I've been very happy with Thompson/Center Encore and Contender firearms for a long time but I love this Contender. It's chambered in 204 Ruger which I though would be a passing fancy but it has turned out to be a real killer.



I had to be up at around 5 AM for a meeting and have to go to work again around 5:30 PM today and won't get off probably until after 2 AM tomorrow so I was taking a nap in my chair in the living room. I had slept for an hour and a half or so and was just sitting there day dreaming and thinking about getting up when out my front window I saw this coyote crossing the field just in front of my yard.

I raced upstairs and got out my 204 Ruger, opened the front window to my office and tagged this coyote at about 108 yards. I would have preferred it be standing still but I either had to take it at a trot or lose it and managed a bang flop neck shot.

This was very satisfying as I've been wanting a coyote for a long time strange as that may seem. I took a shot at one several years ago and missed twice because of a Tasco scope malfunction; that was the end of my Tasco scope use. Then I shot at a couple more; hitting one for sure and probably hitting another but they got into the corn and were lost. The above one is now at the taxidermist.



A crow I took with the same gun at 311 yards.



A deer taken with the same rifle at 252 yards.

I've also taken too many ground hogs and raccoons with that rifle to keep track of. For such a little cartridge, it REALLY works well.

Ive been looking at that line of guns especially like the barrels being interchangeable.Tax season might bring me one havent decided what caliber to start with yet

Don't you just love those incidental targets? That's how I've bagged a number of critters here in Texas: just by peeking through the windows or front door.

As to the Contender...it is definitely my favorite platform for rifles. They fit me well, the mild cartridges don't beat me to death with recoil, and the accuracy can be stellar.

Posts like yours make me think that I should again consider the .204 in a 23-24 inch barrel. Some day, I may just have to give it a whirl...

Nice shooting, by the way!

Grumulkin,
I'm planning on a new G2 frame in the near future. Maybe a 204 rifle barrel should go with it. Who provided your stock?
Thanks,
Butch

I bought the stock back in the 1990s from Fox Ridge Outfitters which used to be the T/C Custom Shop. It no longer exists so I'm glad I bought the stock when I did.

where was that deer taken? no rifles in ohio?

After many years of thinking about it, I finally got an Encore chambered in a cartridge I always figured would be just about right for what I want to do with it. It's a 7.62x54R, and I like it, although right away I ran into a situation that caused me to wish I could reload a little faster. (get a second shot in the chamber faster) It's a bit of adjustment going from a quick bolt action to a single shot.

The cartridges shown are some Winchester factory loads, but I've been using some Barnes 123gr TSX bullets left over when I had a 7.62x39, and they work great in the larger case. Very accurate at almost 3200 fps MV. A yote hit with that ain't gonna be hiding in the corn field, but there wouldn't be much need to take it a taxidermist either.

It still feels like a toy rather than a serious hunting rifle, but I know it's just a matter of attitude. Since these pictures were taken I've put a better scope on it to take advantage of the accuracy. If I miss, I certainly can't blame the rifle.





KB

Grumulkin

Nice shooting on the coyote, crow and the deer.

Looks like a whitetail doe taken at 252 yards with a .204!!!!

I am sure that Kaboom was disappointed to see that picture of the deer; you probably will disturb him for many nights now. Congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by TEANCUM:
Looks like a whitetail doe taken at 252 yards with a .204!!!!

I am sure that Kaboom was disappointed to see that picture of the deer

Congratulations.

Disappointed?? Wrong word - maybe surprised that someone would shoot at a deer with a 204 in the first place. I don't know just what to make of that.

It didn't go unnoticed, but I chose to be polite initially, simply because it wasn't you making the post. I just figured you and your buddy carpetman were in a special class of your own - stunt shooting with a varmint cartridge.

It must be some kind of magic imparted upon the tiny bullet by passing through a contender barrel. As I recall, you shoot a Remington. Well that's the difference.

KB

quote:

Originally posted by delloro:
where was that deer taken? no rifles in ohio?

When you're using a nuisance permit, as I was, you can use "any legal means" to take a deer in Ohio and that includes rifles.

The 204 Ruger and .224 caliber rifles are especially suited for such a role as they don't make a lot of noise and thus don't bother people much. In addition, such a small bullet greatly reduces the chance of a ricochet.

