TC Contenders

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
The thistles are 3 ft. and more high and in flower. They need to be cut before they form seed as they are upwind of our prairie. I mounted the the bush hog and mowed a few thousand thistles and ended up bug bitten and sweat soaked. The Yaks are in the pasture and a million green Yak pies left the tractor and me dirtier than if we'd spent the day compacting dirty diapers in a New York City landfill. A thorough washing of the tractor and mower left me even filthier. A shower followed and then Supper.
Huh! Washing a tractor! You crazy social climber you! What an incredibly novel idea. ;)
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Here in SW Wisconsin we have a lot of Amish on our roads and I get to play horse turd slalom with the motorcycle all the time. A bigger annoyance is the manure handling practices of the giant dairy farms that have taken over from all the small operators. Huge operations generating an entire sub-industry of storing, pumping, hauling, spreading, or tilling in manure. Millions of gallons of the fermented slurry.

As you can imagine, as the big trucks and spreaders get covered in the stuff a certain amount ends up on the roads. So it ends up on vehicles, which end up in garages, which end up smelling of manure. Of course there are laws and ordinances regulating how our roads are to be used but, the last two cops in America that enforced traffic laws with any vigor were ME and Bret!

As I told a convention of police chiefs once regarding the reduction of traffic crashes in my City, there's not a local traffic problem I could not solve with a thousand citations and using the media.
You misjudge me. Unless they were literally spreading manure down the highway I could care less. IMO it was payback for the townies and tourists that used the farmers fields as racetracks and dumps, that would complain at every municipal board meetings about smells, sights and having to follow a tractor or buggy for 150 yards on a blind curve while paying a tiny pittance or nothing in taxes compared to the farmer! Don't like poop in the road? Move back to NYC or Boston!!!
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
You misjudge me. Unless they were literally spreading manure down the highway I could care less. IMO it was payback for the townies and tourists that used the farmers fields as racetracks and dumps, that would complain at every municipal board meetings about smells, sights and having to follow a tractor or buggy for 150 yards on a blind curve while paying a tiny pittance or nothing in taxes compared to the farmer! Don't like poop in the road? Move back to NYC or Boston!!!

:rofl: But not S.F. More poop on the sidewalks than on highways in NY.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
You misjudge me. Unless they were literally spreading manure down the highway I could care less. IMO it was payback for the townies and tourists that used the farmers fields as racetracks and dumps, that would complain at every municipal board meetings about smells, sights and having to follow a tractor or buggy for 150 yards on a blind curve while paying a tiny pittance or nothing in taxes compared to the farmer! Don't like poop in the road? Move back to NYC or Boston!!!
I guess I was not specifically referring to manure on the road, but traffic law in general. I never had to deal with manure in Green Bay, but I did have a hard on for pulp wood hauling trucks leaving the paper mills. The mill provided brooms and a waste area for the haulers to clean off all of the loose bark. Of course the truckers ignored the clean up procedure. The mill security guards got dissed by the truck drivers. Our big Tower Drive bridge was full of loose bark. Annoying to car drivers and bad for motorcyclists. Since I was frequently patrolling on a Harley I noticed the debris on the bridge deck. I printed up an informational flyer about the statute requiring loads being secure and not allowing debris to blow off loads. I gave the flyers to the mill security guards and checked back in a week. The guards told me some of the drivers actually crumpled them up and threw them out the window.

Following Sun T'su's advice to kill one to terrify ten thousand, I wrote a few tickets. I felt the flyers were sufficient warnings and thus no further warnings were warranted. The whining and crying was a scene to behold. You'd a thought I killed their kids. The debris stopped almost before the ink dried as word spread.

