I've got a couple barrels for my contender frame in 7-30 waters and 45-70. But both are longer than 10" and are terribly LOUD with muzzle breaks. I'd like to get something with open sights that's more compact for doing a deer at up to about 40 yds.
I have dies and brass for 30-30, 357mag, 7-30 waters.
I'm thinking the 357 is all I need and wouldn't kick like a mule in a 10" barrel but would like to pick some brains here. Any advice??

kraky,

The 44 Rem mag with a decent bullet like a speer gold dot or a hornady xtp in 210-240 grain would perform quite nicely for your intended use. Even with open sites you are still good to 75 yards or so without a problem. The recoil and muzzle blast should be tolerable as well. Nothing fancy but it works.

Woody

I'm kinda hoping to stick with the 30-30, 7-30 or 357 because I already have the brass bullets and dies. I'm kinda thinking the 30-30 and 7-30 might kick like a mule though in a 10" barrel?

357 Mag and Max for sure will handle your requirements.

Of course, EVERYONE should own at least one 44 Mag!

For an open sighted Contender for deer out to 50 yards with the specifications you gave, I would go with the 357 Mag. The 357 Mag. in a Contender doesn't have terribly bad recoil.

I've shot a Contender in 30/30 Win. with a muzzel brake and the recoil is quite brisk. If you are concerned with recoil, I doubt you would like it unbraked. I've heard that 7-30 Waters recoil is mild but I have no experience with that chambering.

I consider ALL handguns loud with or without brakes. If you would like to hear your grandchildren talk to you, consider hearing protection even when hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
For an open sighted Contender for deer out to 50 yards with the specifications you gave, I would go with the 357 Mag. The 357 Mag. in a Contender doesn't have terribly bad recoil.

I don't know about your state, but the 357 Mag is not legal in all states for deer when shot from a hand gun. For instance in New Mexico, the 357 Mag is legal in a rifle, but not from a pistol. Texas any centerfire round is legal for deer, pistol or rifle, so there are differences from state to state, check the regs, in states where you will be hunting with the 357 mag pistol, before you decide. If you can find a very rare super 14 barrel chambered for 41 Rem Mag, you can have it shortened to 10", and the barrel is configured in a bull barrel taper, so would retain some barrel weight, to dampen recoil. Noise.......Well that is another matter!

7mm TCU, 30 Herrett, or 357 Maximum would be my choices for a 10" Contender Barrel.

I have all three, just to make sure I picked the right one.

I have 10" barrels in .223,.44 mag,45-410,.22 match .22 hornet and 14" 357 Herret also a E.A. Brown 14" 30-30.
The herret's both 30 and 35 were desinged for the 10". The .44 mag also has optimum performance from the 10". If I wanted to keep my barrel @ 10" I'd choose one of these.
I had a 10" 30-30 that did fine but everything improved when I went to the 14". I plan on going to 14" on the .223 as well.

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
357 Mag and Max for sure will handle your requirements.

Of course, EVERYONE should own at least one 44 Mag!

I use a 357 mag 11" barrel I made on a Green Mtn blank. I shoot 125 gr bullets right at 2000 FPS and it's pretty pleasant to shoot. Accurate & within reasonable range, deadly on deer & hogs here in N. FL. I load them down and plink with it to practice. I've always liked straight walled pistol calibers in short barrels. You can crank them right up there and do all you need to get done.

i've got both a .357 max and a .357 herret.... recoil on the herret is wicked, the max is much more manageable... bullet selections are the same... i shoot a 200 gr sierra, does a great job up to 200 yds... i used to shoot IHMSA silouhette with both...the herret requires more case preparation, trimming, fire-forming, but it sure takes the steel targets down hard....

Yes the .357 herrett dose hit hard. I shot a small caribou @ 154 yards and it droped on the spot. I would be afraid that a 10" barrel would create some real nasty recoil. I know that I was surprized with the kick from my 10" .44 mag barrel.

I have both a 10 inch 357 Herrett and 10 inch 44 Rem. Mag. barrels for my Contender. The recoil of the Herrett is significantly less than the 44 Mag. but of course the Herrett is scoped and the 44 Mag. isn't.

