Thompson Contender Deep Rabbit Hole ( Post 32 Update )

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Narragansett

Narragansett

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Well, I decided to head back to reloading, and decided I would do so with the 22 hornet in a Thompson contender format so I placed a WTB ad on the forum. I got a response from a 2 month member for a hornet pistol. Long story short, I got scammed for 500.00. Charges to be filed with USPS for mail fraud.

Now being in RI and a non resident the only thing I can buy is a rifle. LGS owner had a TC carbine tucked away in 22 magnum. Like new, bought that. Also a 10" 22LR barrel. Got to keep the ammo cost dawn. Then I still do not have a hornet barrel. Bought as new barrel with forend scope base and rings. But wait, I need a pistol grip, bought that but I also needed a 10" round wood front grip. Bought that too. Bought assortment of screws for mounting front grips

UPS just showed up with powder, primers, shell holder, neck dies, primer tray, funnel, heads, and other assorted accouchements. I had already bought Lyman Hornet full size dies.

Now I still need a scope ,base and rings. One set or 2X setups?? Probably need a new manual.

I do have a scale from way back and a Lyman Spartan press that a great forum member gave to me for the cost of shipping with primer feed.

Fortunately, I do not want for more barrels beyond a 223, and I will not reload for that. Oh, and some 22 mag ammo made it to the shelf
 
Yeah, WTB ads require careful vetting these days.

You need brass, don’t see any on your list pf acquisitions. Not 100% certain that I have any that hasn’t been converted to k-hornet, but if you need some let me know and I’ll go look.
 
Jimbo41 said:
Yeah, WTB ads require careful vetting these days.

You need brass, don’t see any on your list pf acquisitions. Not 100% certain that I have any that hasn’t been converted to k-hornet, but if you need some let me know and I’ll go look.
Click to expand...
Sorry, forgot to mention that. 200 rounds of Nosler brass, but Thanks
 
During the 1980s, T/C offered a huge variety of chamberings in their regular production 10” & “Super 14” barrels. Quite a few were wildcats, like 30 Herrett, 357 Herrett, 6mm, 6.5mm, & 7mm T/CU. They were all fantastic cartridges that excelled at getting maximum performance out of the Contender.
If you handload and have a Contender pistol, you owe it to yourself to explore these great cartridges. (Be forewarned: The 357 Herrett will beat you up badly with hot loads!)

At the same time, T/C offered their own brand of excellent pistol scopes that made extracting top accuracy fairly easy for the experienced marksman.
Between silhouette competition and hunting, handgunners started making long range shooting (100 yds and beyond) a regularity.

A great time for handgunners, before everyone became lulled into mass volumes of indiscriminate blasting.

On the plus side, today you can pick up Contender barrels in these wildcats often for under $200!
 
I picked up my first Contender G2 a few weeks ago. It has a 6mm Bullberry barrel, case hardened receiver, Burris 3-12x32 scope, and custom wood. Looks like it's hardly been shot.

I also picked up a 10 inch 357 Magnum octagonal barrel and new forend. I bought a matching grip, but it's for an original Contender and doesn't fit a G2. Now, I know!
 

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6string said:
During the 1980s, T/C offered a huge variety of chamberings in their regular production 10” & “Super 14” barrels. Quite a few were wildcats, like 30 Herrett, 357 Herrett, 6mm, 6.5mm, & 7mm T/CU. They were all fantastic cartridges that excelled at getting maximum performance out of the Contender.
If you handload and have a Contender pistol, you owe it to yourself to explore these great cartridges. (Be forewarned: The 357 Herrett will beat you up badly with hot loads!)

At the same time, T/C offered their own brand of excellent pistol scopes that made extracting top accuracy fairly easy for the experienced marksman.
Between silhouette competition and hunting, handgunners started making long range shooting (100 yds and beyond) a regularity.

A great time for handgunners, before everyone became lulled into mass volumes of indiscriminate blasting.

On the plus side, today you can pick up Contender barrels in these wildcats often for under $200!
Click to expand...
I have not seen a barrel yet for under 250. Lots are 325 to 400 from what I see
 
blackdeuce said:
I picked up my first Contender G2 a few weeks ago. It has a 6mm Bullberry barrel, case hardened receiver, Burris 3-12x32 scope, and custom wood. Looks like it's hardly been shot.

I also picked up a 10 inch 357 Magnum octagonal barrel and new forend. I bought a matching grip, but it's for an original Contender and doesn't fit a G2. Now, I know!
Click to expand...
There are a lot of parts and pieces to the different models. Hopefully I have not made any mistakes on what I have bought relative to matching
 
Ivan the Butcher said:
Sorry you got scammed! Hope a real barrel pops into your life soon!

