# TC Contender



## Silent Assassin (Oct 10, 2008)

I was thinking of getting a Contender in the 7X30 waters.  Any advice good or bad about the gun or caliber?  Thanks in advance.


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## Beartrkkr (Oct 11, 2008)

I have a Contender in 357 Herrett and 30-30 Win.  The gun shoots well and has an adjustable trigger.  The 7x30 Waters is essentially a 30-30 necked down to 7mm.  I'm assuming this is in a 14"bbl.  You will need all of that 14" to burn the powder somewhat efficiently.  Should shoot ok and will be adequate for deer-sized game as long as you do your part.

Does it has a scope on it?  If so, it will (or should) be a long eye relief scope which tends to be better in the lower powers to be able to have even a marginal field of view.

It may have a fair amount of recoil and barrel travel (upward), but it should be manageable.  Just remember if you have or get a scope to keep it at or near arms length.  If not you might get a nice crescent shaped indention in your forehead.

You do need to practice shooting in a field situation to get proficient at it.


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## porboy298 (Oct 11, 2008)

The gun is top notch. I have it in 30 and 357 Herrett, 7mm TCU, 223 necked up to 7mm plus another 7 or 8 barrels. Never had a lick of trouble out of the gun. Almost all of my cals are scoped and I bet you would have no problem with one. Can't help with 7-30 Waters as I have not shot it but I bet it would work from what I have read about it.


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## davidf (Oct 11, 2008)

i have it in 14" bull barrel it shoots good. its has alot of recoil so you need a good quailty scope.


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## Davexx1 (Oct 11, 2008)

SA

I have a 14" TC Contender in 7x30 with an Ultradot brand 30mm red dot sight on it and Pachmyer Decellerator grips.  The combination is very accurate, not bad to shoot, and I like it.  It is a great deer hunting handgun.  I have taken numerous bucks with it, some well past 100 yards.

The gun does have some recoil and muzzle jump so I shoot the gun with a slight "bent arm" hold, i.e not having arms locked straight out in front of you in typical handgun shooting fashion.  This type of hold allows the gun to recoil without transferring the full recoil energy into your arms and body.

I have never had the gun recoil backward hard enough that it could hit me in the face.

Once you shoot it a few times, have some fun with it, I doubt recoil will be a problem.

Good luck.

Dave1


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## tv_racin_fan (Oct 12, 2008)

I read an article about this guy wantoing to hunt with a Pedersoli Bounty. The Bounty is a long barreled muzzleloading handgun. 

http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/default.aspx?item=ArmiCategoriaDettaglio&CategoriaId=92&lang=en

To tame the recoil the guy made himself some saddle bags, think it was 2 lbs of lead. He just hung em off the barrel just behind the front sight and I believe he used some shooting sticks and bagged himself a nice deer.


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## va longbeard (Oct 12, 2008)

Great cartridge and the recoil is not bad to me.

This is one of the best rounds for deer hangun hunting out there.


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## Eddy M. (Oct 12, 2008)

va longbeard said:


> Great cartridge and the recoil is not bad to me.
> 
> This is one of the best rounds for deer hangun hunting out there.


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## Randy (Oct 12, 2008)

When I had a TC, this was my favorite barrel.  Even my wife shot it well.  It would easily do 1 MOA with my reloads.  The only con is finding ammo.  You can't just walk in 1ally 1orld and buy some.  It was the reason I first started reloading.  My longest kill came at 169 yards with this gun.


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## HandgunHTR (Oct 12, 2008)

Like Randy said, to get the best out of the 7-30 in a Contender you have to reload.  Fast powders and light bullets (120 grainers) are the ticket.  That way you get the most velocity with the least felt recoil and it is good enough for deer out to 200 yards.


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## rdykes (Oct 15, 2008)

I have a Match Grade Machine 15 " 7-30 Waters and it will shoot 1" groups with the Factory Federal load. This is probably my favorite TC barrel and I have a bunch.


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## moonhillmachine (Oct 16, 2008)

*contender 7-30 waters*

Hi,Ive got the carbine version with 16" barrel.Loaded with barnes x bullets at around 2600 fps this little gun kills deer graveyard dead quick!


