Your thoughts on 30 30 Contender

A

awaveritt

New member
Been toying with the idea of a G2 Contender. Any thoughts on the 30-30 as my first barrel? With the myriad of choices, I know it would be tough to choose, but if you only had one contender barrel, what caliber would it be?

I should add that I am a handloader and bullet caster so a contender in any centerfire caliber should be a blast - no pun intended. :rolleyes:

Would be used for deer hunting and range work.

Some things I've wondered about:

How does a 14" Contender in 30-30 compare in recoil to, say, a 357 magnum or 44 Magnum?
 
14"

My 14" shot .4 inch groups with my first reloads.
I think it is a good choice. 7-30 waters may be better.
JD jones calibers are cool too.
 
I have a contender with a ten inch bbl. in 30.30win. I also have a Ruger sbh. ,44mag. with a 7.5in. bbl.

In my opinion, there is no comparison in recoil, the 30.30 makes the .44mag. seem like a toy.

I can't really speak to accuracy, as far as group size, I know that it will take out a bowling pin at 120 yards with no problem.

I can also tell you that when people at the range see a man walk to the line with a pistol, and then that 30.30 barks, well, the whole range gets real quiet for a minute or two.
 
Even with a 14" barrel it still has more bite and bark than a 6" .44 mag.

Please also consider the Encore if you are purchasing a new TC product - it is beefier and can handle higher pressure cartridges like the .308 based and .30-06 based cartridges, which is a real plus if you convert your pistol into a rifle at a later date for big game hunting.

In a G2/ contender the 7mm waters is a great choice, particularly since you already reload.

Here's a .243 win encore with A VX-II 2.5-8 scope

TC243002.jpg
 
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I used a 10" Contender for metallic silhouette about 30 years ago. Very accurate. Recoil was no problem with Pachmayer grips.

NOTE: You can load the Contender much hotter than a 30-30 lever gun.
The Speer 150 gr spitzer over 26.0 of IMR 1498 gave me 1849 fps.
The most accurate load was the Hornady 130 gr spire and 11.5 of Unique for 1468 fps. This was my favorite load for Standing Production.
The Hornady 130 over 39.0 of WW748 gave 2045 fps. That was a pretty hot load. There's a note next to it, "Too much recoil for a 40 shot match". I have a real high tolerance for recoil, so that must have been a smoker!
 
I have a contender in 30-30 with a 14" barrel. It kicks. Not uncontrollable. IMHO the contender has a serious design flaw. The spur on the trigger guard bites your offhand pretty good if you use a traditional two handed hold. Not a real problem if you realize this prior to shooting. I learned the hard way.
 
.30-30

The .30-30 ten inch was one of the first barrels that I bought about twenty years ago. It is on the Contender frame right now. When I go out for whitetails with a handgun this year, that will be the gun that I take.
Very accurate. Loud. Recoil....in general recoil doesn't bother me, so I won't make a judgement.
What I like about the .30-30 chambering - I reload all my ammo - is that components are readily available. Brass is still found on the ground at the range. Bullet selection is broad. Lots of powders work.
And the round is hot....that earlier citation about the 130 Hornady at over 2000fps is a good one.
For a shooter who relies on factory ammo, the .30-30 is pretty much universally available.
Pete
 
Big Fan of the 30-30 Contender

I hunt almost exclusively with a handgun. My goto gun is a Contender in 30-30. That said the 7-30 waters is right there also. Both are great cartridges in a 14" barreled Contender. You will not the full potential of the 30-30 out of a 10" tube, that was one reason for the 30 Herret Cartridge.

Favorite loads for hunting is the Sierra 135gr SSP bullet with 30grs of RL7 for 2214fps over my chrony. That is a snorting load and recoil is "Brisk" but is a very accurate load and kills like electrocution. I am not sure if Sierra still make the 135gr SSP(I have a lot of them, I think I bought 3000 about 8 years ago) but that bullet was made for Single Shot Pistols(Hence the SSP) and will expand at lower velocities and longer ranges. My longest shot on a deer was 230 yds and that bullet combo did its job.

There is not much else I can add to the above posts. You will not be disappointed in the performance of the 30-30 in a contender. I would go with a Super 14 barrel and a 2x scope. Put either the rubber grip or the wood and rubber grips like I have on mine. Get the loadbook for Contenders it really is a good thing to have. I wish you luck with it.

Sam
 
I am also very interested in either the Contender or Encore. As for chamberings for the Contender and since you mentioned handloading I would opt for the 7mm x Waters as well or even the 6.8mm Rem SPC. Much better ballistics compared to the 30-30 even using pointed bullets. From their custom shop you could get a 6.5/7mm TCU (based off of 223 Rem case). Interesting chamberings IMO. Or if there may be any practical use the 45 Colt/410 barrel. I love how this handy little rifle with the same sized barrel is much shorter (3-4") and lighter. For me it would start with a 22 LR and a 44 Mag (rifle barrels) and possibly the 6.8mm. The 45-70 Gov't, though not practical for me is still interesting.
 
Had a 14" Contender in .30-30 and loved it. Recoil wasn't bad at all. I liked the idea of being able to use spitzer bullets in my reloads. I found it to be an accurate set-up. I also had a .30-30 Ackley Improved but before I could do much with it I liquidated my entire Contender and Encore collection (another story there). I highly recommend it.
 
When you think of Ballistics in a Handgun they mean less to me than in a rifle. You can take the 30-30, 7-30 water, 6.8 spc, 6.5 JDJ and a 6.5x 30-30 and all of them shoot about the same. You look at the USABLE range of the gun say 250 yds and they are all right in there. The Bullet drop, velocity, KO factor...whatever is not that much different.

