I am thinking about buying a conterder for deer hunting,but don't know which caliber to get. I am trying to decide between a 30-30,and a 7-30 waters.I have never shot either one in a pistol.30-30 in a rifle yes. How much do they recoil compared to a full house 44 mag in a blackhawk?I can handle that(although its not too much fun)Also from what I read,the conterder has a better trigger than the encore,is this true?What would be a good price for one?thanks ahead of time. sj
what caliber contender?
- Thread starter sjones
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Poodleshooter
New member
If you want a 30/30, why a Contender? That's what Win94's are for 
I never saw much advantage to a pistol that was single shot, but fired revolver cartridges. Go with an Encore and a more potent chambering. My dad has one in 7mm-08. Now THAT's a deer cartridge! As for the recoil, I would rather fire his 7mm-08 than my Super Blackhawk!
I never saw much advantage to a pistol that was single shot, but fired revolver cartridges. Go with an Encore and a more potent chambering. My dad has one in 7mm-08. Now THAT's a deer cartridge! As for the recoil, I would rather fire his 7mm-08 than my Super Blackhawk!I have a 14" .30-30 Contender barrel that I am very pleased with. I use this gun for deer and just shooting in general. I handload with either 125 or 135 gr bullets and recoil is actually more managable than 300 gr full loads from my Ruger SRH - 9 1/2" barrel. Either would be a fine choice for hunting, but I think I perfer the .30-30 (a little more speed over the 7mm caliber using the same weight bullet). But, then again, this is just personal peference.
Reloadaholic
Inactive
Have you checked out the Contender in 30 Herret? Most reloading manuals say it works as well and better in some aspects then its parent cartridge 30-30. This year will be the first time it will see deer hunting using a 150gr Sierra SPBT.
The 30 Herrit's better than the 30-30 but you do have to go through the brass reforming, etc. (no clue if it's available commercially). There's much better cartridges available than teh Herrits these days.
I've a .309 JDJ which will do elk & is very accurate. But there's that brass reforming thing again - not for everybody.
Encores are probably the way to go if you're set on using a rifle cartridge in a single-shot & don't want to have to reform brass.
I've a .309 JDJ which will do elk & is very accurate. But there's that brass reforming thing again - not for everybody.
Encores are probably the way to go if you're set on using a rifle cartridge in a single-shot & don't want to have to reform brass.