Same thing with gasoline tanker trucks off loading fuel in the City not using the vapor recovery system built onto the tankers. I asked our Fire Department's Haz-Mat lieutenant if the vapor was actually a safety concern and he said it was under certain circumstances. I could not issue the ticket for that, I had to refer the violation to the F.D. We started by contacting the trucking companies. They assured us all the drivers were trained and instructed to use the equipment. None of the ones I watched did. After a very few citations, and the firing of one repeat offender, that crap stopped. But...only in Green Bay. I was chatting with a driver one night and he told me that they only bothered in Green Bay because that was the only place the law was enforced. Oh and we also got a driver from out of State that had 3 OWI's and was revoked in our State. Now of course with modern CDL laws that should no longer happen.

I could go on and on. Rail Road Crossing violations, school zone speeding, littering, reckless driving. Our local motorcycle "gang members" were involved in Harley thefts and chopping, prostitution, and ultimately in the sexual assault, torture murder of a woman. Traffic law made their lives hell. Did you know your handle bars can only be a maximum height of 17" above the seat? Muffler baffles? Decibels at 50 feet? Oh, you are in your pickup? Window tinting? A hammer for the various nails out there.

Red light running, failing to stop for school buses and crossing guards. Two of us managed to reduce crashes in Green Bay by 27% and kept that up via rigorous enforcement for over 10 years. The unit actually got expanded for awhile.

Our Community Police Officers would have never ignored homeless people crapping on the street, never. The broken window theory is totally valid. We are currently reaping the harvest of chaos our lax enforcement of the little things has encouraged.

Cops nowadays ignore too much. When did it become legal to blow a cloud of black smoke the size of a thunder storm out of an illegally modified diesel pickup with some tow headed grinning jackanapes behind the wheel?
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Dang, man!

I don't feel so badly about my recent coupl'a diatribes now!

You nailed it, @L Ross . I get in a bad mood every time I have to drive to town, simply because of the gross disrespect and inconsideration of such a high concentration of people on the road. Not much better in the country, just a lower concentrations of those people traveling the country roads to avoid the State Boys on their runs between towns.

Ain't it hell getting old and still giving a crap?

Get that Contender going and snuggle in under a nice shade tree with three or four loads and take pot-shots at rocks and yak-pies for a while and it soothes a lot of that away - for a while.

Someone mentioned the wood grips and the 44 Mag in a 10" Contender,... I tried that once. Even the 30 Herrett felt like it was more punishing than it should have been in that configuration - to me at least. Not unbearable, but it seemed the 30 Herrett would be pretty comfortable in a handgun and the grips on the one I used seemed to make it less pleasant than it could have been.

I stick with the Contender in carbine format myself, and am glad I finally got into them after shooting one that way. I know "handgunning" with a Contender is popular and have nothing against it, I just think that frame is also the neatest little carbine ever. I'm partial to small rifles and handguns (and knives) anyway, so my opinion on that may not be terribly valid for most who own and enjoy a Contender.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I guess I was not specifically referring to manure on the road, but traffic law in general. I never had to deal with manure in Green Bay, but I did have a hard on for pulp wood hauling trucks leaving the paper mills. The mill provided brooms and a waste area for the haulers to clean off all of the loose bark. Of course the truckers ignored the clean up procedure. The mill security guards got dissed by the truck drivers. Our big Tower Drive bridge was full of loose bark. Annoying to car drivers and bad for motorcyclists. Since I was frequently patrolling on a Harley I noticed the debris on the bridge deck. I printed up an informational flyer about the statute requiring loads being secure and not allowing debris to blow off loads. I gave the flyers to the mill security guards and checked back in a week. The guards told me some of the drivers actually crumpled them up and threw them out the window.

Following Sun T'su's advice to kill one to terrify ten thousand, I wrote a few tickets. I felt the flyers were sufficient warnings and thus no further warnings were warranted. The whining and crying was a scene to behold. You'd a thought I killed their kids. The debris stopped almost before the ink dried as word spread.