What makes the 30-30 so nice is the ease of loading and finding components. The dies are cheap and plentiful, They make a bullet specifically for the 30-30 SSP, Brass can be found anywhere and there is no forming. The 7-30 waters is a great cartridge and I have a barrel for one but the 30-30 will shoot with it all day long. I also have a 6.5 TCU, I love it but it would not be my goto for deer. JDJ bases his 6.5 off of a Winchester 225 case. Great gun but brass is getting hard to come by AND EXPENSIVE. The 6.8 SPC is the answer to no problem. Why would I want to shoot a .270 cal bullet that might or might not expand slower than a 30 cal bullet that I know will?

Last but not least, in a pinch I can go anywhere and find Winchester/Remington 150gr 30-30 ammo and have fun with it.

To me the 30-30 wins hands down as one of the best Cartridges in a 14" Contender for Deer hunting. As far as recoil of the 30-30; it is what it is. Some find it a bit much and it does get you a little gun shy after about 150 rds. I am not all that recoil sensitive either but the blast and reciol does get to you after a while. But again i have never noted it when I droper the hammer on a deer.
 
Sam:

Guess I wasn't certain about the mother cartridge. Does the 225 Win have a larger capacity vs the 223 Rem? There are some in those chamberings. Wonder which one could squeeze a little more out of. Good points towards the 30-30. The smaller calibers generally have a much higher ballistic coefficient coupled with a higher velocity so I felt they may add a bit of range making accurate shots out a little further possible making it fun to shoot targets/critters at the longer ranges. An additional cool factor. Especially since he handloads. You'd have to use a 165-168 grn .308 bullet to get the BC of a 140 grn .284/7mm bullet. Kinda give and take with any cartridge.
 
Rod:

Does the 225 Win have a larger capacity vs the 223 Rem?
Click to expand...
Yes the 225 Winchester is a rimmed 22-250 basically. The thing about the contender is it works best with a rimmed cartridge. It has a lot more capacity that a 223.

To get the most out the Contender its best to shoot a little lighter bullets than would be used in a rifle. You can drive them faster and get a little more bang for the buck at the ranges normally associated with shooting game with a handgun. The diff in B.C .284 vers .308 in the 136gr-150gr bullet is not all that much. So when its all said and done a deer is not going to know the difference between a 135gr bullet and a 150gr one. As long as they both hit where they should. That is the biggest IF in the game. Practice with the gun is very important and all ranges. I am very hesitant to shoot at over 150yds cause I know the chance for a bad hit are high. A pistol is very unforgiving.

I hunt with a 44mag also and even though I can keep 6 shots inside a paper plate at 120 yds there is no way I would shoot at an animal that far away.

The biggest thing you have to keep in mind other than bullet placement is bullet performance. You are driving a 168gr/140gr RIFLE bullet a lot slower than it was made to go. The velocity of the bullet at 200yds from a Pistol is about the same as a bullet at 500yds from a rifle. So you have some super accurate bullet in your whizbang XXmag contender and at 200yds the bullet preforms just like a FMJ bullet at best. At worst its starts to yaw and when it strikes the target animal is goes where you don't want it to. Now you have a problem. If you were shooting for the head no big deal but most of us are not good enough to shoot a deer in the head with a pistol at 200yds. A body shot or shoulder shot with the RIFLE bullet at PISTOL Velocity= wounded deer. Not good.

That is why they invented the 357 Herret. In the old days guys were shooting hollow point rifle bullets so they would expand. Now bullets are little better and I think some of the Accutip type bullets would do good. Me I will stick with my 135 SSP bullets.

Bottomline.............I love Contenders, they are great guns and when you see a guy shooting or hunting with one you can bet he knows what he is doing.

Great thread...........................Sam
 
I traded a guy at the range a few shots from his 30-30 Contender for a few shots from my .460 SW.

30-30 was fun. And I felt it was less recoil than mine. Might have just been "different" recoil.
 
I own a 4" 44 Mag and don't feel qualified to hunt with it yet. I would love to get good at using it or a T/C pistol as I've grown fond of the overall capabilities of rifle/pistol/caliber/barrel length/size/weight choices with additional barrels costing half for a new rifle. And it's American quality. I think handgun hunting would be far more rewarding. And there's a definate advantage to using a T/C pistol over any other type of handgun for hunting.
 
For handloading here are some other bullets that will expand at handgun velocities:

Nosler; 125 and 150gr Ballistic tip solid base bullets. You can push the 125gr to 2300fps and the 150's to 2100fps. Either of these will hit hard and are very accurate. The other is the Nosler 170gr Round Nose partition. I have heard these are DEADLY on Pigs and Black Bear. I have no first hand knowledge though. You can push that 170gr bullet up to almost 1900 fps. That would be a hammer over a feeder on hogs.

Hornady 130gr SP, SSP; This is another bullet made for Single Shot Pistols and will expand and preform at lower velocities. Again I have not shot this bullet but it looks like a very good bullet.

You know another Cartridge that is nice in a Contender is a 35 Remington. You can load 357 magnum Bullets in it and it will really sling them. I would think that a 180gr XTP loaded close to max in a 35 Remington would be very deadly. I do know that guys have had problems with factory ammo in 35 Remington due to hard primers but for a reloader its not a problem.
 
I have a 14" TC G2 in 30-30 and it is a deer killer. White tail around here run form 80-90 lbs to 235+ lbs. It is a one shot kill on any size. Recoil is not excessive, but mine ported. It makes a fine hunting pistol.
 
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