Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Let’s see your TC pistols

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Let’s see your TC pistols

    I’ve locked in a deal on a contender pistol package now I’m interested to see what y’all got and have done with yours.

    Kills, accuracy, customization ect let’s see some sexy contenders!

    #2
    30-30... love it, rarely shoot it. I’m good with it out to 75 and every once in a while hit at 100 with solid rest.
    Attached Files

    Comment


      #3
      She’s a beaut.... I’m getting a 30-30/35rem/45LC/357max/44 mag

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by BLACKFINTURKEY View Post
        She’s a beaut.... I’m getting a 30-30/35rem/45LC/357max/44 mag
        Thanks! Your going to enjoy them all!

        Comment


          #5
          I’ve always wanted one, but know little about the guns or the optics that go with them.
          I do like pistol hunting.

          Comment


            #6
            Nothing sexy about mine, looks just like the one antlers86 posted, except in .375 Win. Longest shot for me was about 120/125 yd. on a doe.

            Comment


              #7
              Just realized I don't have pics of mine. Bought it used from Texas Contenders about 1983. It's a 1977 manufacture. Came with a octigon 30-30 10" barrel. I have 3 other barrels but mostly shoot that one. A Herrett grip tamed the twist that original stock gave and made it a lot more pleasant to shoot...once you get past that fireball.

              Comment


                #8
                I don’t have the contender any more, mine was stolen years ago. I replaced it with an encore, I have a custom 15” 454 casull, and a 7mm br both with Burris scopes. I have shot elk with the casull and only targets with the br. Very accurate, as was my contender, which I had in 44 mag and 223.

                Comment


                  #9

                  7mm-08 and 223


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                  Comment


                    #10
                    My dad has a 357 Herret it’s a dang cannon

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Contender G2 stainless with 17HMR barrel. Ambi grip in Electric Blue.

                      Original Easy-Open Contenders in .357 Max and 7-30 Waters. Ambi grip on .357. Crusher grip on 7-30. Both in Purple Haze.

                      Original Easy-Open Contenders in 7TCU and .30 Herrett. Ambi grip on 7TCU. Crusher on .30 Herrett. Both in Cayenne. The .30 Herrett has a .22LR full size insert installed. It sticks out the front of a 10” barrel by a little over 1”. One second, I’m shooting .22LR. Flip the hammer selector to centerfire and remove the adapter, and seconds later I’m shooting .30 Herrett.

                      I have a few more. Just don’t have pics readily available on my iPad.

                      All the best,
                      Glenn
                      Attached Files
                      Last edited by cajuntec; 01-25-2021, 09:26 PM.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Contenders are very accurate, when you get the loads right. So far all of my 30-30 Contenders have been able to shoot 3/8" 100 yard groups. You really have to work at it to do so, but they will do it.

                        I have had two Super 14 30-30s, now have a 18 Carbine, in 30-30. I would say the carbine I have may be the hardest to shoot accurately, because the stock does not fit me well. I would like to find some wood stock.

                        The things you really have to work on are finding bullets that will open up at very low velocities. My old 135 gr. Sierra Single Shot pistol bullets, would leave the muzzle at only 2150 fps. But I dropped many deer where they stood at 150 yards, dropped at least one dead where it stood at 250 yards. Farthest shot I ever connected on was 375, I did not realize it was that long of a shot or I would not have taken it.
                        Even at those very low velocities, that old Sierra bullet would open up and loose a lot of energy into whatever it hit. Those were specialty bullets made specifically for those guns, they worked great. Now days, the best I have been able to find is the 125 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip. But I am also pushing those bullets out a 18" barrel a 2740 fps. But my previous load pushed the same bullet to 2550 fps, at that velocity that bullet worked very well. Not sure how well it would work leaving the muzzle at 2150. I would bet it would not open up much at all. I have seen both the old Sierra bullet and Ballistic Tip cut in half and can tell you for sure the Ballistic Tip has a noticeably thicker jacket.

                        If you got a 16" barrel that will help with velocity some, then newer powders that did not exist when was last loading for the Super 14 barrels, it may be possible to get two or three hundred more fps from a 14" barrel now days and then some more from a 16" barrel.

                        Since you did not say what caliber you got, kind of hard to say, how well it will work for deer sized game. Now days, it would probably be easier to get a 347 Maximum to work, since it shoots pistol bullets, which will be thin jacketed bullets. The two most popular Contender calibers are the 7X30 Waters and the 357 Maximum, followed by the 30-30 and 223.

                        I just bought a 445 Supermag barrel for my Contender, since I already had the brass. That should be a interesting round. I have done a bunch of reading on it lately, turns out it was a flop in revolvers it was designed for, just like the 357 Maximum. But like the 357 Maximum, it is a great Contender or single shot rifle caliber.

