Is the Contender strong enough to handle the .25-35 Ackley Improved? I need something fairly light on recoil due to a permenant shoulder injury, but would give me a 200 yd. range for deer and varmint hunting. Also, I am a 1/4 bore nut.

I did a Contender is .257 Dart (which is very close to a .250 Savage/.25-35 Imp). There's on article on my website that covers the round.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

An excellent choice for the Contender.

I shoot the .25-35 in my Contender. Actually, for the .30-30 case head, about 40,000-43,000 CUP is max. There's LOTS of room for improvement in the .25-35 case but you can't ratchet it up willy-nilly. Have you read Francis Sell's .25 Tomcat articles?

Of course you know all that...

Have you ever considered a 250 Savage Ackley Improved? Let me expand on this.

If you are familiar with Mike Bellm, www.bellmtcs.com, he rechambers a 25-20 Win or 25 TCU barrel to a 250 Savage AI with a rim. He utilizes 307 Win brass which is superior to 30-30 brass in thickness and strength. Just size the 307 brass with 250 Savage AI dies and trim to length. Load with standard 250 Savage data to keep the pressures under 45,000 psi for contender frames and your in business.

Makes an outstanding low recoil deer rifle.

Don Shearer (hope his last name is spelled right) has one of these in a carbine setup. He's got a wealth of knowlege and an excellent resource, always willing to share his experience.

Post this question with his name in the title and he'll reply with all the answers you'll ever need.

good luck