Same thing with gasoline tanker trucks off loading fuel in the City not using the vapor recovery system built onto the tankers. I asked our Fire Department's Haz-Mat lieutenant if the vapor was actually a safety concern and he said it was under certain circumstances. I could not issue the ticket for that, I had to refer the violation to the F.D. We started by contacting the trucking companies. They assured us all the drivers were trained and instructed to use the equipment. None of the ones I watched did. After a very few citations, and the firing of one repeat offender, that crap stopped. But...only in Green Bay. I was chatting with a driver one night and he told me that they only bothered in Green Bay because that was the only place the law was enforced. Oh and we also got a driver from out of State that had 3 OWI's and was revoked in our State. Now of course with modern CDL laws that should no longer happen.

I could go on and on. Rail Road Crossing violations, school zone speeding, littering, reckless driving. Our local motorcycle "gang members" were involved in Harley thefts and chopping, prostitution, and ultimately in the sexual assault, torture murder of a woman. Traffic law made their lives hell. Did you know your handle bars can only be a maximum height of 17" above the seat? Muffler baffles? Decibels at 50 feet? Oh, you are in your pickup? Window tinting? A hammer for the various nails out there.

Red light running, failing to stop for school buses and crossing guards. Two of us managed to reduce crashes in Green Bay by 27% and kept that up via rigorous enforcement for over 10 years. The unit actually got expanded for awhile.

Our Community Police Officers would have never ignored homeless people crapping on the street, never. The broken window theory is totally valid. We are currently reaping the harvest of chaos our lax enforcement of the little things has encouraged.

Cops nowadays ignore too much. When did it become legal to blow a cloud of black smoke the size of a thunder storm out of an illegally modified diesel pickup with some tow headed grinning jackanapes behind the wheel?
I getcha. I had my pet peeves but they tended to be more like drunks beating their kids, mental giants throwing beer bottles at girls in Amish buggies from moving trucks, drunks, druggies and perverts. After about 18 months I on the job I realized the whole thing was about numbers and I was entirely unwilling to write some one armed WW2 vet a ticket for a seatbelt just to get a number. I was not the most favored guy among my supervisors. Safety, yeah, I was fine with that. General idiocy I could see knocking back a notch or 3. But writing some guy for a bad muffler while he was on his way home from 3rd shift to milk the cows while the welfare rat druggie with the new Harley with no baffles was keeping people awake nights? Nope, not gonna happen. Give the scooter trash the ticket, he goes to the Harley dealer who signs off that his exhaust is fine. Repeat next month, ad naseum.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Dang, man!

I don't feel so badly about my recent coupl'a diatribes now!

You nailed it, @L Ross . I get in a bad mood every time I have to drive to town, simply because of the gross disrespect and inconsideration of such a high concentration of people on the road. Not much better in the country, just a lower concentrations of those people traveling the country roads to avoid the State Boys on their runs between towns.

Ain't it hell getting old and still giving a crap?

Get that Contender going and snuggle in under a nice shade tree with three or four loads and take pot-shots at rocks and yak-pies for a while and it soothes a lot of that away - for a while.

Someone mentioned the wood grips and the 44 Mag in a 10" Contender,... I tried that once. Even the 30 Herrett felt like it was more punishing than it should have been in that configuration - to me at least. Not unbearable, but it seemed the 30 Herrett would be pretty comfortable in a handgun and the grips on the one I used seemed to make it less pleasant than it could have been.

I stick with the Contender in carbine format myself, and am glad I finally got into them after shooting one that way. I know "handgunning" with a Contender is popular and have nothing against it, I just think that frame is also the neatest little carbine ever. I'm partial to small rifles and handguns (and knives) anyway, so my opinion on that may not be terribly valid for most who own and enjoy a Contender.
Since a second Tender is on its way to me I already have carbine visions dancing in my head. you guys that extoll the virtues of the Contender carbine/rifle make it sound very appealing. Besides, gives me something to shop for. A barrel, wood stock and forearm, accessories. I think my first choice would be a .357 carbine barrel if they made such a thing.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Since a second Tender is on its way to me I already have carbine visions dancing in my head. you guys that extoll the virtues of the Contender carbine/rifle make it sound very appealing. Besides, gives me something to shop for. A barrel, wood stock and forearm, accessories. I think my first choice would be a .357 carbine barrel if they made such a thing.

