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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 4, 2013 7:26:48 GMT -5
FIL started the collection... after he was gone, we continued to grow it... ( they seem to reproduce, when you close the doors on them )... our collection includes 22-24 barrels, & 4 actions, with many custom & factory barrels, ranging from 17 Mach 2, to 45-70...
so... who's in the club, & if you could, can you tell me how you store & or display them???
I'm just finishing up the interior of a decent sized walk in gun safe room, & am trying to figure out how I want to display the collection on the walls...
thinking of doing racks ( using 8" wide boards ) similar to the rifle racks I built for the walls, only with the left peg hole 1" below the right peg hole ( so the barrels will present horizontal & level ) using the steel pegs, with 1/4" holes in the boards & the heat shrink tube... maybe the wood dowels on the right ( under the barrel ) & the steel shrink wrapped peg on the left to fit in the pin holes... the Contender's barrels offer almost more of a challenge, than my other rifles & handguns, as they vary from 8" to rifle length...
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Post by vonfatman on Jun 4, 2013 7:56:51 GMT -5
I'm more of an accumulator. I have 17-18 barrels....all but one 10" barrels. I place them in my safe on those cheap dish racks you see at Wally or Dollar store. Keeps them off the carpet and separate. When I get my new home built, I'll display them so I'm hoping you get some interesting replies.
Bob
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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 4, 2013 8:42:54 GMT -5
FIL 1st converted an old oak ice box to hold the Contenders... he mounted a mirror on the top cover, & left it open most of the time, the middle divider was plate glass, & the barreled actions sat on the glass plate... he had plywood sections cut that would nest inside the lower door, which also held a mirror on the inside, then had wood pegs drilled into them, that the extra barrels would hang on the hinge pin hole... then had the outside all refinished... sorry, no pics, but it looked nice, but wouldn't hold more than 12-16 barrels ( depending on scopes ), & I think he only had 3 actions at the time, so it quickly became out grown...
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 4, 2013 11:40:49 GMT -5
Collector = bad JuJu Wrapped in oily rags and placed in a water tight plastic tub for me. Those danged scopes make storage a mess. My last count was in the high 30s. Mostly 10 inch bulls for factory cartridge Contenders. Longer barrels for JDJ/SSK, Bullberry, and Virgin Valley customs. Ended up with a couple of tapered hinge pin Juenke Contenders along the way too. Original Contender and G2 frames. Currently on an Encore tangent with Reeder Wildcats mostly. Hauled a SSK custom 444 Encore home last month.
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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 4, 2013 13:11:44 GMT -5
actually the expensive part of Contenders, is mounting a nice scope on each barrel... with old man eyes, I try to get a little magnification everywhere I can
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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 4, 2013 13:19:17 GMT -5
I found my spread sheet... looks like 26 of them
8"
17 Mach 2 ( 8" )
10"
17 K Hornet 17 Fireball 22 Hornet 5.7 X 28 221 Fireball 257 special 7 mm TCU ( 7mm X 223 ) 30 - 30 30 Herrett 32 - 20 357 Herrett 10 mm Magnum 44 Magnum 45 Colt
14"
17 Remington 6 X 223 SSK 7 - 30 Waters 357 Remington Maximum 35 Remington 375 Winchester 45 - 70 Gov.
16"
223 Remington 45 Colt / .410
21"
222 Remington 6.8 Remington SPC
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 4, 2013 19:52:03 GMT -5
List? Yikes! Off the top of my head the contender set....
17 HMR 17 Mach IV 22 LR 22 Mag 22 Hornet 222 223 219 DW 6mm BR 6mm PPC 6mm TCU 6mm BBI 6.5 BR 6.5 TCU 25 BBI 256 WM 7mm BR 7mm TCU 7-30 Waters 30 Carbine 30 Herrett 300 VJR 32 Mag 32-20 8mm GNR 357 357 Herrett 375 W 10mm 41 Mag 41 GNR 44 mag 45 Colt 45 ACP 45-70
More Encore..
22-250 6.8 SPC 308 7.62x39 257 GNR 6.5 Raptor 284 GNR 310 GNR 338 GNR 378 GNR
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dan
.30 Stingray
Posts: 112
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Post by dan on Jun 4, 2013 20:11:38 GMT -5
Nice but I didn't see a 14'' 22k Hornet
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Post by tek4260 on Jun 4, 2013 21:40:15 GMT -5
Or a 358 Win..
