ericp
.327 Meteor
Posts: 503
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Post by ericp on Nov 23, 2018 21:26:00 GMT -5
I've been messing with this cartridge recently and have been really enjoying it. As a teenager I remember reading an article (or may it was a two-parter?) by Bob Milek about the development of the Herrett cartridges and it included some of the early load data. Does anybody happen to have this article(s) or know what magazine and issue to pursue for a copy? I have lots of load data but would very much like to read the co-creator's thoughts on the cartridge and it's history.
Eric
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Post by bigbrowndog on Nov 23, 2018 21:58:13 GMT -5
I think I’ve got it but won’t know until I get home from work, on Sunday.
Trapr
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Post by zeus on Nov 23, 2018 22:39:42 GMT -5
I have it somewhere but would have to dig. I was messing with it a few years ago and found it somewhere. Cool cartridge to load with the Barnes 110 Tac TX.
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Post by zeus on Nov 23, 2018 23:51:10 GMT -5
Send me your email and I’ll shoot the pages to you when I find them.
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eskimo36
.375 Atomic
Oklahoma
Posts: 2,049
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Post by eskimo36 on Nov 24, 2018 5:36:03 GMT -5
Bob Milek was one of my early must reads in Guns& Ammo. The Herretts, the Contenders, the Wyoming mule deer and a couple XP-100s as I recall. Those were good times for magazines.
Curtis
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ericp
.327 Meteor
Posts: 503
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Post by ericp on Nov 24, 2018 7:04:08 GMT -5
Thanks guys! I've really been having a blast loading and shooting this little wildcat. I have a menagerie of 30 caliber jacketed bullets and about 25 molds so it's keeping me plenty busy. Zeus, PM headed your way.
Eric
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Post by bradshaw on Nov 24, 2018 7:53:28 GMT -5
"I've really been having a blast loading and shooting this little wildcat. I have a menagerie of 30 caliber jacketed bullets and about 25 molds so it's keeping me plenty busy” ----ericp
*****
Thompson/Center rifled the Contender 1:14”, with 10-inch barrel standard. Conceived as a varmint cartridge and to use varmint weight .308s on antelope & deer, the cartridge was a natural for single shot pistols in early handgun silhouette. T/C then chambered the Contender in .30-30 with faster twist for silhouette, whereupon the lever action round stole the thunder from the .30 Herrett, literally. (The 7mm TCU displaced both thirties in 1979.) To load the .30 Herrett for the IHMSA Production category, I loaded 150 SP for chicken, pigs, turkeys, and settled on the Speer 165 RN for rams. You should be able to go heavier with a blunt cast. You will immediately see under-stabilization in YAW @ 50 yards, with keyholes and misses @ 100 yards.
Were I to load cast in the .30 Herrett, I would try 296/H110 and IMR/Hodgdon 4227. Hercules Reloader 7 and IMR 4198 were good powders with jacketed, but I would first try faster powders with cast.
Some of the T/C .30 Herretts predate the Contender frame with strengthened WATER TABLE, introduced by Warren Center to withstand IHMSA silhouette. Early Contender barrels were assembled with a single-piece bolt. T/C retrofitted many with the improved SPLIT BOLT, which improves lockup and eases opening. David Bradshaw
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Post by oddshooter on Nov 24, 2018 11:56:52 GMT -5
I'm sorry to be so vindictive 35 years later, but I still hold a grudge against Mike Milek for his rantings on the 357 Maximum, my favorite caliber.
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Dennis
.30 Stingray
Posts: 112
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Post by Dennis on Nov 24, 2018 14:17:13 GMT -5
I'm sorry to be so vindictive 35 years later, but I still hold a grudge against Mike Milek for his rantings on the 357 Maximum, my favorite caliber. Who's Mike Milek?
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Post by bigbrowndog on Nov 24, 2018 18:48:16 GMT -5
Bobs younger brother, he always tagged along and ruined all of Bobs adventures and consequently ruined Bobs attitude toward the 357 miximum,.....sorry could resist.
Trapr
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ericp
.327 Meteor
Posts: 503
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Post by ericp on Nov 25, 2018 9:20:08 GMT -5
Mr. Bradshaw, Your comments on powder choice echo my dad's old notes and my experience thus far. The silhouette side of the story is always interesting to hear as well. I changed it to the split locking bolt a couple of years ago at your suggestion when the old guy was starting to have trouble opening the pistol as his hand strength left him (along with degreasing everything). I'll mostly shoot cast at far away steel but will likely feel the need to whack a deer or two with it.
Today's experiment will consist of some powdercoated RCBS 30-165-SIL bullets over 4227.
Eric
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Post by bradshaw on Nov 25, 2018 15:31:11 GMT -5
Mr. Bradshaw, Your comments on powder choice echo my dad's old notes and my experience thus far. The silhouette side of the story is always interesting to hear as well. I changed it to the split locking bolt a couple of years ago at your suggestion when the old guy was starting to have trouble opening the pistol as his hand strength left him (along with degreasing everything). I'll mostly shoot cast at far away steel but will likely feel the need to whack a deer or two with it. Today's experiment will consist of some powdercoated RCBS 30-165-SIL bullets over 4227. Eric ***** Eric.... Warren Center explained to me the angle configuration of the LOCKING BOLT built into a Contender barrel and LOCKING SHOULDER at the bottom of the STANDING BREECH of the frame. If the bolt and shoulder meet at the same angle, friction is very high and the parts want to seize. The spur on the trigger guard would have be very long to unlock the action with reasonable pressure. I did not ask Warren why he cautions against lubrication the bolt on a Contender. I suspect the reason is country simple----the spring-loaded bolt pushes rearward to engage the receiver; thus, the rearward jolt of recoil acts to pull the locking shoulder away from the inertia of the bolt. Rocks & Dynamite loads were a modus operandi of some early silhouetters, with such loads turning the Contender into an auto-ejector. The split-bolt helped eliminate the behavior in the pistol, while the accuracy imperative of silhouette combined with a ram-setting rule, reigned in most of the Rocks & Dynamite. David Bradshaw
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eskimo36
.375 Atomic
Oklahoma
Posts: 2,049
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Post by eskimo36 on Dec 1, 2018 7:17:16 GMT -5
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Post by bradshaw on Dec 1, 2018 10:27:22 GMT -5
I recall no trouble forming brass for .30 Herrett from Winchester .30-30 cases. As always, I prefer to start with fresh brass for case forming, although I used plenty fired Lake City .308 brass for forming the 7mm/308x1-3/4”----a.k.a. 7mm Talbot in RCBS dies. One of the most laborious cases to form is the 7mm BR Remington, formed from .308 brass. Taking a 2-inch bottleneck case down to 1-1/2-inch is tedious. My first 100 cases took 8 hours. Remington infuriated Bench Rest cartridge daddy and Hall of Famer Jim Stekl when it release the XP-100 7mm BR Remington without brass or ammunition. Reckon the bean counters were too busy playing golf. David Bradshaw
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Post by Lee Martin on Dec 1, 2018 12:07:59 GMT -5
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