Sidewinder

Frankmaco & Seez52,   Frankmaco, I basically was considering the 7TCU as a hunting round. I've never shot silhouettes, and don't know that I ever will...sounds like fun though. I was thinking it might be a pretty versatile round that could cover everything from varmints to whitetail deer. Westwindmike, and others have pointed out that my 7x30 Waters could probably do everything that the 7 TCU could do, and more.   Seez52, were the barrels just factory flukes? That's interesting that you would insert the cartridges in the chamber the same way each time...and I'll bet the reason is interesting too. Were most silhouette shooters loading the 7 TCUs pretty hot in those days? Think many of the barrels were shot out from hot loads? Are your 7 TCU barrels Super 14s? You're right up the road from me...did you do any hunting with the 7 TCU barrel around here? 

Westwind Mike & Dolomite,   Westwindmike, I really like everything I have read about the 7x30 Waters, ( I have not shot mine yet) and will probably keep that barrel. I have dies for reloading, so I'll be able to take advantage of the wide range of loads there. I might just replace my 10" octagonal .223 barrel with a Super 14 in .223, as I have the dies for the .223 loads as well. I might just get rid of my Super 14 .30-30 barrel, as the 7x30 Waters can probably cover most of the hunting options there. I have since done a lot of research on the 7 T/C U, and apparently it was designed primarily for silhouette shooting competition. I'm not really into that at all, just trying to cover all of the bases for possible game hunting. So, between the .22 Hornet, the .223 Rem., and the 7x30 Waters, I can probably cover just about any possible hunting scenario I can need for Tennessee or the South East.   Dolomite, I'm not familiar with the 300 Whisper at all. I'll have to do some research on it. I have researched the 7 T/C U pretty much, and I believe there is a 6.5 T/CU and also a 6 T/CU. You might want to check that out, but I believe I read about the 6.5 and the 6.0 T/C U. Are you planning on shooting the 256 in a Contender/Encore barrel, or some other weapon? I like the .357 round, and have a Blackhawk and a Savage 24 that shoots it. I kinda like rounds that I can buy in the store or reload on the bench.

I have a few 7mm (.284) bullets. One box is the Sierra Pro-Hunter 130 gr. Spitzer soft point, designed for the "Single Shot Pistol". The other box is Nosler 140 gr. Spitzer Balistic Tip. I figured the "Balistic Tip" Nosler might make a pretty good coyote round for the 7mm-TCU. What distances were you shooting the silhouettes with the 7mm-TCU? It should be good on game out to 150 - 200 yards, shouldn't it?

Frank, did you do much hunting with the 7-TCU? If so, what kind of hunting, and what kind of success did you have with it? Seez52 commented that the brass necks split after about three loadings. Did you experience this too? Did you anneal your case necks? I'm just intrigued with the round, and think I'll shop around for  a Super 14 in the 7-TCU.

seez52, I read that if the .223 case had previously been fired through an AR, that it was a good idea to anneal. Or, do you think the more frequent cracking had to do with the steeper shoulders on the 7 TCU? Were you loading max loads? What length barrel is your 7 TCU? If I decide to swap one of my barrels off for a 7-TCU, I think I'll definitely stick to the Super 14. I was thinking of staying on the light side of loading...maybe more to your 120 gr. load. I like the woods and hunting, so that's what I'd be loading for.

I'm just a neophyte at both calibers, but it looks like it can be loaded up or down to cover a pretty wide range of game. I've not shot, nor hunted, either round. That's what I'm here for... to become educated on both, hopefully. I'm especially interested in actual field reports on various game. I read an article about a lady taking a 350 pound hog with the round in a TC rifle!