It wasn't a bang flop shot but the deer only went maybe 15 feet after being hit. I would say shot placement trumps power and that gun is quite accurate.

quote:

it wasn't a bang flop shot but the deer only went maybe 15 feet after being hit. I would say shot placement trumps power and that gun is quite accurate.

this brings up an interesting point, that Kabluewy doesn't embrace...in generations past, does one think that all game shot by the pioneers and frontiersmen... or hunters in Europe, Africa etc... experienced ONLY bang/flop scenarios?

what I like is outside the USA many people have to rely on what ONE gun they have, and they have to make it work...so they learn how to use it...

met a guy in Montana... would you believe over a 100 elk taken with ONE 22.250?

well his grandma is an Indian, who lives on a Reservation.. she take 3 to 4 elk a year...strictly a meat hunter...she consumes the meat...

she doesn't hunt... they are all shot on her property near her house... from her house..

she's 5 ft tall... weighs 100 lbs... the 22.250 is the only rifle she owns.. or has ever owned..
her husband had passed away many many years ago..

she is getting low on meat, she shoots an elk grazing near the house... gets on the phone, has one of her grandsons or nephews come over and field clean it for her.. process it at her house... and life goes on...

it would be funny to watch some of the resident hunting experts on the forums explain to her, the errors of her ways..

The last PH I hunted with in Africa was on, as I recall, his third barrel for his culling rifle which was used to kill hundreds of animals like Impala, Zebra, Wildebeest, etc. Said rifle was a 22-250.

I've taken a couple of deer with a 22-250 one of which was DRT at 360 yards. The one I got with a 222 ran a bit but didn't require another shot.

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:

quote:

it wasn't a bang flop shot but the deer only went maybe 15 feet after being hit. I would say shot placement trumps power and that gun is quite accurate.

this brings up an interesting point, that Kabluewy doesn't embrace...in generations past, does one think that all game shot by the pioneers and frontiersmen... or hunters in Europe, Africa etc... experienced ONLY bang/flop scenarios?

what I like is outside the USA many people have to rely on what ONE gun they have, and they have to make it work...so they learn how to use it...

met a guy in Montana... would you believe over a 100 elk taken with ONE 22.250?

well his grandma is an Indian, who lives on a Reservation.. she take 3 to 4 elk a year...strictly a meat hunter...she consumes the meat...

she doesn't hunt... they are all shot on her property near her house... from her house..

she's 5 ft tall... weighs 100 lbs... the 22.250 is the only rifle she owns.. or has ever owned..
her husband had passed away many many years ago..

she is getting low on meat, she shoots an elk grazing near the house... gets on the phone, has one of her grandsons or nephews come over and field clean it for her.. process it at her house... and life goes on...

it would be funny to watch some of the resident hunting experts on the forums explain to her, the errors of her ways..

So, your point is ..... the 22-250 is an elk cartridge ... in the hands of a person who is skillful, and perhaps hungry, and a grandmother?

quote:

So, your point is ..... the 22-250 is an elk cartridge ... in the hands of a person who is skillful, and perhaps hungry, and a grandmother?

Naw,

My points are...
1. you need to really work on your reading comprehension...
2. folks that don't read your threads aren't handicapped in life, being told what they can't do, according to the Kabluewy School for the Clueless and Mentally Handicapped...

My points are:

1. You really NEED to work on your sense of humor.
2. Taking oneself seriously can be a character flaw.
3. Social skills include writing ability - to express yourself.
4. Using a 223 for deer is a handicap of choice.

KB

Seafire--You nailed it.

Speaking of handicapped and clueless.... errr...oh well

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" John Lennon

The irony of that is obvious. Same as the irony of the title to this thread. Obviously, the success and magic of this 204 on deer is attributable to love of the gun.

KB

To add a little fuel to the fire, I killed a decent whitetail doe with a .17 Remington(25 gr) with one shot(125 or so) and the recipient had it processed on an archery permit(his call).
I've killed Antelope with a .222 and Elk with a .257 Ackley Very Much Improved with a 100gr. Sierra spitzer @ 3,607(3,573ave. for 5) and no thats not a misprint. And yes it's faster than a Weatherby with the same bullet weight(sorry Roy).I didn't post this to piss off the Weatherby people, just what I've found in my wanderings, Chronographed over an Oehler 33.
Kabluewy, if you've never been there,don't go there.

Stepchild
I came to realize that you don't have to loosen your fillings to kill an Elk or Deer size animal, animals only die so dead and after that it's tissue

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:

quote:

So, your point is ..... the 22-250 is an elk cartridge ... in the hands of a person who is skillful, and perhaps hungry, and a grandmother?

Naw,

My points are...
1. you need to really work on your reading comprehension...
2. folks that don't read your threads aren't handicapped in life, being told what they can't do, according to the Kabluewy School for the Clueless and Mentally Handicapped...

Oh and I don't waste my time reading his(?) posts..
But I am glad he is here because of the comedic replies to his posts.
So keep up the good work kabluewy..

Glad to be of service. If I can't change anything, anyway, I might as well be entertaining.

Happy Holidays.

KB