More Contender "stuff" fitment of grips, forends, & your favorites...

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
Hi, I'm Magnum, & I'm addicted to Contenders... butt... isn't everyone :rolleyes:

I was working on a few barrels & actions this morning... right now my light caliber 10" barreled action wears an old Thompson Center wood finger groove grip ( unfortunately it was dropped or ??? before I got it, & chipped out the bottom edge... the chip was glued back in, but the grip has not been refinished or sanded, so it is both noticable in looks & feel )... however that is one of my favorite grips for light calibers, I should either fix it right, or replace it... that action wears a short Thompson Center wood forend just drilled for the light weight 10" barrels & that action almost always has been used with an old light weight octogon 10" 22 hornet barrel, but currently is wearing an equally old & octogon factory 10" 17 K Hornet barrel... I have a handmade heavy walnut "block" fore end for bench use, which I may refinish, & use regularly on that action

my next 2 actions both wear finger groved rubber Pacmiere ( spelling ) grips & forends... the forends ( I have 3 of that style ) all say 10" bull barrel, super 14" & vent rib in the hollowed out inside however only one has the hole drilled ( not from the factory ) to fit the single screw base on the 10" bull barrel ( all of my 10" bull barrels only have one dove tailed screw base in the barrel ) those fore ends dont fit on the super 14" or 14" hunter barrels, as they have a single hole in the center of the fore end, centered between the 14" barrels dovetailed screw bases... then a spacer block goes between those 2 screw bases with a hole in the center which those fore ends screw into... I don't remember what they call that block, but I only have one ( maybe 2 if there is one on a barrel that is put away )... these rubber finger groved grips & matching fore ends are my favorite to use when hunting & on my bigger calibers... I'm thinking about having 5-6 of those blocks made, & adding the 2nd dovetail on my bigger bore & hunting 10" barrels... those fore ends fit much better with the factory hole on the block, than the one does that is drilled with the extra hole to fit the 10" barrels... I'm currently building a "special" 10" heavy 45 Colt barrel fitted with Willams fire sights red front fiber optic bead, & rear green dot outlined fiber optic ghost ring rear... if I like that set up for hunting ( as I expect I will ), I'll likely pull the scope off my 45-70 14" Hunter barrel & add similar sights to that barrel... but both my 10" 30-30 & that 10" heavy 45 Colt barrel will likely get the 2nd screw base so that the spacer block can be used on them as well, giving me a better fitment of the fore end on those barrels

my 4th action is always set up with an old Fajien thumbhole camo laminate carbine stock & fore end ( almost always fitted with a vent rib 410 barrel ), but I'm building a "fast twist" 223 carbine barrel over the winter, that should stabilize the newer heavier 223 target bullets... I sold my old 223 carbine barrel that was a 1 in 12 twist, as it wouldn't stabilize anything over 55 grain bullets...BTW... the extra chunk of barrel will be used to build a 10" 5.7 X 28 barrel

so...is my stuff so old, that I have those fitment issues with the 10" bull barrels / 14" barrels??? or what are your favorite grips & fore ends to use...
 
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"Competitor" grip seen below; supposed to be a better cushion for the heavier kickers. Lovely for the .30-30, but the .45-70? Not so much.:eek: Unless of course they're 405 grain loads, but those are rather embarrassing. I don't think they have as much energy as a .44 mag.

100_0461.jpg
 
Thanks for the post... I have one of those grips as well... I know I've shot it... just quite a while ago... I also have a couple Pachmayr ( WOW... was I off on that spelling ) non finger groove rubber grips as well...

I'm setting up ( actually resetting up ) my 14" hunter 45-70 barrel... I think I'm going to try the fiber optic set up I put on my 10" 45 Colt Barrel on my 45-70 barrel as well... my only concern is keeping thefront sight on that heavy recoiling beast :D

at the same time, I have a new 14" 35 Remington barrel I'm also setting up, & think I'll move the Luepold mount & 2 - 7X Burris posi lock scope from the 45-70 to the 35 Remington...

I'm wondering if those adaptor blocks I referenced in my 1st post aren't made by Pachmayr for thier fore ends ??? they are cast aluminum & there is no manufacturer markings on them... I don't see how those rubber fore ends could be marked to fit either the 10" bull or the 14" barrels with it's hole placement without the use of those blocks... my builder is going to make me up about 6 of them, out of steel so I have 2 extra for future use, plus the original aluminum one...

adding a 2nd dove tailed screw base is appearently tougher than it sounds... my builder thinks they must cut both dove tails at the same time on the 14" barrels( to keep the fit precise )... so for the 10" barrels, we'll just tap a hole ( larger screw to handle the stress ) towards the front...( they must be counting on only the rear screw holding those blocks on the 10" barrels anyway , so adding a 2nd screw can only be better ???
 
