I'm sure there are a lot of 14 inchers that would be preferable, but was looking for a easy handling 10" contender barrel. Not really looking to get a big grizzly with it, but there is usually a good chance that they are around. Thanks for your choice. e-mail at dennis.madriaga@gmail.com

Dennis,

What animals and range are you looking at? I'm still of the opinion the 357 maximum is one of the best 10" contender barrels. Reasonably flat and hard hitting when pushing 180's 2000 fps. I was getting 1900 and change with my 200 gr cast bullets. Not quite a 200 yd round w/o some holdover, but a 150 yd zero puts you around a 175+ range round.

If you don't mind sacrificing range, the 44 mag and 45 colt pick up quite a bit with the closed breech and longer barrel. 300's can be pushed at 1400, 1500 if you push it a little. That puts you near 454 territory, certainly enough for anything up here.

Never cared for the 14 inch tube myself; a 10 inch Contender can be a pistol, but a 14 inch barrel makes it a handgun. I've used my 10 inch 44 magnum for whitetail in the US (2x scope) and impala, blesbok, warthog, & zebra in the RSA (irons). A 320 gr LBT WFNPB @ 1375 fps is no fun to shoot but it delivers the mail...

Fox Ridge Outfitters can hook you up with a 10" Contender barrel in an array of finishes and calibers for around ~$230. My choice would be the 45-70 loaded to level 2 pressure levels, and paired up with a 400gr hardcast bullet.

Paul, not sure on game? The 357 Max is pretty universal, don't shoot .44's anymore, and tooled up to load 45's. So leaning on the .45 Colt sort of? I did have a 338 Woodswalker when SSK first offered them? But it costs more, and you did get velocities close to it.

Since we're set up with 45 molds, that would be the way I'd lean. Course you could go 10" 454 on the encore, I'm thinking that would be 300 gr ~1800 fps, and your 340's around 1700.

In the 10" contender you really have to narrow down your choices. Your limited on pressures due to the frame, and the small bores loose way too much speed over the 14" tubes, ie a solid 200 fps.

IMHO, 10" contenders need to be at least a 35 bore up here. The 30 whisper and Herret are interesting rounds for deer, but not enough for our bigger species.

The most powerful 10" contender barrel I own is the 44 mag. I guess thats the one 10" barrel I'd use if there wasn't any other choise.

You might think about a 45 Winchester Magnum. it is the ballistic equivalent to the 44 Magnum and can handle bullet weights from 180gr to 300gr.

There was a 45 Win Mag barrel on ebay right now for you to see.

You can use 45 ACP dies to reload it although there are 45 Win Mag dies available. Brass can be found at MidwayUSA and several other places.

Got just the thing for you a 12 inch .411JDJ Mag-na-ported SS Contender by SSK. Brass and dies included, bullets too.

Thanks crawfish!

FYI, You can push a 315gr LBT LFN hard cast out of a 14" barrel at 1800+ fps.

I would speculate that a 10" BBL would still attain around 1500-1600fps, due to the 4" difference in length.

Good luck hunting,

HL

I was over to Bullberry a few years ago and was shown a 8 or 10 inch T/C Encore in 416 Rigby but I didn't have any interest in trying it. It was headed to Alaska.
There is a video out there some where showing some fool firing a T/C Encore in a 600 nitro. You can see the pistol bounch of his forhead.

375 JDJ

I have a .376 Steyr Prohunter that hasn't made the Alaska trip. A 14 inch Encore would be nice for moose and other small game.

I've always been partial to the .416 JDJ, but it's better served in a 14" barrel.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

.411 JDJ, 12 1/2 INCH BARREL.

quote:

Originally posted by HHI812:
I'm sure there are a lot of 14 inchers that would be preferable, but was looking for a easy handling 10" contender barrel. Not really looking to get a big grizzly with it, but there is usually a good chance that they are around. Thanks for your choice. e-mail at dennis.madriaga@gmail.com

Talk with the techs at the TC custom shop fox ridge outfitters , the ones I've talked to hunt with 10" contenders.

Go to reedercustomguns.com and check out his mini-beast. A 10" heavy barreled Encore package with a few cartridges right up your alley. You could just buy the barrel as well. They are an awesome weapon in some pretty powerful cartridges and built very well too.

Woody

10-inch in .50-70 Govt. loaded with BP. If you miss, the vast, sulphurous smoke cloud will mask your escape ...

quote:

10-inch in .50-70 Govt. loaded with BP. If you miss, the vast, sulphurous smoke cloud will mask your escape

Now that's what I call thinking outside the box. Maybe we could add some cayenne pepper to the charge to further cloud the bear's senses...

