Your thoughts on 30 30 Contender

I have a G1 Contender carbine and one of the barrels that I have is a 21 inch .30-30 barrel that has been Ackley improved.

This would have to be one of the most accurate and versatile guns in my cabinet, being light to carry, pretty hard hitting and as I say, accurate.
 
How does a 14" Contender in 30-30 compare in recoil to, say, a 357 magnum or 44 Magnum?
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Recoil is a far sharper jab to the palm than the rolling boom of the .44 mag, but in no way objectionable. My other barrel is a .45-70, and this one is very objectionable in recoil with 300 gr loads. The 14" .30-30 was my first Contender barrel and the only one I had for quite a while. It was purchased for IHMSA, though I never got to participate. It is MOA capable in this caliber with a good scope as long as you do your part.

You'll love that Contender in .30-30, of that I'm sure.

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I have a Contender with a super 14" barrel. It is scary accurate. I have taken several deer with it up to 175 yards. I use 125gr Nosler BT's over a moderately heavy charge of IMR 4198. Recoil is certainly managable. Good choice.
 
I can't even imagine firing that from a pistol. I have a Marlin 336 and that is one of the punchier cartridges out of all the rifles I own. I just find it to be a damn uncomfortable round to fire. I'd rather shoot .30-06 from a Garand all day. Something about the .30-30 just beats the crap out of you.
 
Its the rifle, and how it fits you

I have a Marlin 336 and that is one of the punchier cartridges out of all the rifles I own. I just find it to be a damn uncomfortable round to fire. I'd rather shoot .30-06 from a Garand all day. Something about the .30-30 just beats the crap out of you.
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Its not the cartridge that makes it a "puncher" for you, its how the rifle fits you. I found this out a long tome ago, with a Winchester 94. That 30-30 beat me up worse than a Remington 600 in .308! The Marlin, on the other hand, fit me better, has a larger butt, weighs a bit more, and is just a pussycat to shoot, for me, compared to a Win 94 with a steel but plate!

Add a slip on recoil plad to your 336, and see if that doesn't make a world of difference.

I have a 14" .30-30 barrel for mY Contender, but alas, haven't shot it yet. I can't see any real good reason to get the 10", if you are going to use a scope, the shorter barrel doesn't really make it much more packable, and you lose a fair bit of speed. And recoil goes up! My 10" .44Mag recoils worse than any of my 6.5 or 7.5" revolvers, because even with the longer barrel, its still lighter. If you are going to stick with iron sights, the 10" makes a better carry rig, but won't get you nearly as much velocity from rifle cartridges as a longer barrel will.

Go for the Pachmyr rubber grip, and keep a grip on it. You don't have to hold on to a Contender like a regular pistol, as there is no second shot to line up for as quick as you can, Just hang on well enough to keep from getting hurt!

I saw a friend wack himself in the nose with my 14" .45-70 Contender, (and not shooting hot 300gr loads either!). After the bleeding stopped, he shot it some more!:D
 
one barrel

only have 2 barrels now, a .44mag 6 inch and a custom .444. the 444 does kick alot but accuracy and power is worth it. Breaking clays at 100 yds with factory ammo is the norm. Plus the looks you get when it goes off is priceless.
 
Oh I shot a 30/30 and a 44 contender. You wouldn't like them...Boringly accurate. No challenge at all
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That says it all:)

The 30-30 recoil is not all that bad. It is a sharp recoil and about 75rds of full power ammo is about all I can stand. On the the other side I can shoot and have shot 300 rds of 44 mag in one outing, all full power rounds.

The real fun starts when I put the 22lr barrel on it and go squirrel hunting.

44 AMP is correct about the barrel length. The 14" will get you a large improvement in velocity. The 10" does pack around better. I have a 10" in 22LR and all the other barrels I have are Super 14"
 
Contender

I've had a 30-30 bbl for quite a few years, don't use it much but since brass for the 30-30 is everywhere I keep it just in case.mine is a 14 in blue barrel no brake, and as stated most contender barrels are accurate. Don't know your part of the country, but the 30-30 should preform well as long as you don't expect to much,think of it as a short rifle not a pistol. I had knee surgery several years ago , and my wife bought me a walking stick,one of those Cabelas models adjustable height, a round head or a shooting y that mounts on top,Best hunting tool anyone has given me in years,you always have a rest with you an for me that really stretches the distance I can shoot with confidence. As for recoil I find it only a little more than my RH 44mag with factory loads, and less than the heavy bear loads common here.But with the contender package there are so many choices, picking one barrel would be like pulling teeth,just not something I could handle.I wopuld say if you want the 30-30 barrel or any other go for it but don't think of it as your only barrel insted it's your first barrel. Hay we all gotta start somewhere,ab if you go for it, welcome to the addiction.
Alex
 
