I was target shooting with my Contender and a .375JDJ barrel this summer and broke the bolt that holds the grip to the frame. I was told this was probably from resting the grip on a hard surface(shooting bench)by JD at SSK. Now I'm wondering how everyone else shoots this kind of gun, hunting and target shooting.
Thanks
Mike

Mike,

I have a 338 JDJ #2 and the best way to shoot off of a bench is to cradle the gun with sand bags but keep the grip off of the bench.

In a hunting situation you can basically use anything to rest the gun on or just shoot off hand.

Ciao
Mike

I use a Harris benchrst bipod up front with a shot bag filled with wheat under the rear grip. Makes an excellent rest at the bench and I leave the bipod on for hunting. Shoot form the prone position and it proves to a great field rest.

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3-7-77

Using a Harris Bipod on the smaller calibers works great. But if you attach one to a SSK Handcannon in say 338 JDJ #2 or bigger, you will end up bending or breaking the screw holding on the forearm.

Mike

I use either a Midway Pistol rest or a Stinger shooting rest. Both offer a soft surface for the forend and grip to rest on when shooting. With the Stinger the firearm (pistol or rifle) is secured to the rest so the recoil damping system can dump the recoil. Works real good.

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Handgun Hunter
LOVE THOSE .41s'

I have always found that if you have anything hard in contact with the bottom of the handgrip, that it would tend to make your shots go high. It is more so with a heavy kicker, but it can even be noticed with much smaller numbers like the 223. This is just what I have noticed, and it could be my shooting style. Has anyone else seen this?

Your rest is definitely the "magic pill" for some of those reach out and touch shots. I constructed a portable field rest out of the smallest camera tripod I could find. The top is flat and swivels and with practice it can become second nature. It will do wonders for your success and your self confidence!

I discovered years ago what I consider to be the best rest for rifles or handguns. A BEAN BAG CHAIR. Laid across your bench it will allow not only your arms and gun to be rested, but your upper body as well, if it is a large one. It is cheap and lasts forever, provided you don't get carried away and get the muzzle into the end of it, lest you have a mini blizzard of white stuff. Anyone who has fired a really big handgun (I have a 45/70 contender and like really heavy loads) and know what it is like to have your elbow of the firing hand get the crap beat out of it under recoil will appreciate it.

[This message has been edited by W. Wilson (edited 02-14-2002).]

I ripped my forend of my 470 NE today as well. I think the bipod was causing the excess stress. The Bipod mounting screw was bent at almost 45 degrees, and the two inserts on the barrel dovetails had sheared right off.
I think the inserts need to be made with a stronger metal and the the bipod attachment point through the wood forend, needs to be beefed up.
With these heavy recoiling calibers, I think everything needs to be beefed up. I am actually worried about the screw attaching the grip to the frame, but it has not been a problem for me yet.

efryman,

I don't have anything that recoils like your 470, but what I do on my Contenders is replace the screw that attaches the forearm to the barrel/hanger bar with a sling stud. Uncle Mike's used to sell a hardware kit for Contenders that had studs of various lengths, all matching the thread on the factory screws. When using factory 14" and 16" factory forearms, I replace the front screw with a sling stud. With my Bullberry forearm, the single screw that holds the forearm to the hanger bar is far enough forward to let me attach the bipod there. The screw on the Pachmayr forearm is too close to the trigger guard to allow attachment of the bipod, so I drilled and tapped a second hole in the adapter they use for mounting forearms. This has worked for everything except my 10" barrels which have only one screw, and it's too close to the trigger guard to use the bipod.

I have a .375JDJ, .338JDJ and .309JDJ, with all three I use a Pachmayr grip and a modified Bullberry forend that I attach a Harris bi-pod to for both bench shooting and hunting situations. I don�t experience "flyers" or "vertical stringing". The modified forend has the sling swivel �pilar bedded� because I experienced the sling swivel stud bending because the wood was giving way under recoil. Since I made this modification I no longer worry about the stud bending. I regularly shoot 30-50 rounds per session out of all three barrels, using the same forend and have yet to experience a failure of the stud or forend.

I will agree that �standard� unmodified forends won�t last long, but with a little work, those issues completely go away.

Maybe I've just been lucky to this point, but I have yet to experience a failure of the bolt that attaches the grip to the frame.

-Mr Mike

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If There's Lead In The Air, There's Hope!!!

[This message has been edited by Mr Mike (edited 02-15-2002).]

I use a Sinclair rest for mine. When the gun is in the rest I rest it as far back toward the grip as possible. I like having the rest right under the hinge pin. This leaves little pressure on the barrel which improves the grouping. This is also the way I rest on my Shooting Stix which I practice with very, very often. I never ever rest the grip on anything, prefering to rest my forearms and wrists on sandbags. I also find it highly desirable to rest my elbows on about 3/4" of closed celled foam. Keep your head up! But having said all this I find it much more important to keep a firm proper grip when shooting. I try to duplicate the grip that I will use when hunting. If hunting with my open sighted .44 this means just resting my wrists and arms because chance are, and the past has proven, that I will most likely be shooting off hand. Good Luck & Tight Groups Slim

When I broke the bolt on my 45/70 Contender I when to a #8 harden SS bolt this fix that Problem