Contender Rimfire Questions

[searcher]

I have been into varmint rifle hunting for over 50 years. I dallied into shooting them with pistols back in the 80's but lost interest because I couldn't see the hits. I still have an old Thompson Contender .223 10" barrel buried in the safe somewhere. I was thinking of putting a .22 LR or maybe even a .17 HMR or .17 Hornady Hornet barrel on it, along with a brake. I'm still not sure the brake would mitigate the recoil enough to see hits out of a pistol scope. And I have no buddies who shoot these to confer with on this one. So - for those of you shooting rimfire or Hornet out of the Contender, do any of you use brakes - and if so, how would you rate the experience and effectiveness? Have you ordered a barrel to be threaded with a brake? Where from? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Outrider27]

I shot 22RF out of a Contender for a number of years, never used a brake. The 10" bull barrel was very low recoil, the 14", barely moved (by my standards - yours may differ).

 

[JSH]

TC and SP shooter for more years than I like to admit. I am not a fan of brakes on pistols, yeah they tame recoil, but the farking blast.

I would be more inclined to go with a threaded barrel and use a suppressor. Wish I had one (suppressor) 40+ years ago. Mine works as good as any brake I ever had and it gets rid of the blast.
My can is a 30 caliber, Griffin, it works well on 17RF’s all the way through to the big 30’s.
Honestly quite surprised on how well it worked on a 17WSM, not much more than a little bullet crack.

 

[dhagerty40]

any of those calibers, you do not need a brake on it. I would use a rifle scope instead for the higher power to see hits.

 

[K22]

Back in the 80's when I shot Small Bore Hunter's Pistol Silhouette, the top shooters used Contender's with match bull barrels and a 6 X Rifle scope, almost all Leupold's. No brakes, no suppressors.

These guys would routinely clean 37 to 40 target in a bank of 40 with a 22 LR. They held the pistol somewhat like a rifle with arms bent to accommodate the short eye relief. It was quite a successful set up.

However, if I was going to select a rim fire caliber, solely for varmint hunting, I would select the 17 HMR which would give you the edge in terminal performance and range. Also, the recoil is so minimal that I don't believe you would need a brake.

 

[nakneker]

I can’t help with shooting rimfire or hornet in a contender pistol. I do have a 22 hornet contender and the recoil is low with a 16” barrel, 45 grain speers and loads a tick under max. If memory serves. I can see impacts off a rest.

As far as suppressors go I wish I would have started using them years ago. Went to South Africa 6 years ago and everything we used was suppressed. I came home and ordered a couple for centerfire rifles, both .30 cal thunder beasts and I use them on a wide variety of rifles. 3-4 years ago I ordered two rimfire suppressors which completely change rimfire shooting. The crack is non existent and with subsonic ammo they become Hollywood quiet. They don’t take all the noise out when using hypersonic ammo but they still make a big difference. I wish I had a surpressed contender pistol in 10 or 14” so I could answer your question specifically but I will say that I gotta believe you could see impacts shooting a contender pistol off a good rest set up while using a suppressor with 17HMR, 17 hornet and any of the hornet variation for that matter. Plus, I know it would out a smile on your face. Hopefully you live in a suppressor friendly state.

 

[Kylongrifle32]

I shoot a 14" 17 Mach 2 barrel as my under 100 yard farm lot ground hog rig. With a sand bag rest on the hood of my truck and my left hand pressing down on the scope while shooting. The cross hairs barely move allowing you to view the hit or miss in a 2-6 power Burris scope.

 

[Unkl Chuck]

I shoot .22 rf in a Contender as well as a number of other cartridges. Rimfires don't need a muzzle brake, don't bother. Assuming you'll be getting a 14 or 15 inch barrel, if you are shooting from a rest, try a rifle scope. It's fairly common on specialty pistols shot from a rest. Check out the Specialty Pistols Forum on the Savage Shooters site.
Check Ed's Contenders for barrels, as well as BullBerry, Match Grade Machine, and EABCO.
If you do go to a larger cartridge, you may want to consider a brake. I do use them on my loudenboomers and they help prevent 'eyebrow contact'. 223 doesn't need one, but a .308 Win pistol needs a good brake, trust me on that one.