I'd almost bet that the 357 carbine barrel is about the most popular one.

I'm tickled that you have another coming and are going to try a carbine. Understand that everything that I say about one is tainted with my personal infatuation with extra light, short and handy guns, which are not as easy to shoot very well, but incredibly portable and handy in close quarters. We're always challenging ourselves - hunting with handguns instead of rifles, using a bow or flintlock instead of a scoped, high powered rifle, why not challenge ourselves with a really, short, light rifle? Some criticize my choice, but that's just the way I see it - it's no different than any other self-imposed challenge and it's a lot more fun toting a 5# rifle than a 10# rifle.

Some guys add five pounds of laminated wood, bipods, HUGE, high-powered scopes - to an action you could lose in your coat pocket! Some guys like that. I prefer to slim them down to 5# or 6# all decked out with whatever sighting device I need, but that's me. Again, remember that anything I say is premised on that predilection.

So, what I was going to share is that there are (obviously) tapered/contoured barrels and so-called "bull" barrels available. I was originally going to have a tapered 16" barrel made for my 357 Mag, but got to thinking; I despise trying to handle a gun which is "balanced" between my hands when carrying at port-arms. Worse is one which is butt-heavy. I guessed my tapered, 16" 357 barrel would make this butt-heavy, even with the cheap, plastic stock, so I went with an 18" "bull" barrel from MGM.

I guessed right. Even with the full-profile barrel and two extra inches thereof, this little bigger still balances right at the front of the trigger guard. I should have gone 20" and it would have handled better. Even my 30/30, with a 24" full-profile barrel and a Redfield 2-7x32 only weighs 6#, so I really should have gotten a longer barrel for the sake of handling. Of course, not everyone's like me and someone else may like their weight distributed differently. I am waiting in limbo for a can to be approved by Big Brother - five months in now, and that will add 8" and a slight bit of weight-forward, so it's all good.

Someone suggested to me that their carbine balanced at the front of the trigger guard too, which makes it a PITA to carry, cradled in one hand. His solution was to put his pinky through the trigger guard to carry it. I tried it and you know what? It balances perfectly for carrying!

DON'T DO THAT! Obviously, we aren't supposed to put our booger hook in the trigger guard until we're ready to fire, but there's MORE. With an original Contender, especially one with a lightly tuned trigger, if you TOUCH that trigger, "cocked" or not, the trigger will UNSET. When you encounter your target (woodchuck, squirrel, deer,...) you will draw the hammer back with your thumb as you shoulder the carbine, but the trigger will not cock - it will fall forward as soon as you let go of it. Might miss your deer, or much worse.

Just give your choice of barrel some thought regarding how you want the thing to handle if you're looking to go light. I have a 20" 357 Max barrel I've never mounted to a frame yet, but the Mag is so much fun and so useful that I shoot that more than everything combined. I think this is why it was so easy for me to get out from under two dozen sets of loading dies and their accompanying rifles and handguns.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
I'd almost bet that the 357 carbine barrel is about the most popular one.

I'm tickled that you have another coming and are going to try a carbine. Understand that everything that I say about one is tainted with my personal infatuation with extra light, short and handy guns, which are not as easy to shoot very well, but incredibly portable and handy in close quarters. We're always challenging ourselves - hunting with handguns instead of rifles, using a bow or flintlock instead of a scoped, high powered rifle, why not challenge ourselves with a really, short, light rifle? Some criticize my choice, but that's just the way I see it - it's no different than any other self-imposed challenge and it's a lot more fun toting a 5# rifle than a 10# rifle.

Some guys add five pounds of laminated wood, bipods, HUGE, high-powered scopes - to an action you could lose in your coat pocket! Some guys like that. I prefer to slim them down to 5# or 6# all decked out with whatever sighting device I need, but that's me. Again, remember that anything I say is premised on that predilection.

