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Post by Lee Martin on Jun 5, 2013 12:37:48 GMT -5
Speaking of silhouette David, my 7mm Intl Rimmed is my favorite barrel. A 162 gr Hornady and SR4759 powder is deadly accurate from my 14" rig. I know you worked with the round back in the day. How prevalent was that wildcat in IHMSA competition? Seems like the it was more common in the Wichita. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 5, 2013 15:21:42 GMT -5
How about an old school custom TC from Vern Juenke.. This one a 300 VJR (Vern Juenke Rimmed). Cartridge is based on the 30 Federal. The 30 Federal is a 30-30 case with a small primer pocket. This custom TC barrel was built with the drilled and threaded original TC barrel shank. The picture is of the breach end of my Juenke 17 Mach IV contender. Both guns have the tapered hinge pin that Juenke used in the day.
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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 6, 2013 5:53:34 GMT -5
wow... that looks just like barrels my buddy is making, with the machined base & threaded barrels... I'm pretty sure he's never seen one of Vern's guns before
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 6, 2013 13:47:28 GMT -5
I thought your description sounded like something I'd seen before...
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Post by magnumwheelman on Jun 6, 2013 14:44:40 GMT -5
do you know if the "stake mark" on the seam is there to insure / mark any movement in the threads I think my buddy uses thread locker, once he's sure of the headspace & positioning, but that stake punch would do the same
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 6, 2013 21:16:41 GMT -5
The purpose of the "stake mark" is over my head. I had always assumed it was a clocking mark so that when the barrel and shank were dismantled and put back together they would know when to stop cranking on it.
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Post by schunter on Jun 7, 2013 15:47:23 GMT -5
Not a collector per se, but an accumulator for sure!
Contenders - 257JDJ, 6.5JDJ, 300 Whisper, 309JDJ, 475 JDJ Encores - 6.5 Grendel, 6.5/270 JDJ, 7-08, .308
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Post by vonfatman on Jun 7, 2013 18:49:49 GMT -5
Here's my list....
Barrels: .22 LR - 10" bull barrel w/S&W scope. .22 LR - match - 10" bull barrel w/open sights .22 Jet - 10" octagonal barrel w/open sights .223 Remington - 10" bull barrel w/open sights .32 H&R Magnum - 10" bull barrel w/open sight .38 Special - 8 3/4" octagonal barrel w/open sights .357 Magnum - 10" octagonal barrel w/open sights .357 Maximum - 10" bull barrel w/open sights .41 Magnum - 10" bull barrel w/open sights .44 Magnum - 10" octagonal barrel w/open sights .45 ACP - 10" octagonal barrel w/open sights .45 Colt - 10" bull barrel w/open sights .45 Colt - 10" octagonal barrel w/open sights & choke wrench/tube 7-30 Waters - 14" bull barrel w/Thompson Center Scope
I have four Contender frames and a pile of grips, sights etc.
I'd like to get a .357 Magnum (10") and send it off to Mr. B. to be re-chambered for .357 Maximum....I have read that is the way you make a Maxi Contender sing.
Bob
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Post by bradshaw on Jun 7, 2013 18:56:53 GMT -5
There should be at least a small reservoir of shooters intimate with custom Contenders. I frequently heard questioned how best to fasten the barrel to the pivot block, locking block, or whatever it's called, as a weak joint could send the barrel flying. I recall watching a robot welding process at the factory in an atmosphere-purged cabinet. As a welder will tell you, too much heat at the puddle draws the steel as it cools. A conventional weld risks shrinking the chamber at the weld.
Early smithed Contenders often utilized take-off barrels, as in the cannibalized 7x57mm Mauser barrel on a Contender of Elgin Gates. Warren Center and Ken french both explained to me of getting the weld right. The "monoblock" method of barrel mounting was common. The Contender barrel measures .800" at the water table, limiting the meat oe can throw around a fat cartridge. A barrel stepped down to sleeve into a monoblock reduces available "meat."