                        If you bought a rifle caliber barrel, such as a 7X30 Waters, 30-30, or one of the old 6mm TCU, 7mm TCU, you might have trouble finding bullets that will kill quickly, but maybe not. They also made 444 Marlin, 45-70 barrels. Then some more of the old wildcat rounds are the 30 Herrett, 357 Herrett, 375 JDJ, was one I always wanted to try. That was considered the king of big game handgun calibers back in the 80s.

                        I have had many 223 barrels, 22 LR barrels, then a few 17 HMR barrels and a 204 Ruger barrel. I never gave those calibers much credit in a Contender, as good hunting calibers. But they work, and a lot of people like them in Contenders. I just like the bigger calibers in a Contender.

                        There are a lot of choices of grips and forearms, The only pistol grips I have used are the old wooden grips with the finger grooves and the thumb rest, and I think I had a set of Pachmyer grip and forearm at one time. I think that was when I got rid of my last pistol barrels, because they were 17 HMR 22 LR and 223. Should have kept the grip and forearm.

                        The triggers are adjustable, they are light crisp, triggers with very little over travel and no creep at all.

                        If you shoot the gun enough, the long eye relief scope, is just as easy to see through as a short eye relief rifle scope. I have made some pretty fast shots with some of my Super 14 guns. I popped a fox 50 yards off hand, pretty fast shot. I just saw something moving through some tall grass quickly, then it stopped I focused on the stop where it stopped, realized it was a fox, snapped the gun off and squeezed off quickly. Got him straight through the heart. My buddy was standing next to me trying to figure out what was going on.

                        About the same point in time, I shot a running axis at about 80 to 100 yards quartering away up a hill. It was a odd angle shot, I was not sure where to aim, but never once thought that I would not hit it, I just was not sure where to aim. I wound up hitting him through the top of the left lung, through the top front of the right lung, and then the bullet stopped under the skin on the front of the right shoulder. He made it about 100 yards after he was hit, then went down in a creek.

                        Another time I popped a trotting whitetail buck from about the same distance, got him through the heart. He kept trotting like I never hit him, ran in a straight line, up into the brush, then dropped dead about 100 yards from where he was hit. Then fell off a cliff and wound up getting hung up on some oak trees growing out of the side of the cliff. That one was hard to recover. There was cliffs above and below where the oak trees were growing out of the side of the cliff. I wound up climbing down from above, stood on the oak trees, he was hung up on, then tossed him off of the cliff. He wound up way down the side of that hill, that was fun getting that deer out of there. He had very little hair left on him, by the time I got him back to a clearing I could get the truck to. Looked like he had a bad case of mange.

                        Shooting young bucks and does standing still, from ranges of 150 yards out to 250 yards, those all dropped where they stood, instantly, like I had neck shot them, but they were heart shots. Getting a bullet to expand and release what energy it has is the key to fast kills.

                        I have said for 25 years, I was going to get rid of my 30-30 pieces and switch to 7X30 Waters, never have. The old 30-30 just works too good to give it up and I have a lot of brass, and dies. Truly, The 30-30 has done plenty good job out to 250 yards, no reason to switch to the 7X30 Waters. The Waters would have a little flatter trajectory and higher BC numbers, so it should hit a little harder at longer ranges.
                        Back when I shot handguns a lot, I decided 250 was as far as I ever wanted to shoot anything with the 30-30. There were guys who used single shot handguns, to drop deer and antelope out to 350 and 400 yards all the time. Bob Milek was the king of single shot hand guns for hunting. That guy killed a lot of stuff way beyond the ranges I ever shot to.

                        It takes time and dedication to get really good with a handgun, but it's very doable.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Good stuff keep it coming men

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Love me some T/Cs! Got my first one, 10" 22 hornet, 33 years ago and killed a few does with it. Also have a 15" ported 44 mag barrel and 21"223 barrel for it. Got an encore about 15 years ago with a 15" 7mm08 barrel and killed a doe or two with it. My contender is mostly stock but I did add pachmyer grip and forend to it. Had a set of walnut/maple furniture built for the encore. Haven't gun hunted in a long time, but when I do it again it will be with my T/Cs!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I have a couple. One blued and the other is a silver alloy finish. I forgot what T/C called it. Have a 8” threaded .22 RF, an 8” 44 mag, 14” threaded 7-30 Waters, 16” threaded 223 Rem, 14” threaded 375 JDJ and a 16” threaded 358 JDJ.

                              Growing up as a young boy I remember an uncle having a weird looking handgun with a funny thing on the end of the barrel. It was an original 10”octagon 44 mag that fired T/C’s then new shot shells and the thing was a choke tube. T/C used to have the best detailed catalogs put out yearly.

                              Great handguns in their day.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X