# Contender pistol shooters



## Bug Guy (Jul 19, 2009)

I am new to the contender pistol world and have bought an original contender pistol with a 30 30 win barrel and am looking for information from some shooters that have experience with these weapons. I have always wanted a hunting pistol and this is my first attempt. Any information on these weapons or advice on how to go about shooting these guns is most welcome. Thanks in advance from a novice pistol hunter.


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

Get a good set of shooting sticks and learn how to use them. I find that if I have something to lean my back against use my sticks for the gun and brace my elbows on my knees gives me the best results. Shooting offhand can be done with a 10 inch barrel but i find the 14 inch barrels hard to shoot offhand. I hase some contenders with dot sigts and some with high magnification scopes. For hunting where shots will be less than 100yds a dot sight is easy to use and good for deer sized game for me. 2-6 or 2.5-8 power scopes are great general use scopes for most ranges that you will use your 30-30 at. Shoot a lot and find what work well for you. The 30-30 with 125gr nosler BT has worked well for me in the past. It can be fun and challanging to hunt with a handgun, gophers and rabbits are great practice.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Welcome to the world of the Contender Handgun. Life as you knew it is now over as these things are super addictive.

I started hunting with Contender Handguns in 1982. As per just starting out I would recommend a low magnification scope or a variable. The main reason is Handgun Scopes have a smaller field of view than Rifle Scopes of the same magnification. This coupled with the fact that there is no stock comb to guide your eye to the scope gives newcomers a hard time finding their intended target with Handgun Scopes.

Case in point, my cousin has used 2x Handgun Scopes with a large field of view for several years shooting bullseye competition with a Rimfire Handgun. He set out to Hunt Whitetails with a Ruger .44 Magnum Bisley Hunter and mounted up a 4x Leupold Handgun Scope. Now the 4x Leupold Handgun Scope has a little less than half the field of view at 100 yards than does the 2x Leupold Handgun Scope he had used for years. When my cousin's chance came at a Whitetail at 60 yards he never did get the shot off as he couldn't locate the Whitetail in the field of view of the 4x Leupold Handgun Scope. Since that day my cousin replaced hsi 4x Leupold Handgun Scope with a 2x Leupold Handgun Scope.

The main thing you are going to need to do is PRACTiCE, PRACTICE and PRACTICE some more. When I first started hunting with Handguns I made a 11" Steel Swinging Gong. I figured that that 11" gong would represent the kill zone on a Whitetail. I couldn't tell you how many rounds I fired at that Gong at a variety of distances from a variety of different shooting positions.

As Whelen35 has stated I like crossed shooting sticks, and if I can get my back against something with my elbows on my knees I am quite confident I can make the shot at reasonable range.

I didn't catch on to this until I had been hunting with and shooting Contender Handguns for nearly 20 years but the one thing I did was add a .22 LR Match Contender Barrel in the same length and weight as my Hunting Barrels were. This enabled me to use my contender year around and not break the bank buying ammo.

Good luick with your quest.

Larry


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## Bug Guy (Jul 19, 2009)

Thanks for the replies guys. I got the chance to shoot my contender last week and before I knew it, I had gone through all 3 boxes of shells. That thing is fun. A little loud, but fun. SD your right about the scope thing. Just a little bit off of dead center and the scope goes black. That will take some getting used to. Time to hit the bench and refill the shells and off to the store to get new ear protection in preparation for round 2/3/4/5/6/etc.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Ah hah another shooter with Contenderits. Never fear as the cure is sure pleasure, just keep shootin.

If you are going to start handloading for your Super 14 .30-30 Contender shoot me a PM or an e-mail at [email protected] and maybe I can save you a little time & $$$ in finding the right load.

Larry


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## Bug Guy (Jul 19, 2009)

Email sent SD. Thanks.


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## GUNSHIP (Jan 18, 2007)

Just my 2 cents.

One, get used to shooting with both eyes open. When you use both eyes it will train you to find a target a lot faster. Using the scope itself for target acquisition is like trying to find a star with a telescope. If you use the both eye open trick you will acquire the target much quicker with 2 eyes than you can with one looking through a scope.

Next use a sling adjusted for proper length and harnessed around your neck. When you go to shoot you don't have to spend as much time adjusting for eye relief. It also has the added compensation of keeping your pistol close to your body and handy. And it is "almost" as steady as a rifle buttstock. When adjusted properly you can withdraw from a underarm holster and put forward pressure on it and be as steady as a rock.

For Deer I use three cartridges, 357 Rem Max, 44 Mag and 260 Rem. Keep your shooting distances realistic and save the 700 yard shots for a rifle. 

If you need? parts and accessories www.belmtcs.com is a good start and the Thompson website is another great source also.

Best wishes, Bill


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## gemihur (Oct 29, 2015)

... and if you're using the 260 Rem make sure that you brought your Encore and not your contender
sometimes even 2¢ deserves change


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