What is the most accurate hard hitting barrel that I need for a contender. Lookin at maybe 7-30 Waters? Y'all tell me some good n's without a whole lot of money involved, keep in mind avalibility of components. Thanks guys.

30-30 Improved dies are 20+ buck's from LEE and brass is cheap to boot:>

7-30 Waters is the best cartridge 14 or 21 inch in the factory Contender. The .30-30 is fine, but I think the 7-30 is better. If you want a 10" get a .357 Max, or 7mm TCU (cheap .223 brass). Best of luck.

i'll second the 30-30 ackley improved! i'm getting 2588fps with 130gr hornady ssp's. hopefully we'll see how hard she hits later this fall. cheap dies, easy to find cases(30-30's are everywhere),.308 bullets are plentiful, lots of pluses with this one.
of course, the 7-30 would be ranked right in there, but i don't understand what i percieve as neglect of the 30-30 improved. why is it not more popular?

Its hard to go wrong with the 7-30 I have two of them.I have a 30-30 win that shoots great but I would like to have 30-30 AI.I will try to find another 30-30 to rechamber next year I hope.

I have one (a .35 Rem) and it is good but the Waters is "gooder".

Factory ammo and barrels are available for the Waters. That is cheaper than some other suggestions such as the .30-30 AI which also requires expensive dies...

In a 10" you can get a 7mm TCU barrel for $125 (used of course but sometimes WITH dies) and brass is dead cheap. Jacketed bullets aren't expensive for the 7mms as you don't need a premium for the cartridge to work but that is true of most Contender chambered cartridges. Yet, they have a pretty flat trajectory and a proven track record. They don't beat scopes to death either. More $$ and time saved.

Like another poster to these forums, I really enjoy playing with .30-30 based cartridges and have many of them. If I had to choose one for myself (and only one) I'd pick the Waters.

T/C Nimrod,
I would go out to about 150 yards on deer sized animals with the 7TCU. When I was hunting with that cartridge in the mid-to-late 80's they didn't have such a good variety of bullets that they do now. That may make a difference. I haven't used a 7mmTCU since 1988, so I can't speak about current improvements in bullets.

Ernie

Thanks for the clarification on the TCU. I just have to remember to stick with bullets designed for handgun velocities (SSSP, V-max, SSP). Bigcast, that's one thing you have to keep in mind - which bullets to use in the Waters. I used Sierra spitzers last year (120 grain), harvested two(2) whitetails, but had zero expansion with the bullets. I found out the hard way about bullets/velocity/expansion.

I would have to vote for the 7-30 Waters as the FIRST choice due to the nature of your post. The 7-30 Waters is available as a Factory Chambering, Factory Ammo is available (from Federal with a Flat Nose Bullet, however not the best choice for longer ranges), and dies are standard. The 7-30 Waters I had really liked the 120gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Bullets. This is a good thing as this bullet has a high enough Ballistic Coefficient, and as such it carries quite well. I had the opportunity to take 3 Whitetails with this bullet in the 7-30 Waters, and bullet preformance was great (provided impact velocity was at 1800 FPS or above).

Second choice (and my persoanl preference) would be for the .30-30 Ackley Improved. I have been working with this cartridge all spring and summer and it never ceases to amaze me. I simply had a .30 Herrett Super 14 Barrel rechambered to the .30-30 AI, and as such have about $200.00 invested in the barrel and the rechambering job. I have the Redding Dies and they are a little more spendy ($56.95), however as mentioned previously Lee Precision does offer Dies for the .30-30AI, and can be had for under $30.00 most places. The one downfall for this cartride is that the brass needs to be fireformed to obtain .30-30AI Brass. However my FIREFORM Loads were accurate enough that I used them for Varmints all summer. In my opinion the .30-30AI does has a slight advantage over the 7-30 Waters, and Factory .30-30 Winchester Ammo can be used to obtain your .30-30 AI Brass.

Either of these two cartridges should provide you with everything you expect out of them. The choice depends on how much effort you want to put forth in terms of Forming Brass and Loading your Ammo.

Good luck

SD Handgunner

AI Dies-

http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/browse?TabID=2&CategoryID=8193&CategoryString=9315+***+731+***+702+***+8344+***

I know I've seen that Hornady is making them too for about $50 a set.

Regards

I would prefer the 30 Alaskan, 30-30AI, or the 7x30 Waters over the 7mmTCU.

Ernie

Let's see four design goals: Accurate, Hard hitting, Little money and Availability of components. (1) buy the 7 X 30 Waters , no dies and shoot factory ammo.
(2) After you have shot it enough to become familar and know its capicities. You send it out to be rechambered to 7 X 30 Waters IMP. buy dies (use all the Brass you saved in step one).(3)Again shoot it till you know it. Now call Mike Bellm order a Shilen 15" SS barrel in 7 X 30 IMP, send him dies you got in step #2 and the chamber will be cut to fit. Beauty of system you spend little $$$ to start and can stop at any step and in the end meet all four design goals. Money is what stops me $$$.

Love my 7 GNR

The super improved 7-30 waters

Use 7-30 factory ammo to form 7 GNR brass. My custom 20" bull carbine barrel shoots one hole groups @ 100 yds with Federal 7-30 waters factory ammo and reloaded 7 GNR.

Well Ive got to be difforent. I think the 35 Rem is the best for deer size game and even bigger. I have a 7x30 and a 30/30. I always go back to my 35Rem with 200 gr sp. 100 yard 3 shot groups are usualy one big hole. The knock down power is great and there is very little recoil. The only watchout is that the 35Rem headspaces on its shoulder ,therefore I prefer neck sizing only.
My two cents
Fred Heeman

If it doesnt hurt, its just not big enough.