44 mag contender

S

shooterbob

New member
Went to an indoor range in Houston last night and my brother had never shot my 44. It's a lightweight octagon original barrel and recoil is substantial. There were several couples shooting in lanes beside us and when he pulled the trigger on the first round, everybody leaned out and looked over. The girl in the lane beside us was amazed. She was saying how she could feel it in her chest and wanted to know if a woman could shoot it. I told her I wouldnt advise it, but if she wanted to she could...she watched the recoil and politely declined lol. Every guy wanted to know if they could shoot it and it was very amusing to watch the look on their face when they set it down. We shot 18 rnds and the web of our hand looked like hamburger lol. I need to get rid of the original grips with the 44 and get a pachmeyer. One guy forgot to cock it and flinched so bad when he pulled the trigger, he turned and grinned. Range officer shot it once and set it down. My brother is retired military and pulled off several 2 in groups at 25 yrds. Fun gun to shoot, but not for the faint if heart lol
 
Poor Bob !!!

It's a lightweight octagon original barrel and recoil is substantial.
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I'll say, especially with that barrel. I had a Hunter Barrel that was a bull with a muzzle-tamer. It had a 12" barrel length and I suspect yours might even be a bit shorter. I had to put my cap on backwards as the blast, kept blowing it off. Still, it was fun to shoot and folks who have never shot one, are really drawn to it. One time at the range, a couple of young guys were shooting at a Bob-The-Builder doll, sitting on the pistol backstop. I let them shoot my .44 and on the first round, the doll fell over, not from being hit, but by the blast. ... :D

Be Safe !!!
 
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I had a Contender exactly like that. Original thin grip on it too. I believe I shot 2 boxes thru it before putting on a Pachmayr grip, which tamed it significantly.
 
I have the 10" round barrel in .44 Magnum for my Contender and it's truly horrendous to shoot.

I carry a Glock 29 and enjoy all the shooting with it. I have a 7.5" Redhawk for shooting .44 Magnum and it's a handful, but far better than the Contender with the 10-inch .44 Mag barrel. I've done a good bit of shooting with .460 & .500 Magnum Smith & Wesson X-frames and every single shot from those is -FAR- more enjoyable in every way than any shot I've ever released from the Contender with the .44 Mag barrel mounted.

Frankly, I loathe it, and I'm going to sell it. It seems as though it would make a fantastic hunting rig and would squeeze all the possible performance from a round of .44 Magnum, but I can only imagine how badly it will attempt to corrupt any mounted optic and shooting it is a nightmarish experience. And given that I am not a hunter, and I have .44 Mag covered with my Redhawk, I just don't need this barrel and I definitely don't WANT it.

It's awful, there's nothing about shooting it that is enjoyable.
 
I have a 14 inch 45/70 barrel for mine and its hard to find someone to shoot it. My 15year old grandson thinks hes a BA so he shot it and it about jumped out of his hands. I just got a 44mag with a 2 1/2 inch barrel but I havent shot it yet.
 
My experience was just the opposite - with Pachmeyrs in place my hand was raw after shooting a dozen rounds or so. Abraded my hand something fierce in the web area. Part of what started my aversion to rubber grips!

Bob Wright
 
Roughedge said:
I have a 14 inch 45/70 barrel for mine and its hard to find someone to shoot it. My 15year old grandson thinks hes a BA so he shot it and it about jumped out of his hands. I just got a 44mag with a 2 1/2 inch barrel but I havent shot it yet.
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Why in the world would you want a 2 1/2" barrel Contender????

Bob Wright
 
I had the same gun (10" oct) in 30-30, it was a real eye opener! I have heard though the 44 octagon is about the most brutal of them all, a bull barrel makes a pretty nice difference.
 
Owned 4, 44 mag barrels for my contender ,
light octagon .octagon with hot shot, external choke. 10 bull.& super 14 .
 
I have one of the 10" octagon .44 barrels, and its a real eye-opener, all right.

First time I shot it, it surprised me so much I said a bad word out LOUD at the range! :o

I have a 14" bull .45-70 barrel, (among others) and to me, the .44 recoil feels about the same, BUT the light .44 has tremendous muzzle flip!

I'm a big proponent of the Pachmayr rubber grip, for ME. Everybody's different. For ME, the rubber grip saves my hand while the wood chews it up (some). Its also a matter of the level of recoil. No issues for me shooting lighter recoiling cartridges with either wood or rubber.

I don't shoot the .44 barrel much (quite rarely, in fact) both because it is such a beast, and because I have a couple of .44 revolvers and autoloaders, which, while heavier to carry and MUCH more pleasant to shoot.

Not planning on selling the .44 Mag barrel though. Part of my "Contender plan" was to have barrels in as many of the calibers of the other guns I have as I could get. Nearly there, but not complete. Probably will have to special order some of them.

Currently, my most "fun" barrel is one I found in 9mm Luger. 6". Its highly accurate, light recoil, and in the Contender 6" looks really short, just a little bit longer than the forend. Looks really neat.."AARRRRRR, prepare to repel boarders! ARRRR!!!":D

Also have won a couple friendly bets over "who can shoot the best group with their 9mm?" :D (made, of course, before they actually see "my 9mm" ;))

They ALWAYS beat me in speed, but ONLY in speed! :D

Mostly Contenders are great fun, but that light 10" .44 barrel while getting everything from the round, leaves the "fun" part in the gun case with the other barrels.
 
Also have won a couple friendly bets over "who can shoot the best group with their 9mm?" :D (made, of course, before they actually see "my 9mm" )

They ALWAYS beat me in speed, but ONLY in speed! :D
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That is just plain evil! :eek:
And totally awesome! ;) :cool:
 
I just bought the same gun. .44 mag octagon barrel with a ported muzzle threaded for a choke to use with .44 shot shells, but mine is missing the choke. Not that I'd ever use it. Haven't had it to the range yet though.

Used to have a blackhawk in .45 colt and a friend loaded me up some "ruger only " loads. Good golly. The hardware section of walmart sells cushioned gloves for use in construction and I find they help quite a bit with felt recoil.
 
I had one of those things also.
That gun actually would split the web between my thumb and forefinger.
The flinch got so bad,I sold it,and have not looked back,altho I would like a super 14.
 
I just bought a 256 win barrel 10 in bull and been researching it and its going to be great in ss platform. Plus using 357 brass makes it affordable. I also bought a 5mm Craig CF which is a fun round as well.
 
There's a man who lives not too far from my son-in-law who makes custom barrels for Thompson Contenders. I've had the opportunity to shoot a number of these and they are indeed awesome. He has taken African game animals with some of his creations.

Somehow though, the single shot just never caught my attention.

Bob Wright
 
The grips make all the difference! Those older Contenders were hand killers.

Much like those Ruger Dragoon trigger guards. Some folks can shoot 'em fine, but others get a bruised knuckle after just one shot.
 
"and when he pulled the trigger on the first round, everybody leaned out and looked over." In other words the report was so loud that everyone noticed. Nothing impresses a new female shooter, or new shooter in general like the hand cannon being discharged in the next stall or station. The number one complaint I hear as a range officer is related to noise.
 
The old Octagon, original stocked guns were very nice to look at. In the milder calibers they can be allot of fun, I have a 25-35 and my brother-in-law has a 222Rem. Both loud and especially the 222, very light recoil.
 
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