Just did a little research on the 7mm TCU, and got interested in it for hunting with my Thompson Center Contender. I like the idea that it's using the .223 Rem case and a 7mm bullet. It looks like this round could have a pretty wide application range for hunting, even though I've read that it bloomed from the needs of the silhouette shooters. I've got a few Contender barrels, and I might have to replace one of them with a 7mm TCU. From what I'm reading, this round can be loaded for everything from varmints to 350 pound hogs! Have any of you been using one of these barrels (7mm TCU) on a TC for hunting? If so, would you share some of your experiences? How about some of you that are reloading this round...what has been your minimum and maximum bullet weights? Does this round shoot best out of a Super 14" TC barrel, or a longer TC rifle barrel? I think I've read enough about one to know I want one. Now the decision...replace one of my Contender barrels (.22 Hornet, .223 Rem, 7 x 30 Waters, .30-30 Win.) or just add a 7mm TCU to my collection? Yes...I know...that kid in a candy store thing!

What is the longest .223 barrel anyone on here have on their TC Contender? Sure would appreciate a little field review of the longer barrel.

Hope you didn't have to disassemble your gun to get all of the little lead pellets out! I bought three boxes of the CCI, 20 count, but plan to shoot them a single shot at a time.

I've got this, but it doesn't break it down into all the frame variations. Thanks anyway.

Does anyone have a "time line" on the different models of Thompson Center  frames?

Does the lands and grooves cause the shot to spray out and scatter? I know the .45LC/.410 use a screw on choke to stop the spinning as the shot leave the barrel. I've heard the revolvers that don't have the screw on choke scatter the shot, and don't pattern very well. I didn't even know they made rat shot in 9mm.

Did the plastic nose cone fall off?

Just curious, has anyone tried the CCI, with the round plastic nose cone, to see if they would cycle? Like I said, at near 50 cents each, I'm not going to be wasting any...just to see if they cycle! I'm sort of frugal...uh, cheap!

Dolomite, I appreciate the information. I'll have to read up on the "Armor Alloy" barrels.   I've been lurking on some of the other break barrel sites...trying to learn all I can about the TCs, and the pistol/rifle frame issue has created quite a stir! In a way, it looks like it goes back on TC, for not simply putting a "P" on the pistol S/Ns, and an "R" on the rifle S/Ns. Wouldn't that have solved the problem? I'm talking about when they introduced the rifle configuration.   It would be interesting to see a "time line" on the different frames.

Dolomite, OS, 221 Fireball and others...Oh how I long for the days of the good ole 1950s, when I could walk out my back door and hunt squirrel, ducks, rabbit, and quail...and either didn't have all of these firearm laws or was totally oblivious to them. Course, they didn't have the Thompson Centers then. I guess with more variations of the TC for us to choose from, there naturally comes more laws and regulations.   Dolomite, you say none of the Contender barrels will fit the Encore? I've also read that some of the stainless barrels won't fit on blued frames... any experience with this?   One more question...will the noise attenuating head sets, like those sold at Wally World, handle the blast from a 10" .223 barrel, or are ear plugs required in addition?

I'm looking for an Encore frame, and had planned to keep my "hard open" contender. Will my contender barrels fit the Encore? How about the grips? I understand there are barrels that will fit the Encore that won't fit the Contender. Will pretty much all Contender Barrels fit the Encore?

Oh Shoot, glad you mentioned the AR "pistol - rifle" situation. I'm currently trying to deal with an individual, on another site, on an Encore frame. He placed a price on it, and I asked if it was a "pistol frame" or if it was a "rifle frame". He told me they are the same. I told him what has been said in this thread, and he said he'd never heard of that. Thank you knowledgeable Contender and Encore  folks, for sharing your information with the rest of us. Can someone confirm that the factory is the only place we can confirm whether a frame is a pistol or rifle frame?

Wow! Dolomite, that makes every TC Contender - Encore frame a mystery! I would imagine that thinking a frame was a pistol could cause one to pay more for it than they normally would, if they knew it could only be a long gun...legally. No doubt, there are probably people walking around with pistol barrels on rifle frames!   Does the factory publish the serial numbers somewhere, so that a person about to buy one from a pawn shop, or an individual , can tell what they're buying? It seems they would have marked the frames some way so a person could tell which frame they were looking at.

