Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Thinking of getting a Contender. Few questions, please...

My search of Contender threads hasn't quite answered my questions.

I'd like to get the G2 rather than the Encore because of its size and weight but I want 7-08 and .257 barrels. I know T/C and Fox won't do it, Bulberry's website doesn't list them, and SSK doesn't really list cartridges at all. Who'll make them for me?
Don't tell me the frame can't handle them, Jones did all his stuff before the Encore was a twinkle.
I figured I'd bother you good folks with the question before I used up SSK's commercial time.
Any estimates of velocity out of a 13" barrel?
Any idea why no stainless G2?
Are T/C's 1.5-4 scopes & mounts good? (They ought to be after all this time)

macrabbit

I think it's a matter of case head size AND pressure. I believe the higher pressure cartridges with .308 size case heads won't be safe. The contender will take the high pressure .223 with no problem because of the small case head size. The SSK hand cannons used a large case head but the pressures were lower. There is a formula using area and pressure to find out the back thrust but I have forgotten it. Thanks...Bill.

I think that the contender and encore pistols are not available in California because of the stupid drop test.

To pass this test TC would have to supply 3 actions and barrels for every type of finish, and barrel available along with $10,000 or so for each combination. This would run in the 1000s of pistols and millions of dollars.

You should get either a used G1 contenter, a used encore pistol or a new rifle.

Conrad

Sheesh, Kalifornia!
You may be right- I don't see Contenders on the "approved" list.

Yes, Contenders are not available here, st least new ones are not. That being said, the Contender is not made for high pressure rounds. That is why the Encore was designed. I believe many wildcatters were pushing the limits of the Contender frame, and T/C wanted to cut them off at the pass so to speak, and limit T/C's liability.

The above bering said, I have found T/C scopes and mounts on my system to be bullet-proof.

Thanks, MrM

The JDJ rounds aren't loaded to the same pressure as the .308 varient rounds. They are also pretty much at the mechanical limit of what a contender frame can take, and more then one frame has been streched by overzelous loading of those rounds.

The G2 is slightly stronger than the contender frame, but takes contender barrels. The G2 may be able to handle .308 class rounds, but no reputable barrel maker will make or re-chamber such a barrel, because it is all too clear that one of them will end up on an original contender frame, and ruin it.

If you want a 7-08 and .257 bob, you'll have to get the encore the frame. To figure out velocity, look at book speeds, deduct 30 fps/inch from 24 or 22 down to 19", and 50 fps/inch from 19" down to 13 inch. A long way of saying you'll loose about 400 fps over a rifle.

The best scope is the sadly discontinued Simmons gold medal 2.5-7X, but there are other 2-6, 2-7, 2.5-8's out there that work fine.

The best way to differentiate between the contender and encore is, the contender is smaller and lighter, but you have to use wildcat cartridges to get it to perform at's best. The encore is a bit bulkier and heavier, but you can use the factory rounds the contender can't handle, plus a passle of wildcats.

Thanks, Lott.

My hands are on the small side, I really wanted the smaller, lighter gun.

Back to the drawing board.

You don't have to completely give up on the contender. The lower pressure loadings will cost you maybe 200 fps over what the encore can handle. There are a variety of 7mm cats that'll push a 120 gr bullet 2400 fps from a 14" barrel, and that combo has accounted for lots of game out to 200-250 yds.

I really like the contender platform, especially packmeyer decelerator grips.

True enough, but I very definitely don't need to get into any new cartridges!

I went straight to the horse's best friend's mouth- SSK doesn't do my cartridges in the G2.
Maybe I'll just pass on the whole idea. Thanks for the responses.

In standard calibers the Contender is at it's deer killing best in 7-30 Waters. For all practical purposes it's the equivalent of the 6.5JDJ. On paper that makes it a 250yd+ deer pistol.

While ConradCA is correct that you cannot buy a new Encore or Contender G2 pistol, it is possible to get Encores and Contender G2s in California. The trick is to have your dealer order you a Contender or Encore rifle. I know of individuals that have gone this route. The DOJ has approved the purchase of these rifles (DROS forms, remember <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ).



