to make? What are the real differences between them (other than a silly little millimeter) What are their strong points and weak ones? I know the 7 is a 223 necked up is the 6 the same or does it use a differend parrent case? Which is the most efficent cartrodge? What can you tell me about the 6 or 7
tcu's to make me choose one over the other for a new Contender barrel?
Jim L

Jim, I have a 7mm TCU that I bought for silhouette shooting. I too was apprehensive about loading this wildcat - thinking that fire forming would be difficult. It's pretty easy. Read Mike Bellm's page about seating and sizing. This info turned out to be essential to me in making the round work well. The 7mm generally shoots a considerably heavier projectile at slower velocities, compared to the 6mm. The ballistics of the 6mm look like they would actually be better for hunting and casual shooting. More velocity, energy, and less recoil. My iron sighted 7mm will shoot about 2-3 MOA off of a rest. With a scope, I imagine that it would do considerably better. .

The biggest difference is in bullet weight for hunting or silhouettes. Neither is hard to form, both are fun. I don't have a 6mm TCU (or 6.5) mostly because of circumstance, but I have 2 7mm TCUs (a 10 and a 21").

Energy is modest but good bullets and top loads bring the 7mm to low .30-30 levels.

A review of load data will soon explain a great deal.

i shoot the 14" 6tcu, and it is a great round! accurate, pleasant shooting, and works from varmints to deer with appropriate bullets, at appropriate ranges.
you just neck the .223 case up to 6mm with the 6tcu size die, then load, and fire the case in the gun to form the case to it's improved shape. straighter case walls, and a 40 degree shoulder. fireform loads are very accurate, and provide balistics that are surprising in some cases. so, there is no "waste" in shooting just to form cases.
for example, i shoot a 80gr sierra ssp at 2700 fps(14" barrel) with h335 powder in one form load in particular.
love it! it's a great little round to play with. i would assume the same of the 7tcu, as i hear lot's of good reports on it. your choice of bullet weights would determine which to choose. in 6mm,55gr-80gr(most usable weights), and in 7mm, 100gr up to 120gr(possibly 140).
yes, heavier bullets are available in each caliber mentioned, but these are my choices that would have a performance level i would be looking for.

close to the 30-30 is true then why not bypass all the case forming and such and just go with a 7-30 waters? Its a factory round and is of similar power to the 30-30 its a 7mm cartridge and these is no case forming to deal with. also you can buy hunting ammo over the counter at most gun shops and maybe even walmart. So for someone like me who wants a 7mm and does not do a lot of (actually none) case forming in my reloading (I have been reloading since I was 18 I am 44 now but mostly reload for more shooting per dollar and sometimes hotter loads in some cartridges etc. Most of straight wall cartridges). I am now sort of wondering if the TCU rounds are worth the trouble if I can have barrels in 30-30 and 7-30. I already own a super 14 in 30-30 and adding a 7-30 will only take a call to Ed's Contenders and a week later I will have one. And I can easily buy factory ammo. So now I gues what I am asking with the two calibers in my stable is it even worth considering either of the TCU rounds at all? Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts. and answering my questions.
Jim L

the 6tcu is very much worth any trouble there is. really, what i was trying to say is "it's no trouble at all". you just run the .223 case into the size die(just as you would reloading any other case). the neck is opened to 6mm dia.. upon firing, the case takes on the improved shape. then reload as you would any other case.

the 7-30 waters is a great round balistically, although i havn't tried it yet. 7-30 cases are formed from 30-30 brass by necking down standard 30-30's, and then fireformed in the same manner. it does have the factory ammo advantage, but i prefer to roll my own.

i'll have to say that the 6tcu is one of the funnest rounds i've ever loaded or shot. well worth any efforts!



i think i have it figured out you need a 6tcu, AND a 7-30 waters to complement your 30-30 barrel. ed's could very well have a barrel in the tcu's also.



here's a couple good articles for ya

http://www.handgunhunt.com/article_index.html

there are a couple on the 6tcu in particular, and some very nice others as well.

If you don't want to mess with fire forming, instead of the 6 TCU, go with the 6mm-223. All you do is run the brass through the size die and shoot, no fireforming to worry about.

Velocities I have chronographed through my 14" barrel are

2840 fps with speer 80 gr bullet using 28gr of H335.
H322 will give you around 2750 with 25.5 grains, which is about max for that powder.

60gr sierra HP's chrono'ed over 3000 using H335 and AA2230.

I pretty much use the AA powder for all my hunting now since I found velocities to be a little faster than with 335 or 322. Accuracy is not quite as good, groups open up to 1" at 100 yards compared to the 1/4 to 1/2 " groups I get with the H322.

Either chambering is very good. Good luck with your choice.

Jim,

If all you want is a 7mm, then by all means get the Waters. The 7-30 Waters will do about 200 fps faster than the 7mm TCU using the same bullets, in carbine length barrels. I think the gap shrinks a bit when the barrels are shorter. You can also form 7-30 brass from .30-30 with no problem. If I understand correctly and you have the Waters, stick with it.

About fire-forming, I've not seen a need to fireform before using the standard loads in the 7mm TCU. In fact, I simply run the cases into my properly adjusted die and load. After the first firing I have fireformed cases but notice little to no difference in either performance and accuracy with the same loads. It is a gem of a cartridge and I get about 2500 fps with the 120 gr. Hornady SSP/VMAX in the 21" and 2100 fps with the same bullet(s) in the 10" barrel.

As I said, my 7-30 Waters gets almost exactly 200 fps more than the 7mm TCU with the same bullets in the 21" barrels. That's 600 fps more than in the 10" 7mm TCU.

I see alot of good info above , I have 10 barrels for the contender and the 7 tcu is one of my favorites . It shoots 5 shot moa groups on the rare days I am really hot , It is usually more like 1 1/2 inch groups using a 150 grain bullet at a honest 2000fps from a 14 inch tube .

It is real easy to load for , It was designed for the silloute (SP?)to have mild recoil and yet enough power for the 200 yard rams .

To be honest , for hunting deer sized game I would look for a little more power.

one point that would determine the cartridge of choice, is it's intended use. the 7-30, 7tcu, 6mm/.223, and 6tcu are all great choices. you can't loose, thats for sure!
if whitetail deer was my main chase, then i'd likely choose the 7-30 waters for any extra balistic advantage it would provide, although all 4 of those mentioned will take a deer cleanly. in the varmint fields, the 6mm's would suit my fancy, plus they can also be used on game up to deer in size with appropriate bullets. any of those mentioned should also make good target rounds, but the 6mm's will have less recoil if that is a consideration.

don't fear the fireforming process of the tcu's. it's no trouble, and is not a waste of ammo. it's actually quite fun to see the transormation of the case, and has no drawbacks whatsoever in my opinion.
another cartride worth mention would be the 6x47, which is the .222magnum necked up to 6mm. it is just a standard opening of the case neck to 6mm, when ran into the 6x47 size die. it was used in benchrest competition back in the 60's, so i've read. the 6x45(.223 necked up to 6mm) may have also been used(not sure). performance with all the 6mm's will be similar i'm sure.

i'm not trying to talk you into the 6mm's over the 7's. it's just that i have more personal experience with the 6x47, and 6tcu, and can atest to their likeability.

i shoot a 7mm-08 in a 15" encore and love it. i also shoot the 6br in a 15" encore barrel, but i was assuming we were talking about contenders. in the encore these two are great choices.