a bullet etc..... Then I showed him the simple path with a flint lock long rifle. He asked if they still make flint locks. Jesus wept.

Steve, Have you checked with Ed's TCs? He has a huge selection and is priced pretty well. Most barrels appear to be MGM. His .357 Max is listed for $295 for a basic carbine barrel.

Grampa will guide him.

He might be more upset that his online games and cellphone won't work, should there be a 'zombie a flock of lips'. You'll get a handle on him. And for God's sake, buy the kid a flintlock!




I didn't know he existed. I'm new with Contenders. He might not sell to Canada, but I can check with my importer, if he doesn't. I just sent him an email.