Thompson Center Contender

Bought a 10" Contender barrel in .357 Herrett many years ago. Shortly after that, I bought my first Contender frame so I could shoot it... Still have them both and along with a .221 Fireball barrel I still enjoy them as much as ever. There is nothing like an original T/C Contender IMHO.

J.
 
Love the wildcats
Here's a 357/44 Bain & Davis
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"Actually shot thru the closed plexiglass window of my ground blind to get him"
Now that is REAL excitement on a hunt!
Congratulations on a close encounter of the venison-kind! :eek:

It was like someone dropped a depth charge in that enclosed ground blind with me! Not a very smart move on my part! All i saw was a yellow fireball and was deafened for a few minutes! Buck dropped in his tracks!
 
I got one that I have had for 35 years...357 Herrett...10" barrel...will shoot 1" at 100 yards off sandbags...Killed my largest whitetail ever (159 score) with it...Love them!
 
NRA Hunter Pistol Special!

Back in the day I shot NRA Hunter pistol competition. It was great fun and one need not have a super sophisticated .22 to be competitive. I did quite well with a Ruger Mk II but got to noticing the really good guys were using S&W 41's, Hi Standard Supermatics and Contenders. A friendly competitor let me try his Contender one day and I was hooked. Box stock triggers were adjustable down to ridiculously low, set trigger style weights with incredible crisp break and no backlash. As a bonus you could dry fire the trigger by simply not cocking the hammer. Somebody was doing trigger work to plate trigger sears with titanium nitride (TiN) with incredible results. I got a Contender but never got around to competing with it. They are very front heavy if held offhand for target work, not for everybody, but accuracy is incredible. T/C used to sell .22 LR barrels with a match chamber.
 
I never got into Contenders when they were really popular back in the day, but I recently picked one up at a gun show.

G1, made ~1988 according to online sources, with a 10" .357 mag barrel.

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Haven't had a chance to shoot it much, but I'm on the hunt for a .22LR barrel. I did pick up a 10" .300 Whisper/Blackout barrel and grip from Haus of Arms, and added a SIG brace and red dot. Looking forward to shooting it suppressed with subs.

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I got on with a 10" 222 Remington barrel back in the day, added a 10" 357 Herret barrel then a 10" 30 Herret barrel. Mostly gathering dust. My XP100s in 221 and 6mm Remington will out shoot any of the barrels.
 
My first handgun was a Contender, 44 mag octagon 10 inch barrel. With the grip common in the early 80's it hurt with full power loads. As time has passed and an interest in hunting handguns, the herd has grown. There are now double digit numbers of frames and barrels. Have also added the Encores as well. Still keep an eye out for Smith model 57's and plan to use one this next hunting season as a main gun.
 
Had several that I used for metallic silhouette way back in the 70’s-80’s! And have taken a few game animals with one over the years!
Simple to operate, dependable, and built like a tank! What’s not to like?

Regards, Rick Gibbs
 
Interesting to see a few 357 Herret barrel owners here. A fun round, though I haven't shot mine in several years. I also have .22, 10mm and 44 Mag barrels; I'll have to drag it out and get reacquainted once the snow melts. Thanks for the inspiration!
 
Back in the late 70s my uncle had a 223 Contender that was hell on the woodchuck and whitetail population of SE West Virginia. I used to hunt in a shotgun only portion of NY. I got tired of watching deer at 150 yds with a 12 ga in my hand and a 6” 629 on my hip. I got an Encore in 243 to remedy the situation. First season I shot a buck at 142yds. I now hunt a rifle zone but still use Encore on squirrels with .410 barrel. I always wanted a 10” 12ga barrel for the ultimate short barrel shotgun.
 
If I could grt my hands on a blank N frame cylinder I would love to make shortened version of the 30 Herret revolver. A blank X frame cylinder and you could make a full length one or a 357 Herret if you used short bullets or seated a bit deep.
 
Interesting to see a few 357 Herret barrel owners here. A fun round, though I haven't shot mine in several years. I also have .22, 10mm and 44 Mag barrels; I'll have to drag it out and get reacquainted once the snow melts. Thanks for the inspiration!

When the .357 Herret came out both IMR 4227 and H 4227 was THE powder for this cartridge...When using this powder I got nothing but over pressure and poor accuracy...The secret to this cartridge is to use a slower powder...when I switched to Reloader 7 my accuracy improved dramaticallly and pressures dropped into the acceptable range....IMR 4198, Reloader 7, WW 680 and similar burn rates are the best powders for 158 to 180 grain bullet weights..
 
I just stuck my toe into the TC waters with an impulse buy at last weekend's big Reno Show. Picked up a nice TC with 14" 45-70 barrel and 2-7 Burris for $500. They've always fascinated me, but apparently not enough to buy one. My original intent was to use it for trading stock, but now looking at the following barrels complete with mounts and Leupold scopes:

14" 22lr
14" 223

If it survives this weekend's gun show, I'll grab the above barrels.
 

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