Thompson Center Contender

[Afalex1]

Last Deer season I bought my Dad a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag. He had told me several times it is the deer rifle he wished he always had. Well, he got it and he gave me his contender with a .375 jdj barrel and a 35 Remington barrel. Both barrells are 14" and scoped.

Anyone else have any experience with these single shot pistols? I think I'm going to try to take a deer with it this season. Just for the sake if doing it with a gun my dad gave me. I know either one is more than capable and I wont shoot past 50 yards without a good rest.

What are your experiences with one of these? Any silhouette shooters? Any single shot pistol big game hunters? Anyone loaded a 375 jdj for deer?

 

[pruhdlr]

I have been shooting both the older Contenders and the new'ish Encore's for some time now. My first Contender pistol was an older framed gun with the swing position hammer selectable for rim/center fire. It came with a heavy 14" 44mag bbl on it. After about a year I sent it off to J.D. Jones and had it re-chambered to 444Marlin. IIRC this was in '84 or '85. I loaded this gun to full power and shot the then new 265gr Hornady bullets thru it. I killed moose,bear,and several of the bigger NW deer with this gun.

About three years later I ordered another bbl from Jones(then SSK)chambered in the "new" 375JDJ. Again I killed everything that could be killed in the mountains of Maine with the pistol. Including a 62 1/2" 965lb bull moose. IIRC I used a 275gr Hornady bullet. This was waaaaaay before there was a solid copper or even the Nosler Partitions.

Some of the deer that I killed up north were near 300lbs on the hoof. Now with some of the better bullets that come in 375cal I would pick the lightest solid copper Barnes in either TSX or even better TTSX available. I also killed several coyotes with my Contender in 375JDJ at close to 200yds with the very light bullets available back then. I installed a front 1/4" sling swivel stud on my gun and used the 9-13 inch Harris bipod. From prone or from the bench the legs would not collapse if I maintained my grip arms elbow locked.

The 375JDJ brass is super easy to make. One pass of the 444Marlin brass into a 375JDJ die and your done. I used Imperial sizing wax. I very seldom had to even trim to correct length with the proper lube.

I had a Leupold 4X pistol scope on my gun. It was ordered with a thick cross hair. Nowadays I probably would choose a 2-6X variable. The JDJ chambering shoots fairly flat at the <200yd ranges,especially with the lighter bullets. The Barnes line of bullets is all you would need for the biggest of hogs or deer,IMO.

There are several good powders that are used with this particular JDJ. As I recall my gun liked the case stuffed as full as possible. Being a single shot I also seated the bullets .010" off the lands for my fuller than full power loads. I also would put a light crimp on the bullet NOT in the cannelure.

Some years later I built up a 21" 375JDJ Contender rifle. Take a close look at this. It was really a fun gun. I gained another 200fps over the 14" bbl even with the heavy bullets.

You will absolutely love the 375JDJ. It is extremely versatile,accurate,and powerful. J.D. Jones has killed ALL African big game with this chambering. --- pruhdlr

 

[Afalex1]

I've reloaded some for the 375. I was able to get 1.5" 5 shot groups @ 100 yards with laying prone and gun on a rest. Probably would be better with more practice.

This is an older frame gun with the swing selectable hammer. I bought a 22 lr barrel for it too and really enjoy plinking with it.

I have a bunch of hornady 275 grain spire points loaded .01 off the lands and at Max book load. No pressure signs yet, but I don't think my hands want to go much high.

 

[pruhdlr]

I am a member of the "Load Data" site. There is tons of 375JDJ load data there for bullets from 200 to 300grs. Let me know if you need any of that info and I will gladly pass it to you. All my past load data is long gone. --- pruhdlr

 

[Boar Buster]

I had a 375 JDJ years ago, but I lost it in my house fire. Still have brass & bullets. I used the 220gr fp for most of my hunting. It was devastating on whatever it hit. With a Burris 2x7 in a T-SOB mount it was good for 1.5" groups. Mine was Magna ported with 4 ports and it did a good job of keeping the barrel down, just dont leave your elbows down on the bench when you are shooting.

