I have three 10" Contender barrels that I'm considering for use hunting Whitetails. I hunt in Eastern woodlands in SW Virginia and I have never shot a deer here more than 50 yds away. I wouldn't even consider a 100 yd shot. Here's what I have:

1. 7TCU factory 10" Very accurate. Shoots 1.5" groups @ 100 yds with some old silhouette rounds (140 gr. Remington SP) I had laying around.

2. .44 Magnum 11" Long story but this started life as a .44 Special carbine. No I didn't cut it down but did have Mike Bellm rechamber it to .44 Mag Shoot about 2.5" @ 100 yards. This is my least accurate barrel in my inventory but it sure puts a big piece of lead downrange!

3. Factory 10" 30 Herrett. Neat round. Gets about 1.5" @100 yards but I haven't worked much with it.

Which one(s) do you have experience with? What would you use?

With a range not over 100 yds my choices are .
1 44 mag
2 30 Heret

I hunt with a 12" TC Barrel in 44 mag and it IMO a great choice .
My curent load is the 250 Gr Nosler Partition .
But any 240 or heavyer bullet will do great.

Johnch

All 3 would do just fine. With the 7 TCU, be sure and stick to either the Hornady 120 grain Single SHot Pistol bullet or V-Max or the 120 grain Ballistic Tip to ensure adequate expansion. The bullet of choice with the .30 Herrett is the 125 grain Ballistic Tip. On thin-skinned game with the .44 Magnum, I prefer either the 250 grain Partition or the 320 grain Cast Performance LBT-style projectile with its wide, flat meplat. With the latter, I prefer to place the shot so that it breaks one or both shoulders. But additional care must be exercised with the Cast Performance load as it will exit from virtually any angle on a deer, including stem-to-stern shots.

Any of them ought to do - though I'd be careful to use "soft" bullets in the TCU or Herrett - but the 44 magnum is a sure thing for the ranges and conditions you describe. Of those you list I've hunted with the 44 magnum in a 10 inch Contender; no complaints from my end. Good hunting!

I would go with the 44 MAG.

You have three good deer calibers, each with it's own good points.
I have used all of them over the years.
7TCU- Good round, light recoil, good bullet selection. I used the 120grn V-Max because I was hunting in an area where 75 yds was max and the V-Max hit hard. The Ballistic Tips works great also but I didn't have any at the time of load development.
44-Mag, Good caliber for the range you say you hunt. I used a 300 grn Cast bullet but don't remember the brand. I also shot some of the 300grn XTP and they did a number on a doe at 50 yds. That is the advantage of the TC you can shoot that 300 grn and some revolvers can't due to length.
.30 Herrett- one of my favorite woods guns. I have the 10" bull with a 2.5x scope. I shoot the 125grn Ballistic Tip and it has taken 4 or 5 deer within 100yds. My older hunting buddy pooh poohed me hunting with this pistol when I got it until he was in a blind with me and he couldn't get his rifle in position for a shot. I twisted around, used a tree limb for a rest and shot the little buck right behind the shoulder at 60 yds. At the shot he stubbled side ways, took 3-4 steps and fell. The old man was setting there with his mouth open drawing flys. He took it the next trip out and took a doe, right in front of him at 30 yds. I told him it was dead on to 100yds. He only had a neck shot at that distance and dropped her in here tracks.
Light recoil, easy to load and you can shoot the 110 grn Hornady SP or many other 125 grn bullets and several powders.
My choice would be the .30 Herrett if I had to choose one.
Good luck

Mike

That 30 Herrett is sure to give you dismal performance with maiming wounds and will throw wide fliers almost anytime.
You should sell it to me so you won't be tempted to use it.

If you hunt more like a bowhunter, and are going to be takeing shots at animals that are not awair that you are there, any of the three would be fine. I really like the 7-tcu with the old hornady 120gr ssp bullet, and now use the hornady 120 sst or the norlse 120gr BT. The 44 in a contender is a step above a relover as far as performance goes, and it would be my choice if there was a chance of shooting an animal that had a bit of go juce running inside. I have not shot a 30 herritt, but have a 357 herritt and like it a lot. Performance with a 125gr bullet would be about on par as the 120gr bullet out of a 14 inch 7-tcu. So depending on how you hunt, those would be my picks.

When I lived Pennsylvania I took about a half a dozen deer with a Contender in 7x30 Waters, used Hornady 120 gr. SSP. I now live in Delaware this is the first year Delaware will have a Pistol season. I am going to use a 12" Hunter in 357 Maximum, with 180 gr. Hornady SSP. and a max.load of AA1680. I will keep you posted.

I use a 7-30 Waters. Great deer round.

All of them will work just fine for converting deer to backstraps and burger.
That said, I vote for the 44 Mag for ease of getting from step one to step two.

Just a guess, but I don't think the steel target loads you have laying around are good for more that practice.

My favorite deer cartridge for my T/C Contender carbine with a 21" barrel is a wildcat called 308 Bellm.

Using 444 Marlin brass necked down with 308 Win dies I load 150gr bullets @ 2650fps.

quote:

Originally posted by clerkofkirk:
1. 7TCU factory 10"
2. .44 Magnum 11"
3. Factory 10" 30 Herrett.
Which one(s) do you have experience with? What would you use?

Pat, greatings! Having experience with all the above, I would say the 44mag or 30Herrett. The 44mag will penetrate better on any angle, but will not have the same "bang-flop" rifle performance effect as the 30Herrett with good loads at your ranges. It is a 44 caliber punch press, and game will expire in short order, but will not "flop" on the spot as often as with a high velocity rifle type cartridge.

The 30 Herrett will have that same "bang-flop" rifle performance effect on game as many rifle calibers, but not penetrate well on quartering or especially quartering away shots as the 44mag.

For what it is worth, 30Herrett with 150grn Nosler BT, and 44mag with Hornady 300grn XTP would be my top choices in those barrels.

I've killed a lot of white tail deer with a .44 magnum, both the Contender and the Model 29. I also bought a .30-.30 for the Contender and out to 100 yards it made short work of the Texas deer I hunt.

In your case with the calibers you mention, I'd go with the .44.

TH

I use 15" 357 Max and 45-70, but with ur barrels, I would go with the 44 Mag.