I have TC barrels in both 30 Herrit and 30-30. I seem to get as much velocity out of the 30 H as I do the 30-30, using the same bullet. The Herrit, at least in my barrels is a lot more accurate. Something about being a more effecient case for the same bullet in a pistol (both my barrels are 10 inch)

FOR WHAT ITS WORTH
 
Since you hand load you can pick your power level. The 44 mag contender nearly beat me out of the pistol game. It sure hammered me hard. I shoot Model 29's and a Dan Wesson 44 and sure like those better in the 44.... YMMV I seem to be a minority on this one.

Instead of the 30-30 I went with the 7 MM TCU and it was a breeze to shoot. The 7-30 Waters and a couple of other 7 MM wildcats are good options too. Better performance than the TCU. (I was always fascinated by the 6.5s but never got around to one)

My buddy had the 30-30. But, he had downloaded the rounds to practice with. It is all in what you want to load to. It will certainly take deer.


BTW

You WILL need to get a varmint barrel too. Something to fling prairie dogs around with. 223, 221 Fireball. You get the idea :)
 
hammer

The 44 mag contender nearly beat me out of the pistol game. It sure hammered me hard.
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I can understand that. While I like the .44 Mag on the Contender, it sure does come back a lot harder (or so it feels) than my Blackhawk.
I tried to put a red dot sight on the .44 barrel - tried two "recoil proof" dots - they both broke within three shots. I ended up with a Trijicon reflex which then got swapped onto the .30-30 barrel.
Pete
 
I've shot 14"30-30 and 44mag and I'd much rather shoot the 30-30 recoil wise. However, if you reload I'd go the 30-30 AI over the standard. 7-30 is also a great cartridge. You may want to take a look at the 357 max. Out of a 14" barrel it's very impressive. Love mine but it's only a 10 inch.

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Thanks, I'm kinda fond of that set myself. That barrel is an OTT in 357 max with a brass brake by Ross. Wood was made by John Cook. I also have a 10 inch in 30 herrett, another great choice but I'd still go 30-30AI in a longer barrel. I've shot most rounds safe in a contender (and a few that were questionable) but now I'm down to 10 barrels that I can't part with.

Also I have to say whatever you decide I would go with a custom barrel from MGM. At $250 it's not much more coin than a TC factory and definately worth the extra.
 
I can understand that. While I like the .44 Mag on the Contender, it sure does come back a lot harder (or so it feels) than my Blackhawk.
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Makes sense. The .44 in the revolver is spitting a lot of potential recoil out the cylinder/forcing cone gap. The Contender is blowing it all straight down the barrel. And in a Contender, the bigger the bore, the lighter the barrel, with barrel configurations being equal. All this makes for a hearty handshake.;)
 
Another thing effecting recoil is your grip. Dad had an old 10 inch 44 mag rechambered into a 444 with the traditional splinter type grip on it. With out a doubt the most brutal thing I've ever pulled the trigger on. I have a Pachy gripper on my big bore frame and it tames even my 358 Super Bower.
 
I'm right in the middle of sighting in loads for a new 12" 357 magnum barrel for my G2 Contender. I'm using a Nikon 2x pistol scope. I also have a 22LR match barrel with iron sights that I'm going to shoot after I get the 357 sorted. I got the 357 barrel because I can carry light loads with non-expanding 125 gr bullets for small game and 140 or 158 gr hollow-points for small pigs, and hunt both at the same time with one barrel. I'm not going to shoot at anything heavier than about 30 lbs and I'm not going to shoot past 50 yards so the 357 will do everything I need. If I was interested in the little deer we have in coastal CA or medium-sized pigs, I might consider a 44 magnum barrel, but to tell you the truth, for medium and large game out to 100 yards I would probably stick with a 30-30 rifle with a 2-7x scope.

Basically, I don't want any more recoil or blast than necessary to get the job done. I really like how handy the 12" Contender is. But even though it's super-accurate for a pistol, it's still just a pistol - if I need to shoot something big or far away, I'll use a rifle.
 
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