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 5, 2013 6:54:40 GMT -5
There are lots of voids in my "set" I'm always on the lookout for new stuff at ground level prices. Last Christmas season Gary Reeder almonst killed me with his Christmas sale. Looking two Contenders at work right now. Last iteration of the first generation Contender. One has a 35 Rem barrel. Not sure about the other. Doesn't matter anyway. I need more frames. I like to put my favorite barrels in a frame and leave them there. When I find a cheap 22 Hornet barrel I'll make me a K Hornet! Left my 270 REN off the list. Makes me think of the complicating factor of TCs. You need dies for each of these beasts. When I finally bought a 270 REN I was flabergasted to find that the dies cost more than the barrel did!
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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 5, 2013 7:43:24 GMT -5
yep... I shoot all mine... the Contenders push my reloaded cartridge count to just over 70 different cartridges... makes for a lot of dies... several of my newer barrels are from my retired machinist buddy... he machines the barrel base, then threads a barrel into the machined base... eliminates that weld, that I always questioned the strength on... I'd still like to get a stainless action, & at least one stainless barrel for deer hunting... seems every year I go out, I end up spending the week in rain & sleet... those engraved action sides like to grow brown fuzzy stuff quite easily when you spend a week in the rain... I have a pretty hot 45 Colt load I use for handgun hunting deer, & have a Williams fiber optic peep sight & front fiber optic rod on a 45 Colt only barrel, that I use for deer... would love to switch that out for a stainless version... as far as my actions ( 4 ) one I pretty much leave the 16" vent rib .410 / 45 Colt barrel on, leaving it set up for .410, with the straight rifled choke tube in it, for use around the farm, one I leave set up with the 10" 45 Colt only barrel, & the other 2 I use one for small caliber, & one for large caliber, & with my buddies barrel set up, we adjust headspace for the action the barrel is going to be used on... BTW... AXE... have you shot your SPC barrel much with so many projects, I've yet to get a good scope on my rifle length barrel, but it looks like a cartridge that's perfect for the Contender's pressure range... that barrel is my only factory barrel purchased since S&W took over TC... hope it shoots to what I think is the cartridges potential???
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bud
.30 Stingray
Posts: 233
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Post by bud on Jun 5, 2013 8:17:37 GMT -5
I only have 16 barrels, most scoped. Have several SSK's and one Mike Bellm. Have been hunting with 'em for 30 years...don't consider myself a collector. I recently got a 6.5TCU and can't find a set of dies that I can afford. You'd think there would be some used dies out there somewhere.
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Post by Lee Martin on Jun 5, 2013 11:26:49 GMT -5
I'm no collector but I have a few neat chamberings: 22 Jet 218 Bee 219 Zipper 225 Winchester 256 Win mag 257 Dart 7 x 30 Waters 7mm International Rimmed 30 Herrett 8mm JDJ 357 Maximum 357 Herrett 38-55 Win 375 SuperMag 414 SuperMag 416 JDJ 445 SuperMag -Lee www.singleactions.com"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 5, 2013 11:53:36 GMT -5
Forgot that 375JDJ Contender and 444 Encore... No telling what else! Haven't shot my Encore 6.8 SPC. Bought dies, brass, and bullets then got busy doing something else. Forgot the custom wood tangent. Bullberry makes some beautiful stuff..
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Post by bradshaw on Jun 5, 2013 12:20:52 GMT -5
A few notes on the Contender:
* Warren Center told me, if I recall, that he designed his Contender for the .38 Special. He immediately saw the possibilities and realized he'd better make it stronger.
* At the the start of handgun silhouette, the Contender was more popular for rebarreling than the Remington XP-100. Among shooters challenging the strength and lockup of the first generation Contender, Dave Ingram may belong to history as the most notorious. Ingram at the least stuffed his wildcats with duplex loads, and may have messed with triplex loads. I watched his pistol open upon up firing numerous times, to the point that, on one shot, the brass auto-ejected. To auto eject, the tip-open action must unlock rather early.
* Warren Center strengthened the water table, standing breach, and bolt, and reconfigured the bolt-to-standing breach engagement angle to reduce the effort required to unlock. He added the split bolt to at once increase engagement and reduce unlocking effort. The trigger was improved.
* Warren Center specifically thanked IHMSA silhouette for conducting the most thorough testing of his Contender imaginable, and for providing the impetus for its improvement.
* As indicated above, the very earliest, or first generation Contenders should not be fired with later, more powerful chamberings.
* The .45-70 was introduced with 16.5" barrel, specifically for use as pistol or rifle. It was a hunting proposition, with no intent for silhouette.
Old time steel shooters may want to throw in on this with experiences and custom chamberings, if not here, then over at the Lounge or Gallery. Warren Center, Ken French, Tim Pancurak and other T/C notables promoted disciplined marksmanship and hunting with powerful handguns beyond what anyone born more recently can imagine. David Bradshaw
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