Ivan
Click to expand...
I managed to get at my LGS a mint TC carbine with a 16" bbl in 22mag. I have a 10" 22LR, and a super 14" in 22 Hornet. I want one more, a 223.

I don't want any of the heavy recoiling stuff, I am having hand issues from a steady diet of 45acp I may have a bone bruise or some arthritis I did not know I had
 
Narragansett said:
I have not seen a barrel yet for under 250. Lots are 325 to 400 from what I see
Click to expand...
Keep an eye on eBay. I recently saw a few between $175-199.
You might want to look for a silhouette forum as members buy & sell amongst themselves. Same with handloading or single shot forums.

Some chamberings have a better record for accuracy/performance than others.
I understand your concerns, too, about recoil.
The Super 14” bull barrels make a HUGE difference from a recoil standpoint.
My 10” 357 Herrett barrel was a brute. My “Super 14” was much milder in terms of recoil and muzzle blast, yet muzzle velocities were quite a bit better.
The 30 Herrett barrels seem to have less recoil than the 30-30 barrels when loaded to similar performance. Very interesting!
Cast bullets work well in them, too. The 30-30 with a 150 gr gas checked barrel loaded to 1400-1500 fps feels like a 357 mag, but with superior downrange performance.

A few others you might really like are: 32-20, 22 Jet, and 256 Win Mag.
The 32-20 was the king for 100 yd Hunters course silhouette. It has very light recoil and fantastic accuracy. (Note: the bore diameter is .308”!)
The 22 Jet barrels really deliver accuracy and ballistics far superior than when used in a revolver. The 256 works well, too!

Chamberings that are often lackluster include .30 Carbine and .223. Yeah, I know the latter is on your list. If you get one, I hope it’s not a disappointment.
But, if you can deal with 223 recoil, you probably would be fine with the TC/U wildcats. They all use necked-up 223 brass. Caseforming is easy.

Contender barrels are also easy to rechamber. There were quite a few gunsmiths that came up with their own wildcats, often made by converting existing barrels. Occasionally, you can find a package deal consisting of a customized barrel, a die set, and some formed brass.

A couple friends of mine got me into Contenders back in the 80s.
One day, they excitedly informed me that a local dealer was discontinuing their TC product line. They blew out all their barrel inventory for $30-50 each!
We all got a lot of stuff to play with!
 
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Narragansett said:
Well, I decided to head back to reloading, and decided I would do so with the 22 hornet in a Thompson contender format so I placed a WTB ad on the forum. I got a response from a 2 month member for a hornet pistol. Long story short, I got scammed for 500.00. Charges to be filed with USPS for mail fraud.

Now being in RI and a non resident the only thing I can buy is a rifle. LGS owner had a TC carbine tucked away in 22 magnum. Like new, bought that. Also a 10" 22LR barrel. Got to keep the ammo cost dawn. Then I still do not have a hornet barrel. Bought as new barrel with forend scope base and rings. But wait, I need a pistol grip, bought that but I also needed a 10" round wood front grip. Bought that too. Bought assortment of screws for mounting front grips

UPS just showed up with powder, primers, shell holder, neck dies, primer tray, funnel, heads, and other assorted accouchements. I had already bought Lyman Hornet full size dies.

Now I still need a scope ,base and rings. One set or 2X setups?? Probably need a new manual.

I do have a scale from way back and a Lyman Spartan press that a great forum member gave to me for the cost of shipping with primer feed.

Fortunately, I do not want for more barrels beyond a 223, and I will not reload for that. Oh, and some 22 mag ammo made it to the shelf
Click to expand...

I highlighted that line for you to check six months from now, shake your head and say "oh how little I knew ...."

6string covered alot of good ground with nice chamberings. Everyone needs an enabler. :)

Weaver makes a nice 2X to 8X scope, Burris makes good handgun scopes too. Finding the sweet spot re eye relief is important. I've found the greater the magnification the more precise is eye placement. Much tighter than rifle scopes

If you have an older Contender (etched frame with about to pounce catamount) Pachmayr makes a terrific rubber backed wood grip. It can be modified to fit the G2 version if you move up to 30/30, 35 Remington, etc.

I know some folks use chamber inserts instead of buying barrels. They work OK but accuracy suffers, which kind of defeats the purpose of the T/Cs.

I've found the 6 & 6.5mm and the 25 calibers are pleasant and accurate to shoot.
 
Game warden checked me out last season. When he saw my 10" 44 Magnum Contender his remark was that I am one of the very few people he has come across that uses a handgun for deer. That surprised me.
 
Narragansett said:
I don't want any of the heavy recoiling stuff, I am having hand issues from a steady diet of 45acp I may have a bone bruise or some arthritis I did not know I had
Click to expand...
Heavy Recoil? That is all a matter of opinion. I had Rugar Blackhawks that would almost unscrew my arm. When I complained, I was called a female body part!