 

[Itsazonik]

I have the t/c encore in 375 h&h and I love hunting with that round. Nothing it can't stop. Only difference is I have the rifle. In an encore pistol I only have a 45/70 barrel. It kicks like a mule but is so fun to shoot

 

[Afalex1]

Shooting this things makes me giggle like a little girl everytime I pull the trigger. I love it.

 

[pruhdlr]

As with the JDJ or the 375H&H,fun can be had with the new'ish Trail Boss powder. In my 500S&W rifle I can throw a 440gr WFNGC at 700fps. If this powder would have been around some 25 years ago I probably would have kept some of my other big boomers.

Nowadays I hear of guys letting their 12 year olds hunt with their 45-70's shooting the 300grHP's at 800fps. Kinda like a ML using ONE pyrodex or Triple 7 pellet. My wife's hog gun is a 18" NEF 45-70 with a 300gr at 1050fps. Slays 'em. --- pruhdlr

 

[Itsazonik]

Too many of the 45/70 bullets don't expand well at sub speeds. I load about 40 different bullets in my socom and have tested so many for expansion. They just don't so it. I can load my 375 h&h down to about 1600fps and it's far more manageable. I let my friends 13 year old hunt with my 458 socom shooting the FTX bullets running about 1250 and the thing shoots like a dream and the FTX will expand.

Loading any large caliber weapons down that slow with bullets meant for over 1500fps just seems a little worthless. Going for those results I would have just kept my 300BO. It's the same complaint as what you would get loading others subsonic

 

[pruhdlr]

From my experiences......a bullet that is .452" and above does not have to expand to kill efficiently. Especially the bullets of the .458" and .500" bore size. They cut such a wide hole going in that the hole stays open and the animal looses consciousness rather quickly. And if any bone is hit the bigger bullets will clip them off and turn them into secondary missiles.

Not much hydrostatic shock to count on .....just the hole size. There is a guy in my club that brings his very young grandson to hunt every year. The kid uses a 50cal M/L with one Pyrodex pellet behind a 245gr Power Belt Aerotip. The boy kills a deer every year at <50yds. The bullet is a complete pass thru every time. --- pruhdlr

 

[Afalex1]

I was kind of thinking the same thing as pruhdlr on the hole size. a 1/2" can drain a lot of blood pretty quickly.

 

[Itsazonik]

I have shot hogs with my socom with subsonic loads and had them run off with no trace after the hole closed right back up. It's been talked about a few times around here. No blood trail because the round didnt do enough damage and the fat just closed right back up and sealed the wound

 

[Afalex1]

Hogs are a lot tougher than deer. I was just thinking about deer. I don't even bother with hogs and subs. I've seen .300 WTF subs in action. 6 rounds to kill one hog. Not worth it.

 

[histopicker]

I an to old and fat to chase after wounded animals. Give me hydrostatic shock!

 

[Itsazonik]

I agree, I'm not going to go out of my way to chase animals if I don't have to. Load a bullet to what it's meant for. If you want subs just go fat metplate cast bullets. At least you have a chance of breaking a lot of stuff on the way through.

 

[Guess]

i have taken many big game animals with a TC in .375 win., 357 max, .222 and 22 hornet works well if you practice!

 

[Itsazonik]

Anything will work well if your practice and get a good clean shot. That's the key to it all

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

I shot an 80 lb hog at 8' with my Ruger SR22 a month back or so out of self defense (kinda) He didn't see me in the long weeds, I just took a pot shot at his head area, he ran off screaming. Found him the next day by the buzzards, got lucky with that one! One shot with some 20 year old Blazer lead head 22's.

 

[Aspp]

I used to have a Contender with a 22-250 and 223 barrels (16" on both IIRC), was fun but didn't do much for me, gave the gun and all the gear to my Grandpa. No clue if its still around or not.

 

[Afalex1]

To me this pistol is not the ideal tool.for hogs at all. I can see taking deer of any kind with it. Even elk, moose, and maybe bear. It is plenty powerful, but the very slow reload and follow up **** along with the heavy recoil really limits my ability with it.

With practice I will improve and I am excites tig try my hand at a whitetail with it. My enjoyment comes more from the pistol belonging to my dad before me. That makes me grin even more when I shoot it.