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California handguns Discuss your favorite California handgun technical and related questions here. |
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#1
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T.C. Contender
I'm in a huge dilemma here. I have the choice of one of my grandfathers guns and the one that I'd like the most is one of his Contenders. I remember him always talkn about it and how much he liked to shoot it. My dilemma is what caliber? He has 3 guns and 6 barrels. There's 223 Rem, 204 Ruger, 308 Bellm, 7mm Bellm, 45-70 Govt, and 7mm TCU. Any of these calibers rare to come by?
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#2
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The Bellm rounds are handload only with custom or handmade brass, but are designed for maximum performance from a Contender. Good stuff. The other four are all commercially loaded and available most anywhere.
As a 35 year fan of Contenders, I say, "DUH!" What are you waiting for Nothing shoots better, looks better, gets more attention on the range
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"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself...A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague."......Cicero
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#3
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I also got a *****LOAD of reloading stuff that was his too. I mean there's so much stuff its unbelievable. The Contenders ARE cool lookin guns. I'm really curious as to how they shoot and sound! Are these guns or calibers rare?
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#5
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I had a Contender in .222, not .223. With a 10" barrel, it was a waste of powder but it felt good. It had a high-pitched, pretty good crack when it went off. Your .223 barrel will be the same if it's 10". You get into the 14-16" category, it's a different subject! I imagine the .45/70 barrel will hurt, so you are welcome to it. .204 Ruger should be ideal, even higher pitch crack. 7mm TCU should be the perfect round. None of the standard chamberings is hard to come by, particularly, I believe. 7mm TCU is possible exception.
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#6
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Take it from somebody that has fired a Contender in 45/70 , it is a BLAST , it will hurt your wrist after half a box of ammo the first year you own it , then you get numb to it and get surgery.
It would be number one of the choices you have. 7mm TCU would be number 2 , great long range hand gun. Reload if you get her. And why not get them all ? I have everything from 22lr up to 45/70 for my contenders , both rifle and pistol , except 45lc/410 which I would absolutely love to have ( but not in CA short barrel shotgun ) And Army got it right nothing better than shooting a handgun at 100 to 200 yards as good as or better than those long guns.
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Bweise says "I have to say the situation was not at all helped by 22 yr old former Airsoft douches who kept touting here, "But possession is not illegal!" " Fighting on the internet is like being in the special Olympics , everybody wins but your still retarded. Librarian " Calguns is not a 'general discussion board". |
#7
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7mm tcu the others are easy to come by and the Belm aint all that great as far as coolness or resale. the 223 in a short barrel is worthless and super LOUD! the 45-70 looses to much performance but is still a cool round just for shooting but expensive for pinking with been shooting T/C's for 35 or so years.
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#8
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The easiest to reload for and handle will probably be your .308 bellm. But you may want to get something with commercially available brass.
None of those strike me as exactly rare (and you can have almost all of them manufactured for a few hundred anyway). Getting your own barrels used will cost you less than 200$ a piece if you want to add to your caliber selection. (250 factory new, or 300-400 for a custom made barrel.) I have an encore (the heavy action alternative to the contender) and it's a blast to shoot. I'm contemplating getting a small caliber for it, just for plinking purposes... but I would probably come back and plink with my .460 anyway.
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#9
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You will find the 7mmTCU the best of the barrels. .223 Rem and .204 Ruger and 45-70 are available, don't even know what the Bellm's are. I have been running a .35 Remington forever with the original Thompson 3x long eye relief glass.
The 'Original Single Shot Exemption' .45cal |
#10
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http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/...0fa5fefab1.jpghttp://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/...Untitled-2.jpghttp://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/...tar76148_1.jpg "Everyone has two lives,the second one starts when you realize you only have one " Last edited by thomashoward; 01-23-2013 at 7:31 AM.. |
#11
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I have to agree with the Capt. My friend has one in 45/70, and it is an experience! I only shot it twice, and that was enough on that trip. I couldn’t imagine firing off a whole box in a day.
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#12
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Quote:
I've been fiddling with the TCs for about 40 years and have handguns and rifles. I'm up to 4 frames and about 40 barrels, rifle and handgun. Is the Contender an "old style" with a catamount (mountain lion) engraved on the side, or is it the newer plain "G2" style? Do you get to keep one frame and one barrel? One frame and all barrels? The Bellm calibers are named after this fellow, he runs a "nuts for T/Cs" shop up in OR. Lots of info on his site, if you shoot him a question on his calibers he'll answer:http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/ Last edited by dfletcher; 01-22-2013 at 4:43 PM.. |
#13
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I know 2 of them are the "old style". I clearly remember seeing the lion on the sides. I thought it was pretty cool looking! I want to say I remember the 3rd being the same but cant remember for sure. Are 7mm tcu rounds hard to order or come by? How about 308 bellm brass?
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#14
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7mm TCU is a necked up commercial .223 Rem case , military cases aren't recommended.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...41248874,d.cGE Chances are if he shot that calibre he had/has the dies around. But pretty much the same for any of the non-standard rounds.
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Bweise says "I have to say the situation was not at all helped by 22 yr old former Airsoft douches who kept touting here, "But possession is not illegal!" " Fighting on the internet is like being in the special Olympics , everybody wins but your still retarded. Librarian " Calguns is not a 'general discussion board". |
#15
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#17
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I'd go for the .204 and 7mm TCU. Both are fun to shoot paper with and between the two, you can have fun shooting everything from ground squirels to deer.
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NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun and Metallic Cartridge Reloading Instructor California DOJ Certified Fingerprint Roller Ventura County approved CCW Instructor Utah CCW Instructor Offering low cost multi state CCW, private basic shooting and reloading classes for calgunners. CCW SAFE MEMBERSHIPS HERE KM6WLV |
#18
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Oh he has I think 2 sets of dies for each caliber he owned/made. Lol I've found countless 223 dies too. And I'm glad you told me about the 7mm tcu round because I saw some rounds that look IDENTICAL to 223 but were definately different. That may have solved some of mysteries!
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#20
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The gun, or the 7mmTCU?
Contenders are accurate, handy, powerful for their size, and can accomodate cartridges that cannot perform the same in other firearms. Want to make the most powerful .357 load you can stuff powder in? Only the Contender will handle it. Monster .44mag loads? Contender. 7mmTCU was developed expressly for the Contender, and makes the same power and performace as many full size rifle rounds. The Whisper family of cartridges are also Contender born. All in a package that can be carried by anyone, anywhere, for any shooting need. If anything, firing one round at a time...and hitting what you aim at everytime...makes a box or brick of ammo last a long time.
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"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself...A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague."......Cicero
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#21
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I have 2. One in44 mag and a 12 inch bull barrel with a Burris scope in 41 mag. My problem is in California and the ranges near me will not let me shoot it at the rifle range. So that limits me to 25 yard pistol range... My 41 is sighted in at 200 meters. That's when we had a metallic silhouette range out to 200 meters. Of course that range no longer has a silhouette range. So for 18 years both have sat in my safe.
Last edited by Maddawg46; 01-24-2013 at 6:07 PM.. Reason: Fix grammar errors |
#22
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Quote:
Try talking some sense into your local range, it's such a shame for a gun to be relegated to safe-queen status, just because of someone else's stupidity.
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