Thompson center contender serial number dates
Put a good 2-8X variable scope on it and you are good for anything that walks North America out to about 300 yards if you do your part. So, my recommendation to you is to get an old-style Contender with a 12-14" barrel chambered in 30-30AI, 7-30 Waters, 6.5JDJ, 309JDJ, 6.5 Bullberry, 7mm Bullberry, or similar. Especially after carrying it around all day. This makes a big difference when it comes to making an offhand shot. The Encore and G2 are beefier and therefore heavier than the old-style Contender. You can get a custom Encore barrel that is 16" long and put it on a pistol frame, but then you lose the portability of having a pistol in the first place.ģ. So, when you are talking about pistol length barrels, bigger cartridges will not perform as well. Why? Because the 7-08 needs a longer barrel to burn all the powder that it needs to reach its max potential. For instance, I can get almost the same performance from a 7TCU in a Contender that you can get from a 7-08 in an Encore. While the Encore can handle bigger cartridges, bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to handguns. With a pistol the trigger is one of the most important things when it comes to accurate shooting at longer distances.Ģ.
Now, you can get down to around 2# with the G2 and Encore, but can't go any lower. The G2s and Encores are harder to adjust and require spring changes to truly make them better. The trigger is much better on the old-style Contenders. I would get an Older style Contender (not the G2). Here is my take on it, and you can take it for what it is worth.