Help on various Contender barrel types

[mtnbkr]

Not caliber specific, but what do the various terms such as "Hunter" and "Super14" mean?

Chris

 

[Reed1911]

Basicly just marketing names. he Super 14's are 14 inch barrels, I believe the hunters are usually 10".

 

[YodaVader]

The "Hunter" models were equipped with muzzle brakes - I had 14" Hunter in 44 mag. I think they were also available in 12" length. The "Super 14" is the name that TC uses for their line of 14" bull barrels.

 

[mtnbkr]

Thanks guys.

One more thing...

I'm looking around and I keep seeing references to TCA barrels as separate group from normal TCArms barrels. What does this mean?

Chris

 

[db_tanker]

TCA is the Thompson Center Association...they have, once a year, a special group purchase of a rare, unique caliber in a special configuration. There are only x number of barrels made, x being the number of members pre-purchase....so they are somewhat rare and worth a little cash.

Welcome to the addiction of a lifetime.

We make crack addicts look tame.

D

 

[mtnbkr]

Cool, thanks. Do they tend to be good barrels? I've found a 12" Octagon barrel in 7-30Waters that has me interested. Other than ebay, I haven't found any 7-30Waters barrels in less than 14".

This is the bad thing about Contenders. I love to tinker and try new things and Contenders make that too easy for me.

At the moment, I'm trying to decide between 45-70, 30-30,
7-30, 7mmTCU, and the 357max. I'm not a long barrel fan, so the 30-30 might be out if I discover I don't like how 14" barrels balance. I'm afraid of the 45-70 in a handgun, but I want one anyway. I'm attracted to the idea of tossing huge chunks of lead downrange, even at modest velocities. That leaves the two 7mm cartridges and the 357max as decent short barrel options. :banghead:

We won't get into the various sub-22cal offerings (I want a 17 Hornet for no good reason).

Chris

 

[Slimjim]

TCA is the Thompson Center Association...they have, once a year, a special group purchase of a rare, unique caliber in a special configuration. There are only x number of barrels made, x being the number of members pre-purchase....so they are somewhat rare and worth a little cash.

I just hope they can headspace a barrel better than thompson center arms can.

 

[Timor]

At the moment, I'm trying to decide between 45-70, 30-30,
7-30, 7mmTCU, and the 357max. I'm not a long barrel fan, so the 30-30 might be out if I discover I don't like how 14" barrels balance. I'm afraid of the 45-70 in a handgun, but I want one anyway. I'm attracted to the idea of tossing huge chunks of lead downrange, even at modest velocities. That leaves the two 7mm cartridges and the 357max as decent short barrel options.

The 45-70, 30-30, and 7-30 were all originally designed to be rifle cartridges so they tend to work better in longer barrels.
The 7TCU in 10" virtually ruled silhouette shooting in production class, but I'm unaware of any company that loads them so you'll have to handload for it.
If you go with the 357 Max make sure to get a supply of brass since I don't think anyone loads ammo for it.
Having shot 45-70 T/Cs without a muzzlebreak, Mag-na-ported, and with a muzzle break; allow me to strongly recommend you get a barrel with a muzzle break. It makes a major difference in how the gun recoils.

 

[Reed1911]

We load and carry all the supplies for the 7mm TCU This includes properly head-stamped factory Federal brass.

 

[Oldnamvet]

Mike Bellm at
http://www.bellmtcs.com
Is one of the most knowledgeable people I know on TC contenders, encores, and the G2. He also does conversions of barrels. I.E. he can turn a .30/30 barrel into a .308 Bellm that uses the .444 Marlin brass as a base. A very effective deer cartridge.

I used to hve a .45/70 barrel. It was fun to shoot - once or twice. Your arms and elbows (on the bench) really take a beating. Great for hunting where you only shoot a couple times at most but once you get it sighted in, you won't be shooting it for fun anymore. First time I shot mine, the recoil took all the skin off both elbows. Like an idiot, I rested my bare elbows on the bench (cement) with the gun resting on sandbags. After that, I used my elbow guard from roller blading.