Contender barrels were typically freebored in anticipation of the challenge posed by toppling full foot rams warped from cumulative impact and stood on uneven rails. In other words, in the old days, the silhouette targets varied in resilience to lead not only from range-to-range, but critter-to-critter in the same bank of targets.
Vern Juenke was an esteemed master of the custom accurate Contender. Adoption of the Production rule, which changed a "production" gun from "no visible modifications" to "NO modifications"----except a trigger job using factory parts and after market grips finished to a standard pattern----slammed the door on full race internals on a "production" gun. Thus, Juenke's Contenders were henceforth confined to the Unlimited category, where they had to lay on the firing line beside custom XP-100s, and soon, the Wichita bolt pistol.
The 7mm International Rimmed (Gates 7mm/.30-30 Improved) hit Production gun status in Wichita's Nolan Jackson/Bert Stringfellow tip-open single shot with cloned 1911 grip. The 1911 grip punishes unmerciful when obliged to tame high velocity in a rifle-type case. The 7mm Int-R could not displace the feverish efficiency of the 7mm Thompson/Center Ugalde ("7 TCU") in Production competition. The 7mm T/CU may be my all time favorite Production cartridge. However, for hunting it cannot match velocity of the 7mm Int, 7mm Int-R, or hotter stepping 7mm-08. David Bradshaw
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 8, 2013 6:57:06 GMT -5
Dang! Started to remember ones I forgot... There are a couple more JDJ TCs somewhere around here. Both based on the 225 Winchester case. Thinking one is a 25 and the other a 6.5. Don't think I ever took any pictures of them either. I'll try to correct that later today. Here is my Juenke custom 17 Mach IV. Put a 4-12 Leupold rifle scope on this one. Little beast is virtually recoilless.
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Post by contender on Jun 9, 2013 10:10:23 GMT -5
Well, you can look at my handle here & know I have a few of them myself. W/o looking at my records,, I think I have close to 20 barrels & 3 frames currently. I've been using Contenders for a few decades of hunting. I don't think anybody can discount the quality & accuracy they have. But,, I got prodded a bit a few years ago to spend more time hunting with my revolvers. (I was the only odd-ball handgun hunter in a group,, that were using SA revolvers.) I made a promise to switch from my T/C to a SA revolver after deer #100 fell to my Contender. I'm at 99 right now. I won't name names,, but I fully respect the shooter who was a prodding me. I will say it's caused me to burn more powder, spend more time with my Rugers, and in general, start pushing my guns to my limitations & figuring out just what I'm going to switch to this coming season. My Contenders & Encore won't go unused, but for the first time in decades,, I'm planning on letting my trusty single-shot take a hunting season break after it downs #100.
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jsh
.327 Meteor
Posts: 884
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Post by jsh on Jun 9, 2013 13:25:15 GMT -5
Bradshaw it makes for a smaller world every time I can put an article with an actual person on the net. I have gathered pretty much all of the old ihmsa books put out. Gun digest and the reloading guide and old magazine articles etc. My many many thanks to you , Elgin and a lot of others for giving me the chance to play the ihmsa game. I feared it was dying a slow death a few years back. It is a tough time for a lot of shooting sports but there are few willing to devote the time to play the game. A lot of folks playing the pray and spray games. I have an xp chambered in 7 int one of the rechambers of the 7br. Have had a lot of old early stuff from years past have one of the early bf s. as to the tc s and collecting. I had bought a collection and fooled with it for a while. The. Came to my senses kid I didn't shoot it why have it. At on time very briefly I had all the chamberings in the octagon barrels and all of the TCA offerings to date. Jeff
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 10, 2013 14:00:07 GMT -5
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 10, 2013 14:05:47 GMT -5
A nice Bullberry forearm makes an old Contender look classy too. A guy can buy fully inletted a semi finished high grade walnut forearm for a little bit of nothing. Apply a little sandpaper, steel wool, and tung oil...
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Post by AxeHandle on Jun 10, 2013 14:45:37 GMT -5
Just when you thought it was safe! Don't look under the bed! Found a Reeder 378GNR, 257JDJ and a 6.5JDJ hiding under there.. Better not look again for a while...
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