So, what I was going to share is that there are (obviously) tapered/contoured barrels and so-called "bull" barrels available. I was originally going to have a tapered 16" barrel made for my 357 Mag, but got to thinking; I despise trying to handle a gun which is "balanced" between my hands when carrying at port-arms. Worse is one which is butt-heavy. I guessed my tapered, 16" 357 barrel would make this butt-heavy, even with the cheap, plastic stock, so I went with an 18" "bull" barrel from MGM.

I guessed right. Even with the full-profile barrel and two extra inches thereof, this little bigger still balances right at the front of the trigger guard. I should have gone 20" and it would have handled better. Even my 30/30, with a 24" full-profile barrel and a Redfield 2-7x32 only weighs 6#, so I really should have gotten a longer barrel for the sake of handling. Of course, not everyone's like me and someone else may like their weight distributed differently. I am waiting in limbo for a can to be approved by Big Brother - five months in now, and that will add 8" and a slight bit of weight-forward, so it's all good.

Someone suggested to me that their carbine balanced at the front of the trigger guard too, which makes it a PITA to carry, cradled in one hand. His solution was to put his pinky through the trigger guard to carry it. I tried it and you know what? It balances perfectly for carrying!

DON'T DO THAT! Obviously, we aren't supposed to put our booger hook in the trigger guard until we're ready to fire, but there's MORE. With an original Contender, especially one with a lightly tuned trigger, if you TOUCH that trigger, "cocked" or not, the trigger will UNSET. When you encounter your target (woodchuck, squirrel, deer,...) you will draw the hammer back with your thumb as you shoulder the carbine, but the trigger will not cock - it will fall forward as soon as you let go of it. Might miss your deer, or much worse.

Just give your choice of barrel some thought regarding how you want the thing to handle if you're looking to go light. I have a 20" 357 Max barrel I've never mounted to a frame yet, but the Mag is so much fun and so useful that I shoot that more than everything combined. I think this is why it was so easy for me to get out from under two dozen sets of loading dies and their accompanying rifles and handguns.
Thanks for the great post!
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
Some guys add five pounds of laminated wood, bipods, HUGE, high-powered scopes
Jeff you got me to thinking so I had to haul out and weigh my Contender Carbine. It wears a Bullberry 22" semi-bull barrel (sort of a middle weight). fully loaded (one in chamber and 2 on buttstock) with sling and 2-7X Leupold it weighs 6.8 pounds and balances with my hand just in front of the trigger guard. I also have a Virgin Valley (now MGM) 20" bull barrel in 22 LR and it balances in the same place.

I was surprised how heavy the package is, it carries and balances like a dream. It does wear the Bullberry proprietary forend hanger system and forend. I converted the factory 22 Hornet and VV barrels to the same system. It might add a couple of ounces. Bottom line is it fits and I like it just like it is. My guess is most of my other rifles are at least 3# heavier than this little Carbine.
Contender2.jpgContender2.jpg
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Since a second Tender is on its way to me I already have carbine visions dancing in my head. you guys that extoll the virtues of the Contender carbine/rifle make it sound very appealing. Besides, gives me something to shop for. A barrel, wood stock and forearm, accessories. I think my first choice would be a .357 carbine barrel if they made such a thing.
Great choice! If I ever do snag a Contender I'd truly love a 357 Carbine barrel. I've been looking for a 357 in a Win 92 (clone) or Marlin 94 for years but I've never even seen one, much less found one for sale. A nice light SS would work fine!
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I like your idea Jeff. In a decent, non-punishing caliber, a light rifle can be a joy. 5-6lbs loaded or even a shade lighter is possible. My oldest boy fits your description of the guy that adds and adds and adds to his rifle until it's running over 10lbs or more!!! No thanks!
 

todd

Well-Known Member
I'd almost bet that the 357 carbine barrel is about the most popular one.

