More on the Contender

OK, enough about Politics for a while.   Recently, I wrote a bit on my fascination with the Contender and it seems that my observations struck a cord.  I've gotten a number of nice messages on the subject and I thought that I'd amplify a bit on my experiences.  


First off, I got my first frame (Easy Open) a few years ago in .44 mag.  I wasn't sure what I was getting into but I loved it.  Today I have five frames (old original Contender.  Some easy open, some converted, some not so easy open) and a bunch of barrels.  "What barrels"  you say?  Well, take a look:

10"	.30 Carbine
14"	.17 HMR
14"	.22 LR
14"	.204 Ruger
10"	32/20 Winchester
10"	7-30 Waters
10"	.445 Super Mag
10"	.45 Long Colt/ .410
10"	.30-30
12"	.17 Ackley Bee
10"	.222 Remington
10"	.22 LR
10"	.223
12"	.22 WMR
10"	.22 WMR
12"	.357 Magnum
10"	5 mm Remington
14"	.17 HM2
10"	.44 Remington
10"	.357 Max/magnum

Nice little collection.  Honest to God, I'd love to say that I bang away with all of them but, truth be told, I bought a few "just because".   Come on now, a .17 Ackley Bee?  Before you .17 Ackley Bee guys kick ass, let me say that I intend to shoot it, it just isn't at the highest point of my list and there are only so many hours in the day.  

At the moment, I am riveted by two calibers: the .17HM2 and the .204 Ruger.

This is the steel frame in .204.  Neat.  Only problem is that the grip is a bit too small for my hand.  Not a big issue since I use it from a rest or bipod.  


A note on optic:  I have an NCStar rice rocket on this piece.  I gotta say that for ~$40 from Amazon I have to wonder about the sanity of someone who would go out and spend half a grand for a sight picture that is indistinguishable from this one.  Hell, if you're worried about the damn thing breaking, buy four of them.  Buy ten for Chrissakes.  It's still cheaper.  Slam it on your Contender and use the cost difference to buy another frame or a couple of barrels.  If you're worried about fashion go watch Project Runway and leave firearms to guys who look for functionality at reasonable cost first and whether the name is "right" second.  

So ... the Ruger .204.  I've shot it a couple of times now, nice muzzle blast.  Not quite as "interesting" as a .223 but it certainly gets the attention of anyone to your side.  The target shows 10 shots at 100 yards.  Rest, naturally.  


I stand by my notion of shooting being "Loud Zen".  There is only one problem:  when you pay a buck for every flyer, it is tough to be real mellow.  There is a solution, though.  Next time I'll discourse on why rim fires are the preferred calibers of the Zen masters.


Share your Contender thoughts Amigos, I am waiting.


Till next time ...


MJ

"Pay heed to the man who carries a single shot rifle, he likely knows how to use it."

Actually, that fine quote should read:

Pay heed to the man who carries a single shot weapon,
he likely knows how to use it

 Today we are going to consider the idea of waste and why Crockett and Tubbs should be hunted down and eliminated.

In the day a man knew how to shoot.  He'd pick up a weapon, draw a bead and the story was over.  Think about it, the 1903 Springfield was used in at least three of our wars and compared to modern firearms it might as well have been single shot.  Guys could shoot.  Civilians could shoot.  We shared a connection all the way back to the murderous Kraut bastards that created the Western firearms ethos in the 14th century.  "Make every shot count", "don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes" and so on.  Men with a purpose: squeezing off shots.  Considered shooting one might call it.  Even with the advent of semi-automatic arms,

Enter Crockett and Tubbs.  We do have a bit of a debt to them.  Thanks to Miami Vice a certain grittiness, a welcome grittiness if you are a guy, became the norm on TV cop shows.  They get a couple of points for that.  Where they loose points is with their championing of what I call Ethnic Sideways Shooting or ETS for short.  See, Crockett and Tubbs had a raft of bad guys to deal with but just as they couldn't be normal schlub cops, their adversaries had to be extreme in the other direction.  They had to sneer, they had to look threateningly ethnic and they had to shoot sideways.  You might not remember the impact of this on the guy community. 

 "Shit!!!! You see that !!!!  That damn greaseball was holding his piece sideways!!!!  YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!  It's just WRONG!!!"

Naturally, every real life lowlife followed suit, as did some other folks who should have known better.  Every moron who had a semi automatic handgun held the damn thing sideways as they emptied their magazine into parts unknown.  Now, they not only hold their piece sideways, they have a good foot of boxer shorts showing above their belt.  Thanks Crockett.  Thanks Tubbs.  You are responsible.

Here is a picture of an idiot holding a firearm sideways.  Just so that there is no misunderstanding.

Let me be clear on one point.  If I feel that my life is in jeopardy, I am in favor of sending many pounds of lead downrange in as short a time as possible. The trend now in many places is to not only hold firearms sideways but to pollute distant berms with devilish mixtures of copper and lead and other stuff in mass quantities delivered with remarkable speed.  The term is, I believe: "Spray and Pray".  Apt.  This has had an effect on me and on many others.

Over the past couple of years I've bought a lot of guns.  But what I have bought the most of are Old Model Thompson Contenders.  I now own 5 frames and maybe 25 barrels.  Why?  Because shooting a single shot is like a loud form of Zen: it helps me relax.  It is considered destruction.  It is the antithesis of what that moron in the picture above does.  It is civilization as opposed to anarchy.  So, what am I shooting?  Couple of things, 204 Ruger, 17HMR and the 17HM2.  Think about the .204 Ruger for a minute.  If I shot at your nose when you were standing 300 yards away from me, that bullet would only have to arc 4.2 inches above the point of aim.  Put another way, I could shoot thru a 300 yard 6" drainage pipe and not touch the sides.  Pretty flat.    Here is a shot of the .204.  The barrel and frame are stainless.  The scope is a 3-6x NC Star which is surprisingly nice and a tremendous value.

These are fun calibers, things that make a noise, wreck havoc at the other end and don't break the bank doing it.  Now, the Old Model Contenders have a bit of a limitation.  As I recall they are not warranted to handle pressures north of 30k psi which means that the .308 and more powerful cartridges are out.  I'm over it.  You can pick up frames for $300 or less, particularly when bought with a barrel and the cost of individual barrels is laughable.  Even stupid, arrogant, nasty eBay allows the barrels to be auctioned off (think they are smelling the cash that Gun Broker generates?).  Now, shooting a single shot pistol is not everyone's cup of tea.  You'll be on your first box of ammo when Mr, Cool, above, opens his second crate but you will be one calm SOB at the end of the day.   That's a firm guarantee from the Sandman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_grip

http://www.chuckhawks.com/204_ruger.htm

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/board,24.0.html