I'm not sure if the state has re-addressed the issue of conversion of a pistol with a buttstock and long barrel to a pistol with a handgrip and short barrel (all Contenders and Encores are considered pistols by the ATF, regardless of which form they are in when originally sold to individuals) so you could be in hot water should you do a conversion. But, the conversion of pre 2001 Contenders is legal, and I seriously wonder if the legistators actually addressed this one particular firearm issue.



Also, it is my not so humble opinion that TC management are a bunch of complete idiots. They only need to have one caliber and barrel length certified to enter California - maybe a 14" 22LR. Then, all distributors and CA dealers sell .22LR Contenders and Encore pistols, with all the other barrels sold separately. So we're talking maybe 4 models. G2s in blued and stainless, ditto for Encores, if they are even offered in stainless. If you don't want the .22LR barrel, there's always eBay. Considering that CA is far and away the biggest handgun market in the US, they seem to be shooting themselves in the foot by ignoring this simple solution.



Regards,

Scott

Interesting thoughts.
Dancing around the edges is not something I want to do under normal circumstances.

Hi in pa you can't put a pistol barrel on a rifle receiver.unless it's re registered as a pistol, I bought mine as a pistol no problems unless you put a short barrel on with a rifle stock, go figure. Ihave a 7mm08 rifle barre (encore)l and it is great. Hubert

Get the Encore if
(a) you must have a T/C,
(b) you must have it barreled for a large rifle cartridge, and
(c) you must load that cartridge to the same high pressures that SAAMI considers safe in bolt-action rifles.

The limiting factor (in strength) is not the frame itself but the limit that the frame imposes on the barrel diameter, thus the strength of the barrel. (Specifically, the strength of the chamber walls.) The Contender barrel is mighty slim in the chamber area � a lot skinnier than anybody's likely to make the barrel on a rifle action (about 3/4 inch, IIRC).

There's no way that Contender barrels can be (a) chamber-reamed to thinner and thinner walls and (b) safely loaded to the pressures that typify large high-velocity rifle cartridges. The walls of a .308 Winchester chamber in a Contender barrel are much thinner, for example, than the walls of a Contender .223 Remington. (Don't even think, for example, of putting a .223 WSSM on a Contender and loading it to 65,000 lb/sq in.!)

It's almost possible (and may become possible, given current trends) to ream a Contender chamber large enough in diameter to leave no chamber wall at all in a Contender barrel. Do some math yourself � figure how much steel there's left in a barrel with an outside diameter of 0.750 inch and, for example,
(a) a .223 Remington with a case diameter of 0.3773 inch
(b) a .45-70 Government with a case diameter of 0.5055 inch
(c) a 7mm Dakota with a case diameter of 0.5450 inch
(Remember, the inside diameter of the chamber is a bit larger. Remember also to divide the diameter differences in half to get the thicknesses of the remaining chamber walls.)

Your figures will show you why the .45-70 and the 7mm Dakota can not be safely loaded to the same pressures as a .223 Remington in the skinny Contender barrel.

Thanks, Ken.
Including (a) you must have a T/C sounds a bit odd.
Dagnabit, I don't know that I want to lug around that much iron.

How much iron you have to tote has to be determined to some extent by how much punch you want it to deliver.

Ken,

The only barrel failure I've heard of on a contender was a 44 mag that was re-chambered to 444 marlin, and the scope holes were drilled too deeply. The barrel split, but it was never clear if it was an overload. As I recall, contender barrels are .800" in diameter.

From all I've heard, rounds with the dia and pressure level of a .308 will strech the frame in a contender, but I haven't heard of one blowing the barrel. The guys with the various 444 based wildcats are treading dangerously close to frame streching back thrust, and try to get away with it by using slightly rough chambers to keep the brass from stretching back, and nearly straight chamber walls.

Too darn close to comfort for me. I had a 30/30 based widlcat, and when case heads were seperating after 2-3 loads with recomended loads, I sold the barrel. If you use a .223 based round, pressures and case life are ok. The contender design never envisioned the rounds that it ended up being chambered in. It is a good platform so long as one prudently approaches the rounds it is chambered in, and the pressures one opperates it at.

I own a contender in .30-30win. For hunting deer in Wi. seems to be a good round. However not a long range round like you want. Most shots here are less than 100 yds. Very accurate with nosler ballistic tips in 165 gr.