44 mag contender

Indoor that must have been a real blast.
A friend has a large collection of TCs and one day at the range he handed me one without mentioning the caliber.
So, trustingly, I fired it off.
When I stopped vibrating and my vision returned, I removed the empty case to discover why he was grinning so much.
It was a 30-30.
Very impressive in a handgun.
 
I had one of the early skinny grip, octagon barrel contenders with .22lr, .357 and .44 barrels. The first time I fired it with the .44 mag barrel, I thought the gun had exploded. The wood forend split in half, with the both pieces flying off in opposite directions and bouncing off the sides of the range booth. I put the gun down, wrenched my thumb back into the socket, and started looking for Pachmyers.
 
I had forgotten about the sign I once saw at an indoor handgun range: "No Contenders, Encores, .454 Casull or other exotics." I asked the guy behind the counter about it and he said that anything above .44 mag was hard on the backstop and REALLY hard on the ears.:D
 
44 mag is an awesome cartridge. Sold my contender barrel but still have Desert Eagle and light revolver in 44. The DE is nice and easy to shoot but the revolver is just short of what the contender was. Lots of wallop and Accurate cartridge for sure.
 
my 10" 44 mag barrel is a round rather than light weight octagon... & "isn't that bad" my worst to shoot, is my hunting rig, a custom 10" ( round barrel ) in 45 Colt... with my hot hunting loads ( about max pressure for the Contenders ) my knuckle will be bleeding before I get to the 6th or 7th round

I do have a light weight octagon 44 Hotshot barrel, that I chambered for 444 Marlin ( regular or hot loads of 444 Marlin are not recommended for the Contender ) I use the 444 in 3 loadings... one is a shot load, that equals a 3" .410 when used with the straight rifled choke tube, one load I use .375" lead round balls, & one load I use lighter loads with bullets...

the grip choice makes a big difference, being a collector, I have many options... the original foam / wood grips are not bad, but on the smaller calibers, I like my finger groove walnut grips... on the boomers, I usually like the Pachmeyers
 
I too am a fan of T/C contenders have 2 frames and quite a few BBL's. Agreed the 44mag is a hand full, as are the 30-30 & 7-30Waters. I have found the 41 Mag to pleasurable to shoot. Enough so that I plan to use it next year for Illinois Deer hunting. The T/C is a hand loaders dream.
 
I have a contender with a 10" light barrel. It will get your attention. When #1 son was in his late teens and starting to feel his oats, he announced that he wanted to shoot a 44Mag. So off to the mesas to the west we went. I had a 44Spl round in my pocket and used it to show him how the gun worked. Then he loaded a full 44Mag round and touched it off. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows tall. He shot a few more and called it quits. The last time I shot a 44Mag (5" S&W 629 Classic) at the indoor range here in Spokane, after the first round it got quiet and there were a lot of heads popping back from the lanes in my direction. A couple young women next to me (also with tall eyebrows) had stepped back. "What was that?" one of them asked. "44 Mag" I said. "Wanna try it?" Well they declined. But I did hook them up with my .357 Vaqueros and a few cylinders of ammo which they enjoyed.

I also have a .256 Win Mag barrel for the Contender. It is a lot of fun. Hard to find dies to load (RCBS wants a small fortune for a copy of theirs). I use the 2 redding forming dies to get .357 brass necked down without crunching it. Actually I anneal the front of the cases prior to forming as a precaution.
 
I wish i had a Contender. I've been looking around, just haven't found one reasonable priced in any caliber that I want to shoot. However, I do have a few 44 mags. I shoot a 4.875 in SBH and 7.5 inch Redhawk. I've found the difference between punishment and pleasurable shooting is 1 grain of powder. I've actually come to softening my 240 grain loads back by 200 FPS. The recoil saving is tremendous and I only drop about 1.5 inches on the 100 yd shot. Nothing is lost out to 50 yards.
 
I wish i had a Contender. I've been looking around, just haven't found one reasonable priced in any caliber that I want to shoot.
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Why is not being in a caliber you want to shoot stopping you? Get the Contender, and get a barrel in the caliber you want to shoot, and sell or trade the other barrel!

Gotta warn you though, Contender barrels are like those potato chips, bet you can't eat just one! :D
 
.44

I, also, have a Contender with a ten inch .44 mag barrel.
I broke four different scopes on it before returning to iron sights.
I have a ten inch .30-30 barrel also....it is more fun to shoot.
Pete
 
I have several TC's, older and newer ones. I enjoy shooting the 10 inch 44 mag with 44 special type loads, it's still a handfull but much better than full power loads. I have shot most of crazy hand cannon barrels over the years but my favorite and the one I think makes the Contender a keeper is the 7TCU. The .223 case is the perfect platform for this gun IMHO.
 
@44amp

Most contenders I find at a decent price are 45/410. I see those barrels for sale often. I don't want to get stuck with a a barrel I'm not going to shoot. I figured I'd hold out until I found one with a 44, 357, or 30-30 to start. I may try to track down a CVA scout pistol. I'd like to chamber a 357 out for Max length brass.
 
'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'

In a previous reply, I mentioned that I "had" a .44 in a 10" "Hunter" barrel configuration and when I shot it, my ball cap kept blowing off my head. Well, when I shot my 30-30 in Super-14, I noticed that it torqued my hand in the CW direction. I guess this could be translated into the direction of twist. ... :)

I took two deer in Alabama with that 30-30 and really it was over-kill. ... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
+1 for the Mighty Max! A wonderful cartridge for the Contender!:D Lots of good .358" rifle bullets out there.
 
Ya know, a guy could just keep a few .44 Special loads in his range bag for when the ladies come around wanting to try it next time.....you can apologize for being a chauvinist pig later on your first date.
 
My Contender hand crusher is a .45-70 Super 16 tapered barrel. I would suggest NOT to shoot this type of barrel-make damn sure it's a bull barrel if firing factory 300 gr loads. Factory 405s, OTOH are quite mild. I have a Super 14 .30-30 bull barrel for it also that I truly love. Like Sevens and his .44, I'll likely dump the .45-70, eventually, as I just don't need this kind of punishment anymore. Akin to a firecracker going off in your hand with every shot. Even with a Competitor grip and Magnaporting.
 
My son has a Contender with both a .223 scoped 10" standard barrel and a .44 Mag 10" standard barrel with Pachmayer grips.

The .223 is a joy to shoot, even with the 5' fireball at the muzzle end. :)

The .44 Mag is absolutely punishing and can't do more than a couple of rounds through it because of the wrist/forearm pain.

I have a Ruger Super Blackhawk 7 1/2" 3-screw that I can shoot all afternoon long with the same or heavier loads.

The Contender does not roll back like the Ruger does, hence the felt recoil difference.
 
Haven't even considered a wimpy little 44 Magnum barrel for my G2 Contender.:D
Just wouldn't compare with my 10" 45-70 barrel. Maybe not even my Super14 35 Remington barrel for just plain handcannon excperience. I'll probably just stick to my good old Super Blackhawk for 44 Magnum. Unless of course a Contender barrel in 44 Mag shows up for the right price just to have one.
 
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