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so appearently that adaptor block is available by itself... ( cast aluminum )

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0001003381

however we've decided to go ahead & make our own out of steel, so that they'll fit the 10" bull barrels ( with an added tapped hole for the 2nd screw )... in stock form, they only use the one screw on 10" barrels... plus, those blocks don't fit the 16" or 21" barrels, however our's will with the added 6-48 screw hole drilled in those 10" bull barrels or the longer barrels... one fore arm for 10" through 21" barrels if I wanted to use that shorter rubber fore end on the carbines...

anyone ever seen a Houge or a composite stock available "aftermarket" for the Contenders... maybe even a thumbhole ???

BTW... the pic in the link, is my style of grips & fore ends
 
For the best info around they joining the specialty pistol forum, the people there are really into single shot pistols of all kinds T.C.'s are a big deal over there.Alex
 
MWM, I have a few questions for you. I just bought a 14 inch .45-70 bbl w/muzzle tamer. It wears a 1-4 Burris posi-loc. My first loads were 20 grains of 2400 under a Lyman cast 330 grain HP. I also tried 26 grains of RE7 with the same bullet. I was getting about 2.5 inch groups with an occasional flier at 50 yds. The 2400 load seemed to shoot a little better and cleaner than RE7. I then tried a Rem 300 grain JHP under the 20/2400 load. It shot a little better but not a lot. What have you found as your honey load if anything. It has been too cold out lately to do a lot of testing. All of my other Contenders will do as good if not better at 100 yds. Fred.
 
Fred... it's been several years since I reloaded, & I hadn't reloaded for 45-70 when I used to reload... so my groups were with Remington factory ammo...

BTW though... I'm still going though my reloading stuff that I got from my father in law, after he died ( which is really the bulk of the reloading stuff ), & I just came across his reloading notebook ( the Contender collection used to be his, so he has actually loaded for most every cartridge they made barrels for )... I haven't had time to go through the notebook in detail, or test the accuracy of the loads myself, but hope to in the next 6 months...

BTW... I did up my test loads for the 45 Colt stepping up from tame to max loads with both #9 & 4227... hope to shoot them up this weekend...
 
I'm a proponent of a pistol actually being a pistol and not a rifle with a one-hand grip.
So I'm a fan of the Contender 10" barrels of any caliber.

I bought a brand new "Armor Alloy" Contender way back when, and with the frame, I bought the .22, .357 and .44 AA barrels.
Later, I wanted to expand a little but didn't really want to have the AA frame modified because I liked the idea of keeping it original since I had the matching 3 barrels.
Later on, I found and bought an original NIB Armor Alloy 7mmTCU in 10" so I think I have what would be considered a pretty good "set".
 
so far all mine are blued... a total of 4 actions, & here is a list of my barrels & sights... ( sorry, I had to remove the sights, I couldn't get things to list right on the forum )

I'm posting the list, in case anyone wants to get together & share specific loads for certain caliber or barrel lengths... I'd like to shoot as many as practical next summer & tweak loads, & get a good supply of loaded ammo built up for each barrel... I'm going to try to get the data from my father in laws note book on a computer spread sheet over the winter, then I'll have access to that load data while I'm at work on my main computer

Barrel Lenth /
10"

17 K Hornet
22 Hornet
221 Fireball
5.7 X 28 fast twist being built this winter
7 mm TCU ( 7mm X 223 )
30 - 30
30 Herrett
32 - 20
357 Herrett
10 mm Magnum
44 Magnum
45 Colt

14"

17 Remington
6 X 233 SSK
7 - 30 Waters
357 Remington Maximum
35 Remington
375 Winchester
45 - 70 Gov.

16"

45 Colt / .410

21"

222 Remington
223 Fast Twist being built this winter
 
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Got some good proven loads for the .357 Herrett, 7x30 Waters and the .44 Mag. I'll have to did them out. Did take the Waters to Texas on a Pdog hunt. Anything 200 yards or less received a 100 grain Hornady HP and anything farther received something from a .22-250 Ruger Varminter. Got lots of pics of what that Waters does. Very impressive.
 
I also had my 7-30 p.dogging one time ( I used Federal factory ammo ) it was my 150 yard gun, & it also dropped a badger in it's tracks out between 200-250 yards with a little "steering in"... it's one I'd like to work up loads now that I have a couple 100 once fired brass :D
 
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