Iam going to buy a new barrel for my Contender
soon and was wondering what cal to get for
deer? i hand load so a wild cat is not a
problem.And if i was giong to get a coustom barrel
who would you get it from"BullBerry"?
Thanks,Reloaderlen

What may appear to be a simple question has so many answers "depending" on you and what you plan to do with the gun.

Close shots . . .
Long shots . . .
scope
open sights

Tell us more so when folks answer they are answering the "real question" you are asking.

Of course the pat answer is get one of each!

LouisB

[ 11-03-2003, 01:39: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

I use 357 max in mine works well for Wis. whitetails. 158 rem sp at 2250 with a max load of H110.

I got a 12" SS Bullberry barrel in 7-30 waters not sure how it will do on deer yet but it shoots good. Give me about 2 weeks and I'll tell ya when I go home to MO for deer season.

SD Handgunner wrote a very good piece over at http://www.handgunhunt.com/ about his LONG distance sucess with his 10" 7-30 Waters so the 12 incher should do nothing but improve on that success.

With those velocities in the 357 Max you must be shooting a 14" tube. I can get 1750 fps with 180 grain bullet and have gone up to 2150 with 158s with no sign of pressure using WC820 (H 110 look-a-like) in my 10" Max.

Have never chronographed my 14" Max but it should add 50 125 fps from the results I saw in very limited testing with someone elses 14" barrel. TC did such a pitiful job on reaming or drilling or whaterver the barrel, it looks like it is threaded with very fine threads. May shoot just fine though when I get to testing it!

Just my opinion, but unless you get a 45-70 I don't think there is a factory barrel that makes a brake worth the noise!

LouisB

Get a TC barrel shoot it in and bag a deer!

LouisB

I don't think the Max can be beat for power, ease of loading, accuracy (on the average) and lack of serious recoil!

Like one gunzine writer said. 'The Max has the power at 100 yards that the 44 Mag has at the muzzle.'

Took a 6 point at 125yds 2 weeks ago with a 12 inch 7-30 waters topped with burris 2-7 scope, 130grain Sierra SSP bullet. Scope was on 2 power and worked fine 15 minutes before sunrise. This is 15 minutes into allowable time to shoot. Bullet went thru both lungs and exited other side. Buck ran about 50yds before folding. I like the 7-30 a lot due to recoil level. I have a 14 inch 7-30 with muzzle brake but by far prefer the 12 inch without the brake for ease of handling and lower noise level. The 7-30 is a super whitetail deer cartridge. You may need something larger for mule deer. Ed

Here is a link to the hunts with the 10" 7X30 Waters.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/feature/s14/index.html

I think you will appreciate the average barrel and I would avoid all of the heavy recoilers until you shoot the Contender/G2 more.

LouisB

My vote would be for the 30-30 for medium to long range or 45 colt for close to medium. Both are great rounds. If you want a little more power the 45-70 would be a great one. The 45-70 recoil would not be too bad if loaded to trapdoor levels.


David

I have had both a 14" 30-30Win barrel and a 12" .45-70 Hunter barrel with the brake. Both barrels would shoot better groups than I was capable of with the low power scopes they had.I would say if you can find a .45-70 with a muzzle brake, go with that. Recoil with factory loads is very managable. Plus, if you plan to hunt anything larger than deer, you can load up hotter rounds. If I were using the gun only for deer though, I would go with a .30-30 because it's not nearly as loud as a barrel with the muzzle brake.

30-30 Ackley improved is pretty dang nice! i get 2588fps with imr4198/130gr ssp's in my factory 14" barrel. you can push 125's over 2600fps, and 150's around 2400fps. you can shoot factory 30-30's to form cases, or hunt with. factory 150gr hp win 30-30 ammo chronographed around 2250fps and forms a nice improved case. 30-30 cases are plentiful and cheap, an added plus also.
gonna try mine out on deer in the next week or so, but with balistics like that there's no question as to how good it's gonna work.
i posted some data on the boartuff outdoors forum.

Reloader Len, lots of good suggestions and I won't offer one on a caliber. Buy what you like and it will work. I would get a barrel other then a TC. I had my fill of them. Most were rough and filled with fouling fast. Played the devil getting jacket metal or lead out of them. Sent one 30-30 barrel back for replacement and the new one was worse. Sold it and don't want another.

Thanks! for all the info Guy's
I have been out of town and could not reply.
I will be shooting no more than 150 yrds
and useing a scope and from a box blind so a steady rest is a sure thing.
Thanks again Reloaderlen

Well for < 150 yards you have lots of choices! The 7-30 Waters is a really good one and so is the 30-30 and they both have the advantage of being factory rounds, although to get the best performance you will need to reload so you aren't stuck with flat nose bullets...still they would do in a pinch. There are other wildcat rounds like the any of the JDJ series that is .25 cal and over, the TCU [6.5 & 7 TCU] series would also do just fine. There are lots of others...

7x30 is a good choice and 30-30 is close behind IMHO. If you can do your part, the 7x30 can go out beyond that just a bit with the right load. If recoil doesn't bother you, you can definitely get into more power, but I have to go with the 7x30 with 120 or 130 grain bullets as the most accurate and fun to shoot that I have tried. And on deer-sized game at 150 or less, 7x30 is all you need, so why get into the extra recoil?

The 7-30 Waters is a popular choice, I like the 35 Rem. or the 450 Marlin or 45-70 also.

I also love the 35 Rem with 200sp. There is little recoil ,plenty-o-power and it will drive tack.
The 7x30 is also a dream to shoot.
The 45/70 is probubly ?? the best 100 yard sledge hammer you can get (without wildcattin)
Just be careful with the loads , my friends at T/C had some concern over the barrell I had to send back with the dovetail ripped out!! He He Oooopps.
Happy shooting
Fred

7-30 Waters or .357 Max. 14" and 10" respectively.

I now use all carbines and these are still great cartridges.

I'll go along with the .30/30. It should be great when loaded with a Nosler Balistic tip.

A friend killed an antelope at 250 yards with a 14" 7 Waters topped with a Leupold 2.5-8 scope. I also had one set up the same way but after I happened into a .309 JDJ barrel I sold the barrel and put the scope on that one. I don't find the recoil much different and this way I didn't have to have one more caliber of bullet hanging around.

As to TC barrels...I've never had a problem with any of them....Bob