I have a "Hunter" barrel 12" including the factory muzzle brake, in 375 Winchester. Factory 220 grain ammo is like a 38 Special 148 Target Wadcutter from my 4" 28! But that it my opinion. I have a Super 14 in 44 Mag that I had Mag-na-Ported. I have loading Data from Fred Barns (founder of Barns Bullets) that puts a 300 grain Original soft point over a case full of WW296. When I pull the trigger, it hurts my lower back! Or at least, that's my opinion!

My F-I-L was shooting a different Son-In-Law's 10" 30-30 bull barrel with factory ammo, and pulled a muscle in his forearm. That messes up his shooting for the whole Police Practical season. He finished 5th in the "Presidents Top 20" (His worst finish ever!- 17 years of 1st, 2 at 2nd and a 5th!)

Ivan
 
dsf said:
I've found the 6 & 6.5mm and the 25 calibers are pleasant and accurate to shoot.
Click to expand...

Wholeheartedly agree. I've got an Encore pistol with a MGM 6mm Remington barrel and a 2x7 Leupold that is one of my most accurate firearms period. It wears a Pach grip and forend set. I never take that barrel off that frame I love it just how it is. Very pleasant to shoot as well. I've got a stainless Encore pistol frame that I did a Form 1 on to SBR it. That frame I'll swap barrels on.60082718396__FC502E73-3BF0-4814-8334-E0D5F144333D.webp
 
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Jimbo41 said:
Yeah, WTB ads require careful vetting these days.

You need brass, don’t see any on your list pf acquisitions. Not 100% certain that I have any that hasn’t been converted to k-hornet, but if you need some let me know and I’ll go look.
Click to expand...


I saw on another board a Winchester 92 short rifle NIB for $800 from a member with one year on the site. I immediately smelled a scam. Maybe it wasn’t but a rifle that is unshot NIB for less than dealer cost seems like a baited trap. They’re generally high in demand rifles too.
 
I inherited three G1 Contenders from my father, but there are variations within the G1s depending on years and recalls and such, making ordering grips and accessories confusing. It is a deep rabbit hole, for sure.
 
I've had this G 1 for several years with a 223 and a 44 barrel for it but just couldn't get it to act right for me. I got a notion to look for a match grade 22lr barrel to see how it would do out to 100 yds in small bore IHMSA competition. I haven't hit 40/40 yet but I'm almost there. I finally found the bottom of my rabbit hole. BTW, built for speed, not for looks.



 
75Vette said:
I've had this G 1 for several years with a 223 and a 44 barrel for it but just couldn't get it to act right for me. I got a notion to look for a match grade 22lr barrel to see how it would do out to 100 yds in small bore IHMSA competition. I haven't hit 40/40 yet but I'm almost there. I finally found the bottom of my rabbit hole. BTW, built for speed, not for looks.



Click to expand...


Is that a rifle or a pistol scope?
 
Regarding recoil, unlike semi pistols a fair degree of "limp wristing" in the greater recoiling T/C chamberings moderates felt recoil very well. I have chamberings in 375 JDJ and H&H, 405 Winchester, 444 Marlin, 45/70 and others that I really don't care for in rifles, but in 14" and 15" braked barrels you let the gun ride back and it's not all that bad.

Just make sure you have a quality scope and solid mount.
 
Some fun with mine with the .22 match barrel. Have a nice collection of 10" bull barrels, .22, 22 wmr, 357, 357 max, 44 mag, 41, mag, 45 acp, 45 colt, .222, and .223. Still looking for a 10" 38 super and 9mm bull.
Just started load development for the .357 max, that should wake me up.
This was sighting in the new scope at 25y, cci sv.
OP sorry you got taken. I hate scammers.
22 fun.webp
.357 max underway
357 max 2.webp
 
When I lived in Ga. (29 yrs ago) I had a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 mag with a 7" or 9" (don't remember) barrel and scoped that I routinely killed deer with.
 
75Vette said:
I've had this G 1 for several years with a 223 and a 44 barrel for it but just couldn't get it to act right for me. I got a notion to look for a match grade 22lr barrel to see how it would do out to 100 yds in small bore IHMSA competition. I haven't hit 40/40 yet but I'm almost there. I finally found the bottom of my rabbit hole. BTW, built for speed, not for looks.



Click to expand...
The 14” .22LR MATCH barrel does have excellent potential:

IMG_3096.webp
IMG_0574.webp

IMG_5955.webp
image0.webp
(Five rounds LAPUA Midas+ on 6” steel at 200 yards from .22LR Contender, with Burris Veracity 2-10x42 @ 24 MOA elevation above 50 yard zero.)
 
I shoot my Contender as carbine. I have one easy open frame, camo painted syn stock, and a 22lr Match, 22 KHornet, .223, and a 30-30 barrel. Neat little gun.
 
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