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## frankwright (Oct 17, 2008)

A great combination. I have killed a good many deer with the 7-30. 

I had a 14" barrel but cut it down to 10" and it is still accurate and I find the recoil  mild. I think a 44 Mag kicks more.
It is best to reload for this caliber though as most commercial rounds were made for a lever action rifle. If I could not reload or had someone to do it for me, I would probably choose another caliber.


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## Stu (Oct 17, 2008)

I hunt with a Contender chambered in a .35 Rem. It is one wicked round for deer and kills like a thunderbolt.


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## Outdoors (Oct 30, 2008)

Since this thread has alot of contender fans donating to it, if any of you all have any wood furniture for the early contender in carbine set up? I have one small tasco 4x pistol scope and a set of wood grips from when it was a pistol to possibly trade into.

As to the original poster, I have the 7-30 waters in a TC custom shop barrel with very few rounds down it, but I have dropped a deer at around 70yds or so. Not much recoil but of course its a carbine style as opposed to a pistol. I didn't ever really get the pistol hunting fever, so I went with the carbine set up and this was the most suggested barrel/round for hunting with. - I'd like to have a 45-70 barrel in a 16" as well. - but for now this is fitting the bill.


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## Jim Taylor (Mar 27, 2009)

*Personal preference*

I don't have anything against the caliber and have never shot one but the 30 cal. offers many more bullets than just about any other caliber out there. Also the 7X30 waters brass is very expensive just for 20 at Midway USA where I buy most of my reloading supplies.  I had a 30-30 in the Contender and I couldn't believe it when it outshot my winchester mod 94 at 60 yards and both had scopes.  I sold it about 5 years ago and I just got another contender used but like new in 44 mag stainless.  I'm going to get another 30-30 barrel but I'm also considering the achley improved 30-30 barrel.  I'd like to try some light bullets like 125 gr. spire points now I have the reloading dies.  When I had mine before I only shot the round nose made for the lever action tube feed.


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## Auchumpkee Creek Assassin (Mar 27, 2009)

i have one of the original Super 14 T/C contender, in 44 mag, great handgun, i have taken pigs and deer with it, it has a 2x nikon glass on top.


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## HandgunHTR (Mar 27, 2009)

Jim Taylor said:


> I don't have anything against the caliber and have never shot one but the 30 cal. offers many more bullets than just about any other caliber out there. Also the 7X30 waters brass is very expensive just for 20 at Midway USA where I buy most of my reloading supplies.



I agree that there are more bullet selections out there for the .30 cals, but there are also a ton of bullets available for the 7mm.

As for the brass being expensive, you can use 30-30 brass to make 7-30 brass so it isn't any more expensive.  Dies are the same price too.


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## Big Georgia Red (Mar 28, 2009)

S.A.
I have a couple of TCs but I don't have a 7/30 barrel. If I were going to use this round, it would be at least a 14" BB. I do have a 30/30, 10" Oct. barrel and it is too short and too lite. Terrible recoil made the cross-hairs in a bushnell scope disappear, and a  muzzle flash that will take the hair off a short dog standing at your feet. I haven't shot the 30/30 in about 15 or 16 years. Guess I'm just a wimp.


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## tred1956 (Mar 28, 2009)

Hi,
 I have both the 7-30 Waters and 7-30 Water Improved. One 14 in and one 15 in. The improved is a custom Bullberry. You will not be disappointed with the 7-30. This  may start an argument but, I think  the 7-30 waters is the most versatile factory chambering T/C has ever offered.
Safe shooting
Doug


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## bowhntr (Mar 28, 2009)

*Get what you want*

I personally have used quite a few different calibers in the Contender. Started with the 14" 30-30 25 yrs ago didnt have some of the bullets available today but it was awesome. I do have a 7-30 Waters MGM 15" barrel and it shoots better than I can. The most accurate 7-30 I had was a 12" s/s Hunter barrel , @ 100 you could cover the group with a quarter . 2 seasons ago opening day gun season i took 3 deer with the 12" barrel and it was all bang flop . This year it was my .357 Max barrel that helped me take most of the deer, #1   7-30 Waters 35yds #s 2,3,4,5 were all the .357 Max.


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