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#1
07-17-2007, 06:55 PM
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Thompson Center Contender For Africa
This is for the Thompson Center Fans out there.
Excluding the Encore line of products.... Would you you a T/C Contender or G2 Contender in Africa for game hunting both large and small? What is the largest game you would go after with the contender, and what barrel (cartridge) would you use - wildcats or not... Thanks for the input... 
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#2
07-17-2007, 07:26 PM
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If we assume that such a gun were legal, and the prohunter agreed...
I'd take a synthetic-stocked carbine (in either old or G2. I'd be limiting my quarry to smallish plains game, and my choices of cartridges (on 16" barrels with 1.5-4X scopes) would be: .30-30 (enough for most critters and the one most likely to have factory ammo available if mine were lost - which is common) handloaded with 130 or 150 Barnes TSX bullets .375 Win handloaded with 210 Barnes X bullets I'd bet on using more of the 375s than 30-30s.
__________________
Freedom of the Press Does NOT mean the right to lie! Visit me at my Reloading Room webpage! Get signed copies of my Vietnam novels at "Baggy Zero Four" "Mike Five Eight"
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#3
07-17-2007, 08:52 PM
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Sure its been done several times, in both the pistol and rifle versions. For big game meaning to me , elk size the 375JDJ has done duty well.
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Boliver E. Shagnasty ESQ. Hated of America is the default position of failed individuals and failing states "Niet geschoten is altijd mis" A shot never fired will always miss
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#4
07-18-2007, 10:02 AM
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It is doubtful I would ever hunt Africa with a single shot gun and I am a firm believer in Contenders...I just want to live to tell about it.
I would not hunt anything that bites back, nothing over 600-700 lbs. and make sure I had back up. First choice would be a full bull carbine length 45-70 shooting a minimum of 300 gr. bullets....probably Barnes xs of some sort. Keep my shots inside 150 yds. and be selective. Next would be a .358 x 444 shooting 200 gr. Sierras for game less than 500 lbs. 6.5 JDJ shooting 125 gr. Nosler Part. for smaller game. 7-30 Waters shooting 120 gr. TSXs If I had a back up shooter there are plenty of others I would take but I would make sure i took the G2 as opposed to the original frame. I have both and one is far more 'hunter friendly' than the other.
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#5
07-19-2007, 01:22 PM
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Over the past 30+ years I have owned many Contenders and shot them in competition for over 20 years. I have hunted with Contenders and owned custom built Contenders and I have built Contenders.
If you want to carry a Contender to Africa and all else is OK, the only place you need go for the cartridge / barrel / dies is SSK and the series of cartridges designed by SSK owner JD Jones. No one, and I maean no one has the experiance in big game cartridge design that JD Jones has. JD is the real deal when it comes to Contenders and big game. He has been building custom big bore Contenders for over 30 years. http://www.sskindustries.com/cartridges.htm Ed
__________________
The three Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions. "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
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#6
07-28-2007, 11:47 AM
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Despite being a lover of the Contender, I must sadly say that it has no place in Africa for large, dangerous game. A quick, second shot (and sometimes more) is needed more often than not. I doubt your PH would allow a single shot.
Consider a bolt action - unless you want to mortgage the house for a double gun. A 416 Rem Mag will handle about anything and the recoil is, (gulp) manageable. The 375 H&R is easier on the shoulder but a little light for the largest of game. Your Contender will be fine for everything else. And, as Rocky suggested, the 30-06 would be an excellent choice. Its the most versatile cartridge ever made.
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#7
07-29-2007, 02:47 AM
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Well, I only have one Contender, and it's the 14" 30-30.
However, hunting dagerous game with a single was done for many years, and the farqueharson single shot was a popular model in the appropriate cartridges. I've long wanted to hunt Africa with my Ruger #1 rifles, and if I ever do hit the lottery that's what I'll tale. My .300 Win. mag. for plains game and my .416 Rigby for the Cape Buffalo. I don't think my PH will say me nay. A single shot rifle like the Ruger #1 can be reloaded a lot quicker than most people think they can, and with practice, they're just as fast as the average hunter using a bolt action, and only fractionally slower than a more practiced bolt action shooter. They'll never be as fast as a serious rapid fire target shooter, but otherwise they are fast enough. I do find my Browning 78 in 30-06 to be a bit slower as the scope sits a lot lower than on the Ruger. I do believe the Ruger or Browning being lever actuated would be faster to reload than a rifle based on the Contender, but that is conjecture on my part, never having shot a Contender in rifle configuration. Anyway, you're supposed to make that first shot count.  Paul B.
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