Westwindmike & Others,   Thanks for the information. I appreciate the  sharing of knowledge with a Contender newbie.   I went out and shot my Contender, with the new to me .223 bull barrel, and it was not as bad as I had expected. I shot it with ear plugs and North Gun Muffler ear muffs, and it was quite comfortable. I tried it with the sponge type ear plugs only, and it made my ears ring! I put about 10 rounds through it, but only two without the nice Gun Muffler ear muffs.   Didn't have enough room to set up targets and shoot for accuracy, mostly at soft drink bottles. But, hope to try it out at 100 yards next time. The barrel has a target crown on it and Hi Vis open sights, so it ought to do pretty good. Maybe good enough to lullaby a yote to sleep!   It's fun for now, but I'll keep looking for a longer barrel, then I'll probably let someone else play with this one.   Quick question for you yote hunters...when you're on stand with a gun that has a loud muzzle blast like this, what do you use for ear protection, that allows you to hear the coyotes talking? Thanks.

I just got a barrel in this afternoon that I bought. It's a 10" factory bull barrel with a target crown, and Hi Vis open sights on it. I didn't get a chance to shoot it this afternoon though...maybe tomorrow. I imagine the muzzle blast is going to be pretty loud on this barrel. I was trying to find a reasonably priced Super 14 in .223, but didn't have any luck. There's a fellow that wanted to sell me a 12" .35 Rem ported barrel, but it was more than I wanted to pay. Also, I was a little worried about the recoil on my Contender...I have the same concerns about recoil on the .30-30 barrel. If I were to shoot either, I may not be worried, but right now they're a mystery to me. It should be fun shooting this .223 and my .22 Hornet on my Contender.

Frank, thanks for that shooting story. You're not alone when it comes to people with little circular scars in their eye brows! Ask me how I know! I got my "scope scar" when I was about 21 years old...shooting a cannon in Alaska. Now, I'm an old cuss, and don't want to have to put up with too much recoil on my Contender, but want a round that will take a deer down with a clean kill. I know shot placement is the ticket, and that many deer run after they're shot, but I want to hear them crash before they run too far. I'm thinking that I might also want to be able to whack a wild hog with the same round. I do reloading, but wanted to be able to buy a common round...at a reasonable price...as I'll kill far more paper and tin cans than I will deer and hogs. So, I'm looking for a barrel that will fit my early model Contender, in Super 14, in a caliber that has decent knock down power, but won't put any more scars on this old noggin. What do you guys recommend? Oh yea, being an old cuss means price is an important factor too. So, it needs to be a reasonably priced barrel (can't afford some exotic special built barrel) and the ammo needs to be a round that won't break the bank. Thanks.

How long of a .30-30 barrel would fit on the early model Contender? It seems to me that a longer barrel would add more weight to help with the recoil. Is the 16" barrel the longest you can put on a pistol? Where do most Contender shooters transition to the regular stock...barrels longer than 16"? I'm thinking if it has a regular stock the barrel has to be at least 18", right? I know the Contender is versatile... but just don't want to get my rear in trouble here!

It looks like most Contender owners have more than one barrel, to flesh out the utility of the gun. Mine came with a .22 hornet, which should fill the lower end of the varmint and small game category. Like I said, I have a .223 barrel inbound, which should push that range out there a bit. I haven't been deer hunting in years, so I guess I have plenty of time to work on finding that .30-30 in a Super 14 barrel. My other guns, chambered in .30-30, have a bit of recoil. How is the Contender in recoil with a .30-30  barrel? Of course, with reloading, I can manage a lot of that with the loads.

Frank, that's good news! Do you know if they make the earlier "60's, 70's and 80's  barrels in the 14" length? For some reason, I got the idea that a Super 14 barrel was a later model barrel. If so, did they make the .30-30 barrel in a 14" barrel...how about the .223? It would be nice if there were a chart that showed what barrels would fit what frames.   My apologies to Dolomite. I wrote your number down on something, and now I can't find it.