Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Contender calibers for deer

Tom...this spring i had MGM build a pair of carbine barrels in 25-45sharps, and 6.5TCU, both medium contour stainless tubes.

The TCU is a 1-8" twist, and i sent them a dummy round to have it throated for 120's seated out a bit. Turns out it also does just as well with 100's,
and it shot the Nolser 100 BT & the 100 Partition great......back when shooters pro shop had Nosler 100 gr
partitions on sale i stashed some back for deer hunting with the grendel & the TCU.

Well several years ago MGM made a 30/40 K. that shoots 1" at 100 yards with me. Thats as well as I am up to. As to 200 yards, I don't hunt where I am able to see 200 yards.

McKnight77, have you ordered or picked up something yet? Shooting it? Just wondered what you settled on. My 308 barrels are fine Encore stuff. But I think back to an old idea of 30-30 or some improved version before the Encore came about. I might have decided on the 308JD. Good luck with your decision but please let us know how it went. Rusty Z.

65BR
What did you use to get 2400 fps out of the 7mm TCU with 120s?

Well, I picked up another Contender.
Just for the frame.
Wondering is I should get a new 12" .357 mag bbl.......run it in Pachy grip and front.

or go with an old TCA 12" octagon 6mm TCU (w sights- yank the rear and slap on a Leupold 4x).
Walnut, w fingergroove grip. I do like the old school look.

Bumped into pops..........he has custom 14" bbls in .256 win and .22 mag.
Be fun chuck/fox killer if I had a 14" .22 mag bbl.

I like Mike Bellms work. I use a 358 Bellm and a 308 Bellm. In factory rounds I shoot a 35 Remington, and a 45-70. I really like the Super 16 45-70 but I spend as much time hunting elk as I do deer.

7-30 Waters with 120 SPH and 120 NBTs. 14" MGM

Found a TCA 12" octagon bbl for sale (couple of them).
Wonder how a full setup w scope would look.
10" octagon looks a little short to my eyes.

Anybody got such a setup/pics?

Likely H322 or H335

Aye.

Mckknight77 have you done something with this idea yet?

Actually, I just acquired a frame and a barrel yesterday. It's an early frame and I got a 10" .44mag barrel with it. I also got an old Bushnell 1.3X and T/C mount with the scope. I mounted the scope this morning.

It's not exactly what I wanted, but the price was right. It will work for the 'short-range weapons' elk season here in Idaho. I'll shoot 325 gr. hard cast in it for elk.

I will still be looking for a 7-30 Waters barrel and a .223 barrel for it. That should cover the range I need.

I do have a question about that scope. It's sharp and clear, but it actually reduces the image rather than magnify the image. I had two to choose from, the 1.3X and a 2.5X. Both scopes did the same thing. Wierd.

I'll let you know this year!! I'm using my Contender Carbine in 7x30 Waters.

I've got 140 grain Ballistic Tips loaded over AA2230 that should be getting me about 2350'fps out of the factory 21" barrel. I need to run them over the chrony. It was a hastily thrown together load, but it's pretty consistently putting three shots into about 1.25-1.5" at 100 yards, with a fixed 4x Leupold. Not too shabby. I'm sure I could do better with more magnification and more time, but not this close to the season.

The nice thing about the Waters is the brass. I had a bunch of once fired Federal 30-30 brass that I tumbled, sized, and fire formed with Red Dot, CoW, and TP. Easy Peezy. Neck sizing only after that. I should get a few firings from each case before they split. I was thinking of trying my hand at annealing.

I haven't shot Contenders for quite a few years, but did shoot the 7x30 Waters quite a bit back in the day in the one I had. As I recall, the 6.5 JDJ was pretty popular for deer size game as well - always wanted to try that one but never did.

I think the .7-30 Waters would get my vote with the powders and mono metal bullets we have to work with today. A .30-30 would not be bad either if you had access to an AI reamer.

I'd go 7-30 waters or the boring old 30-30. Both will get the job done.

6mm TCU pushing 85g Sierra BTHP. I'm shooting it in a TC Custom Shop carbine barrel and it's a joy to shoot and great deer medicine.

You just cannot go wrong with the 7-30 waters. Easy to load, easy to shoot and drops them. Plus 120 BTips are know deer slaying bullets.