I'm tickled that you have another coming and are going to try a carbine. Understand that everything that I say about one is tainted with my personal infatuation with extra light, short and handy guns, which are not as easy to shoot very well, but incredibly portable and handy in close quarters. We're always challenging ourselves - hunting with handguns instead of rifles, using a bow or flintlock instead of a scoped, high powered rifle, why not challenge ourselves with a really, short, light rifle? Some criticize my choice, but that's just the way I see it - it's no different than any other self-imposed challenge and it's a lot more fun toting a 5# rifle than a 10# rifle.

Some guys add five pounds of laminated wood, bipods, HUGE, high-powered scopes - to an action you could lose in your coat pocket! Some guys like that. I prefer to slim them down to 5# or 6# all decked out with whatever sighting device I need, but that's me. Again, remember that anything I say is premised on that predilection.

So, what I was going to share is that there are (obviously) tapered/contoured barrels and so-called "bull" barrels available. I was originally going to have a tapered 16" barrel made for my 357 Mag, but got to thinking; I despise trying to handle a gun which is "balanced" between my hands when carrying at port-arms. Worse is one which is butt-heavy. I guessed my tapered, 16" 357 barrel would make this butt-heavy, even with the cheap, plastic stock, so I went with an 18" "bull" barrel from MGM.

I guessed right. Even with the full-profile barrel and two extra inches thereof, this little bigger still balances right at the front of the trigger guard. I should have gone 20" and it would have handled better. Even my 30/30, with a 24" full-profile barrel and a Redfield 2-7x32 only weighs 6#, so I really should have gotten a longer barrel for the sake of handling. Of course, not everyone's like me and someone else may like their weight distributed differently. I am waiting in limbo for a can to be approved by Big Brother - five months in now, and that will add 8" and a slight bit of weight-forward, so it's all good.

Someone suggested to me that their carbine balanced at the front of the trigger guard too, which makes it a PITA to carry, cradled in one hand. His solution was to put his pinky through the trigger guard to carry it. I tried it and you know what? It balances perfectly for carrying!

DON'T DO THAT! Obviously, we aren't supposed to put our booger hook in the trigger guard until we're ready to fire, but there's MORE. With an original Contender, especially one with a lightly tuned trigger, if you TOUCH that trigger, "cocked" or not, the trigger will UNSET. When you encounter your target (woodchuck, squirrel, deer,...) you will draw the hammer back with your thumb as you shoulder the carbine, but the trigger will not cock - it will fall forward as soon as you let go of it. Might miss your deer, or much worse.

Just give your choice of barrel some thought regarding how you want the thing to handle if you're looking to go light. I have a 20" 357 Max barrel I've never mounted to a frame yet, but the Mag is so much fun and so useful that I shoot that more than everything combined. I think this is why it was so easy for me to get out from under two dozen sets of loading dies and their accompanying rifles and handguns.

i used to be one of the lightweight rifles too and i still have them. husqvarna m46 in 9.3x57 with a leopold 2-7x, win m94 in williams fp sights in 35/30-30, remington m14 with tang sights in 30 rem, 1898 sporterized spr armory with a redfield 102k aperturein 30-40 krag
i use the tc encore with a 23" MGM heavy factory barrel (444 marlin, 500 linebaugh and 20 vartarg) with laminated High Plains gunstock(2 encores) and the 500L is a leopold 2-7x, 444 is a 3-9x leopold and the 20vt is 6-24x bushnell. i never weighed them, but i guess that it is 7.5 - 8 lbs.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Jeff you got me to thinking so I had to haul out and weigh my Contender Carbine. It wears a Bullberry 22" semi-bull barrel (sort of a middle weight). fully loaded (one in chamber and 2 on buttstock) with sling and 2-7X Leupold it weighs 6.8 pounds and balances with my hand just in front of the trigger guard. I also have a Virgin Valley (now MGM) 20" bull barrel in 22 LR and it balances in the same place.