I'd go with the .357 MAX since you can load it with the dies that you already have. I am currently waiting on a 10" .357 Max from Coyote Guns and will equip it with a red dot for my "woods" hunting Contender.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

X

Kraky,
Where in central Wi are you? I have a 10" barrel in 30-30, 7-30 and 357 mag if you want to try them out before you buy. The 30-30 Contender was my first centerfire hand gun I owned. When I first got it about 22 years ago I was afraid to shoot it. I hung up a hub cap on a fence post at 40 yards and shot it offhand with a white knuckle death grip. The gun hardly moved at the shot and I did hit the hub cap near center. Shooting full power loads is not that bad. A lot less muzzle flip than I thought I'd have. The worst part was the shock that transfered through the wood grips into your hand. Gripper grips took care of that problem pretty well and a shooting glove for long range sessions helps too. Noise is considerable with the 10". I live in Antigo if you want to test fire.

Greg

I have only ever used 2 - 10" Contender Barrels for Hunting WHitetails. One was a 10" Bull in .44 Magnum and the other was a 10" Bull in 7-30 Waters.

A lot of guys will tell you that the 7-30 Waters is not efficient in a 10" Barrel. Well I beg to differ. Granted I only tried 1 bullet with 2 different powders in the 10" 7-30 Waters, but I did come up with a load I was quite pleased with.

I was loading 120gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips with Winchester W-748 Powder. I obtained an average velocity of 2258 FPS with a low extreme spread and standard deviation. 5 shot groups from the bench at 100 yards with this load / barrel measured from 1" to 1 1/2".

I took 3 Whitetails with this barre / load and my cousin's husband used it to take a 4th Whitetail. All were one shot kills with the closest being about 40 yards and the farthest over 200 yards distant.

As per recoil the 7-30 Waters produced less recoil than did the .44 Magnum and was much more fun to shoot, and more accurate in the process.

Good luck with what ever you decide to go with, there really are a lot of good choices.

Larry

the 44mag is awesome in a 10" Contender

When I called a fox ridge outfitters tech he told me they hunted whitetails with Encore 7mm-08 pistol barrels which come in sizes from 9" to 15".

Greg--thanks for the offer. I live over in Medford. Sounds like the 30-30 isn't that bad to shoot. I think I'll keep watching e-bay and will probably go with any of the 3 calibers based on if I get a buy.
In the meantime I think I'll work a bit more with my 7-30 waters with the muzzle brake. I could actually hunt using my peltor muffs which actually make it easier to hear deer coming but cut off the sound of the shot when you take it.
I should do some off hand practice. I should also work a bit more with my 357 taurus but so far I'm not too happy with the accuracy.

30 Herrett!

quote:

Originally posted by kraky:
I've got a couple barrels for my contender frame in 7-30 waters and 45-70. But both are longer than 10" and are terribly LOUD with muzzle breaks. I'd like to get something with open sights that's more compact for doing a deer at up to about 40 yds.
I have dies and brass for 30-30, 357mag, 7-30 waters.
I'm thinking the 357 is all I need and wouldn't kick like a mule in a 10" barrel but would like to pick some brains here. Any advice??

My 10" stainless 30/30 barrel thinks it's a benchrest rifle. ;-)

That said, at shorter ranges, your .357 barrel would probably get the job done with a lot less recoil and noise. With the lack of a cylinder gap and 10" of barrel, you could probably get some decent velocities with 180-grain bullets.

On the other hand, the 30/30 will flatten the deer easily. I'd rather have the extra power of the rifle cartridges.....

Good shooting,
desmobob

I have a preferance to the .357 max not to be confused with the smaller .357 mag. it is a hard hitter and will reach out a comfortable 75 yard shot

30 Herret. Bob Milek killed hundreds of things with it and a 7-30 waters.

quote:

Originally posted by desmobob900ss:

quote:

Originally posted by kraky:
I've got a couple barrels for my contender frame in 7-30 waters and 45-70. But both are longer than 10" and are terribly LOUD with muzzle breaks. I'd like to get something with open sights that's more compact for doing a deer at up to about 40 yds.
I have dies and brass for 30-30, 357mag, 7-30 waters.
I'm thinking the 357 is all I need and wouldn't kick like a mule in a 10" barrel but would like to pick some brains here. Any advice??