A while back, I had a stainless 11" SSK .50 American Eagle. It was based off the .50 AE case, opened to .510"(its original diameter when it first appeared). I pulled .50 BMG AP 700 grainers, and loaded into this case. Also used some bullets from my 500 Linebaugh. I modified the barrel to take my slightly trimmed, and rimmed 500 Linebaugh cases also, by just changing the ejector. So I could switch back and forth to rimmed and rimless. I was easily going faster than 500 Maximum velocities, because of the long throat.

I've lived in Alaska twice. My choice would be an Encore in .500 S&W Mag. That should cover just about any situation encountered in Alaska.

Big bear insurance? Wrong gun!

What's your tolerance to recoil? Whatever caliber you choose should be practiced with a lot! (And using the full tilt load too IMO) I don't mean just target benchresting etc, I mean draw and fire accurately in a hurry.....

As a hunting handgun for moose etc which would be more of the Contender's bailiwick, I'll just say that I've killed them when I lived in BC with everything from a .243 to .338, the majority with a .270 and a ribcage hit puts them down about the same with all of them....(They run 50-100 yds if left alone, lie down and don't get up...) Shot placement not ft lbs in other words...

(Of course in BC, one can't hunt with a handgun or even carry one in the bush unless you're a trapper or miner so I've never used any sidearm up there...)

FWIW,

Dennis

Dennis can handle the big bore handguns with the best of them.

I don't know anyone who's owned as many 454's, 475's and 500's.

.445 supermag in a contender.

378 GNR

quote:

Originally posted by ManCannon:
Fox Ridge Outfitters can hook you up with a 10" Contender barrel in an array of finishes and calibers for around ~$230. My choice would be the 45-70 loaded to level 2 pressure levels, and paired up with a 400gr hardcast bullet.

I agree on the 45-70. It can be down loaded to plink or uploaded for big critters. But if your going to kodiak Island for bear I would not take a single shot handgun.

Dennis,
I'd have J.D. build a stainless 10" .480 Ruger, ( yes, he will, I've got a shorter barreled one ) with a 6 screw T'SOB, and 3 ( maybe 4 ) rings. I'd put it on a pre-G2 stainless frame, with either wood or Pachmayrs, depending on my mood.For extra panache, 2 scopes with rings, a 2x Leupold sighted in with 400 XTP's and a 4x Leupold sighted in with 325's. This should fit in nicely with your other estimated 642 handguns !

NOt sure what it would be in a 10" barrel, but I shoot 300gr LBT LFN hard cast with my 14" barrel and chronographed it at 1875fps.

It may be a little brutal in a 10" barrel.

Suprisingly it shot through a 12" mesquite tree.

Good luck,

HL

Had Foxridge make me a 10" 45-70, in their very early days, and with 405 cast, it was a thumper on both ends(brutal because there was no Pachmayr rubber grip)! What kind of velocities are you getting with the 480 in a 10" contender barrel, with the 325 and 400 grainers?

Actually, Dennis, my .480 barrel is an SSK 5 inch stub barrel (see my article "stubbies" in the Oct. 2005 issue of The Sixgunner), so the velocity won't be helpful. However the best .480 loading data I've seen was published by Charles Petty in Guns & Ammo (Feb. 2005). He used a pressure barrel, and a 9.5 inch Super Redhawk. In my experience Ruger barrels are usually "fast", so the velocity would probably be close to a 10 inch Contender. He reported best velocity with the 400 XTP came with 296 (17 gr.=1000,22 gr.=1290 fps). Best vel. with the 325 came with H110 (20 gr.=1080,27 gr.=1545 fps). These upper loads seem a bit hot to me, but then, I'm a bit conservative on loads. As you know, these loads creep close to most .475 Linebaugh loads. I know from experience that a 400 @ 1300 is plenty on buff and bears.

Ken, when the Ruger 480 SRHK first came out, I got one. Lee Precision engineer had a new .480 mold on Mr. Lee's desk for approval for production. When I got the specs from the engineer, I got to talk to Mr. Lee, and told him the mold nose was too long for FA .475 Linebaugh guns(losing those customersP, and short to take advantange of the longer SRHK cylinder. He asked what changes he should do, and he would send me a proto of the changes in about a month. The next week, I received a proto mold with a double crimper. The crimp for the SRHK wasn't as long as I specified, but at least it had the double crimper option. I asked for a gas check design too, but he said not much .475 gas checks were being made(Hornady wasn't making the gas checks yet). Anyway, I can see what you said about .475 ballistics in the .480. OAL is about the same when you seat the 480 long in the SRHK. I feel 1100 fps is good enough with the heavy bullets!