I spoke with a custom barrel maker regarding a 7TCU carbine barrel for my Contender today. The first thing I need to decide is which bullet or bullet range I plan to use. He wants me to submit a dummy round so he can make the throat accordingly. I plan to use this barrel on both groundhogs and deer. What bullets do you recommend? I'm leaning toward a maximum weight of 140gr and using a 1:9 twist. I will be posting this question on several forums for maximum input. Thanks!

I use either the Hornady 120 gr. SSP or the Sierra 130 gr. SSP. They work.

IMO, you can't move the 140 gr. bullets fast enough in this cartridge to be as effective as they are in the 7-30 Waters. In fact, I have both 7mm TCU and 7-3 Waters 21" factory barrels. The 7mm TCU pushes 120s and 130s at about 2500 (2450+) fps while the 7-30 pushes the 140s at that same speed or the 120s at 2700 fps. This low speed is also why I use the SSPs in the TCU. As noted above, they work.

Sounds like a fun project. Who's doing the work? How are you sighting it?

Hobie and Bobby, Thanks for your insights. With the consensus going toward the lighter bullets I may opt for the 1:11 twist rate if I can get it. Mike Dubois of MBMCO is the gentleman I spoke with. Very pleasant to talk to and responsive to my queries. He has offered to make the barrel from either a Shilen or Douglas blank. Chrome-moly or stainless. As I recall the 1:11 twist rate is only available in the chrome-moly config. Mike is sending me the specs, etc. This is my first custom barrel experience so I'm pretty excited at getting into this new aspect of TCs. BTW, Hobie, I'm a "few" miles down the interstate at exit 26 on I-81. That just about makes us neighbors.