My 10" stainless 30/30 barrel thinks it's a benchrest rifle. ;-)

Just to give you an idea of the inherent accuracy of the 30/30 Contender barrels, here's a photo I posted in another thread today of the first group fired from a new 14" T/C 30/30 barrel I picked up cheap:



My 10" barrel shoots almost as well. (Actually, it may shoot even better... I'm sure it shoots better than I can hold at 100 yards with the scope maxed at 6x).

Good shooting,
desmobob

You might also look at a 300 Whisper. It has comparable down range performance to the 30-30, can be loaded sonic or subsonic, and kicks up a lot less fuss and burns a lot less powder than a 30-30. As to noise, there is a reason it is called a Whisper. And accuracy is sub one inch loaded fast or slow. Based on the 221 Remington Fireball case necked up to 30 caliber, its also one cute looking little bugger with big performance attributes.

300 Whisper Load Data

125-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip (10" barrel)
Hodgdon H-110....20.6 Gr.......2,333 fps.
WW-296...........18.5 Gr.......2,050 fps.

220-grain Sierra (10" barrel)
Hodgdon H-110.....9.5 Gr.......1,020 fps.

240-grain Sierra MatchKing (10" barrel)
AA-2015 BR.......18.8 Gr.......1,101 fps.
Reloader 7.......12.1 Gr.......1,211 fps.
AA-1680..........13.9 Gr.......1,304 fps.

The 240-grain Sierra bullet tests show 1,040 at the muzzle, 1,003 fps at 100 yards, and 971 fps at 200 yards. The high ballistic coefficient of the 240 grain bullets will deliver as much or more ram-downing power for silhouette as a 44 Magnum. It also does well in the field on deer and pigs. When these long bullets hit (the bullets are longer than the case firing them), they tumble and create massive wound channels. The report isn't really a whisper; it is a little more like a shout, even out of a 10 inch barrel. For deer at close range, the 125-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip would probably be your best choice..Rusty.

I shoot a bunch oe rifle and handgun calibers in TC including 6 and 7 TCU, the wildcat version of 7/30, 30 and 357 Herrett, 30-30 and 45/70.
Of those you mentioned I'd go with 7/30 then the 30-30, using 130 gr and 150 gr bullets respectively.

per your initial question.

I would recommend the 357 magnum with 180 gr bullets or 170 gr. I'd even feel confident shooting out to 100 yards as far as bullet performance goes.

for your 40 yard range that would be the perfect ticket.

I have been reading this thread since it was first posted.

If you are recoil sensitive, I don't know what to tell you. I myself don't find many of the above mentioned bad to shoot on the recoil issue.
All of them can be loaded down to shoot a fairly decent load with out beating you up. Practice practice is all I can tell you. When you do hunt, bump the load up to more of a hunting load on the speed side.
For waht you describe the 357 mag can be used very easily. The max being the next thing I would point you towards. Either the max or the mag should be able to work very well with, the proper bullet and proper shot placement. The major problem I have found with the max chambering through factory offerings was the blasted throat was so long, which falls into most of TC's chamberings. I will say I have ran across a few short throated barrels, but it is not the norm.
I did see the 30x221 mentioned above. I had one of those when they first came out. My experiance was less than acceptable and i will leave it at that. Others I know and have spoken to were exceptonally pleased with theirs. My best groups were fired using 222 brass rather than the 221. A bit more work but well worth it with that particular barrel.
Their was a pretty good article over at handgun hunt on a 10"7-30 waters.
I myself still prfer a 14"-15" barrel, no matter what the chambering. SHot my deer this past season with the Encore 308 at around 120 yards standing offhand. I would have rather used a rest of some type, but there isn't much to be had in the middle of a 100 acre bean field.
Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by kraky:
I've got a couple barrels for my contender frame in 7-30 waters and 45-70. But both are longer than 10" and are terribly LOUD with muzzle breaks. I'd like to get something with open sights that's more compact for doing a deer at up to about 40 yds.
I have dies and brass for 30-30, 357mag, 7-30 waters.The techs at Fox Ridge Outfitters advised me to get a 7mm-08 barrel for my Encore Pistol as they use 10" contender barrels for whitetail
I'm thinking the 357 is all I need and wouldn't kick like a mule in a 10" barrel but would like to pick some brains here. Any advice??

My big kickers are 15" 454 casull & 30-06 pistol barrels. I've read about some 357 cast performance 180gr bullets that performed very good giving one shot kills on large coyotes.