I was surprised how heavy the package is, it carries and balances like a dream. It does wear the Bullberry proprietary forend hanger system and forend. I converted the factory 22 Hornet and VV barrels to the same system. It might add a couple of ounces. Bottom line is it fits and I like it just like it is. My guess is most of my other rifles are at least 3# heavier than this little Carbine.
View attachment 28372View attachment 28372
Now that Jeff and you have triggered, (pun), a serious case of twitterpation over these carbines, what wood is that please? Bulberry forearm you mentioned. Buttstock?
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Bullberry used to do some incredible beautiful wood. Don't know if they are still around, a pity if they aren't
 

todd

Well-Known Member
the last i heard is that its still there. he retired and he gave to it to his son?
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
Bulberry forearm you mentioned, Buttsock?
The forearm is a piece of American Walnut that I fitted to the Bullberry hanger system. The Buttstock is factory TC Contender Carbine. It doesn't quite match but doesn't bother me. The factory forend is tiny like a sliver style British side by side. It wouldn't do with the heavier barrel profile and intended sling mount of the after market barrels.
The owner of Bullberry retired. I got a letter from him saying one of his workmen was going to take over the business. He did beautiful work and sold finished and unfinished blanks as well. I see the new guy has a website up but I can't speak for their work.

 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Jeff you got me to thinking so I had to haul out and weigh my Contender Carbine. It wears a Bullberry 22" semi-bull barrel (sort of a middle weight). fully loaded (one in chamber and 2 on buttstock) with sling and 2-7X Leupold it weighs 6.8 pounds and balances with my hand just in front of the trigger guard. I also have a Virgin Valley (now MGM) 20" bull barrel in 22 LR and it balances in the same place.

I was surprised how heavy the package is, it carries and balances like a dream. It does wear the Bullberry proprietary forend hanger system and forend. I converted the factory 22 Hornet and VV barrels to the same system. It might add a couple of ounces. Bottom line is it fits and I like it just like it is. My guess is most of my other rifles are at least 3# heavier than this little Carbine.
View attachment 28372View attachment 28372

Good intel on the weights and thanks for going to the trouble.

All these bits and pieces will help the next guy establish (guess better) what he needs to satisfy his desires.

That Hornet is cute as a bug! Just enough weight to be able to place those little bullets precisely at somewhat longer ranges than I'd venture with the 357 on a tiny target. Not that I wouldn't try on an inanimate object, mind you. I've not killed a whole bunch of dirt clods at extended range but I've terrorized the snot out of MANY.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I have this little brown, pocket note-book I write important stuff in, like air and oil-filter cross-references for the motorized herd, contact info for people who fix guns, bits and pieces of stuff I need to watch for, alternate powders, all the details of my bows and arrows, and weights of all kinds of things I've personally weighed.

Just remembered I'd written this down at some point:
Plastic "G2" forearm (fits Super 16 spacing): 8 ounces
Plastic Contender Butt Stock, without hardware: 13 ounces
Contender Frame (not G2): 19.2 ounces
20" MGM "bull" barrel in 357 Max with aluminum Weaver base: 2#, 10 ounces (42 ounces)
Weaver Classic V3, 1-3x20 (last of the Japanese Weavers) with Weaver low rings: 10.7 ounces

Once assembled, that would make my 357 Max Contender Carbine 5.8125#

I'm guessing the stock bolt and a few rounds of ammo would being it closer to 6# even.
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
I have a love/hate thing going on with my 22Hornet.

LOVE: The rifle is accurate, easy to carry and very effective. (an oddball 37 gr. Calhoun HP bullet over a bunch of little gun at just over 2850fps is like dynamite on groundhogs and the one Coyote hit with it didn't go another step.
HATE: Loading and handling the fiddly fragile cases. I have a bunch of W/W cases and the necks fold up if you so much as look at them wrong.

I used to use it as a calling rifle for predators, but have pretty much switched to the evil black rifles now. Plenty accurate, the 223R/5.56 is effective, and follow up shots, when needed, can't be made any easier.