Bob Wright
New member
I have read several remarks concerning the recoil of the .30-30 when fired in the Thompson Contender, generally to the effect the recoil is much greater than, say, the .44 Magnum.
I'm certainly no expert on the Thompson Contender, but many years ago I was introduced to that pistol for the first time. My hosts had three frames and a box full of barrels. They started me off on the .30-30, and I tried the .30-40 Krag, .35 Remington, .338 Woodswalker, .43 JDJ, .444 Marlin, and .45-70.
My impression at the time was that felt recoil of the smaller calibers was much more pleasant than my .44 Magnum or .45 Colt in my Rugers and Smiths. I attributed this to the fact that I was shooting bullets of only 150 grs. ~ 200 Grs. weight as opposed to 250 gr. ~ 350 grs. bullets in my revolvers. I recall thinking that the .30-40 Krag was a dandy groundhog gun.
Now when I got up into the 350 gr. ~ 500 gr. bullets in those pistols, recoil became really noticeable. I formed the opinion that day that increasing bullet weight affected recoil more than increases in velocity.
My impression from that experience. Yours may differ.
Bob Wright
I'm certainly no expert on the Thompson Contender, but many years ago I was introduced to that pistol for the first time. My hosts had three frames and a box full of barrels. They started me off on the .30-30, and I tried the .30-40 Krag, .35 Remington, .338 Woodswalker, .43 JDJ, .444 Marlin, and .45-70.
My impression at the time was that felt recoil of the smaller calibers was much more pleasant than my .44 Magnum or .45 Colt in my Rugers and Smiths. I attributed this to the fact that I was shooting bullets of only 150 grs. ~ 200 Grs. weight as opposed to 250 gr. ~ 350 grs. bullets in my revolvers. I recall thinking that the .30-40 Krag was a dandy groundhog gun.
Now when I got up into the 350 gr. ~ 500 gr. bullets in those pistols, recoil became really noticeable. I formed the opinion that day that increasing bullet weight affected recoil more than increases in velocity.
My impression from that experience. Yours may differ.
Bob Wright