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Post by todddoyka on Dec 6, 2022 0:55:43 GMT -7
when my dad died, he had a TC Contender in a 14" factory muzzle brake in 7x30 Waters. now it is mine and i don't have issue with 7x30 Waters...i loathe the muzzle brake!!!! so i was going put to on a 10" barrel in 45 Colt, but i thought a 357 Herrett would be the bee's knees. so i bought a TC Contender 10" barrel in 30 Herrett from an auction.
i got like 400 new pcs of 30-30 starline brass (i bought 500 pcs for the 35/30-30) and they are in my drawer, waiting. now i'm on the lookout for 30 Herrett dies. i about choked when i seen the price of jacketed bullets. sheesh, i'll use cast boolits, thank you very much.
the 10" barrel comes with open sights and i will see if i can use them. my eyes ain't what they used to be. (nearsightedness but i have prescription glasses) besides, i have a handgun scope, somewhere.
i was cruisin' around on e-don't-say-it-y and i bought a cheap set of old Lee 30 Herrett dies, it was either that or buy new dies for $100.
now i have to wait for next deer season!!!
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Post by Bullshop on Dec 6, 2022 12:43:19 GMT -7
I am a very big fan of the 357 Herrett but so far have not had opportunity to try a 30 Herrett. I have been watching ebay and often see 30 Herrett barrels very reasonably priced but the timing always seems off with my finances. I have a set of Redding form and loading dies I have had for only God knows how long maybe about 25 years or more. (not for sale)
The one little issue or reservation I have with the 30 Herrett is the slow twist of 1/12" if I am not mistaken the was intended for jacketed bullets of not over 150 grains. Since I like to use heavier for caliber cast bullets in all my guns the slow twist puts some limits on that. Even so I would still like to try one just for the learning experience.
Right now the only contender barrel I have is a 10" 7mm TCU. The 7mm TCU will ballistically out perform the 30 Herrett since it is not hobbled by the too slow twist so can use heavier bullets than the 30 Herrett. Not that that point is always of critical importance but just saying. The 30 Herrett is kind of a 32-20 super and in that regard it should excel. All this is just my thoughts since never having tried one I lack any experience to base an opinion on. Currently my opinion is, " I want one "
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Post by todddoyka on Dec 6, 2022 20:20:38 GMT -7
i lost a bid on ebay on the 357 Herrett. it was my fault, i bid $200 for it and then i forgot about it. another bidder came in and bid $201.
i found the pistol scope, 2-6x Swift. my dad has a 2 1/2x Swift that he took off and i can't remember where he put it.
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Post by Bullshop on Dec 6, 2022 22:03:14 GMT -7
I used the 357 Herrett a lot in Alaska. When its loaded with the 270 grain LFN type bullet I designed on Dan Lynch' site at Mountain Molds it is a power hawg and shoots probably better than I can hold. I had a 10" and 14" barrel and the 10" was sure easy to pack but the 14" got noticeably more velocity. I tried it with some 110 grain jacketed hollow points and with full throttle loads it made small varmints just disappear.
The 35 Rem has always been an option in the contender but I followed closely the writings of Bob Milek and the work he did with Steeve Herrett and from them had to believe that the contender was better suited to the rimmed 357 Herrett than the rimless 35 Rem.
They were quite fond of the 30 Herrett for hunting deer size game but they were using what is considered 30 caliber varmint bullets of 110 to 125 grain. The idea was that the thin skinned light weight bullets could be drivel relatively fast for a 10" handgun but still at the reduced velocity from a rifle they acted more like a controlled expansion bullet than a varmint bullet. That is the reason they designed the barrels with a slower 1/12" twist to get the highest possible velocity with those bullet weights. That is the reason I have long debated over which cartridge would be better for me in the 10" barrels I like the 30-30 with a 10" twist or the 30 Herrett with a 12" twist. There is a trade off with each the 30 Herrett being limited as to bullet weight and the 30-30 being much more finicky about barrel length with a 10" not being a best choice for the powder volume of the full length 30-30 case. That was the whole idea behind the development of the 30 Herrett to optimize the case volume for a 10" barrel.
I remember reading Bob Millek's writing on the development of the cartridge where he said that they kept reducing the case volume and testing it with their powder of choice which if I remember was H-322 and shooting through tissue paper at very close range when there was no longer any sign of unburned powder penetrating the tissue paper they had the perfect volume where the full charge was being consumed in the barrel.
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Post by todddoyka on Dec 7, 2022 11:49:07 GMT -7
my dad's friend must have read Milek too!!! all he knew that it was a cutdown 30-30 case and he fired 110gr to 150gr bullets and (my dad's friend)it was a deer killer. i should have known about H322, i used to load up 150gr and 170gr Hornady RN for the 30-30 using the same powder.
in my limited experiecne using the Contender, i find the 14" barrel is just a little too much. i always felt that a 10 or 12" barrel would be good. for a 12" , a 30-30 class would be great, while a 357 or 44 was 10" terrertory. now that i think about it, the Herrett is both. the 7x30 Waters had a 14" barrel, but the 2"(about) is for the stupid muzzle brake. yes, it is stupid!!! i LOATHE the thing. i should take it to my gunsmith and let him chop it off.
i still want a 357 Herrett tho.
i see that ebay has a 357/44 B&D barrel for the 'tender. isn't that a little more velocity than the 357 Herrett?
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