Bagged my first deer with a handgun this season.

[KeithNyst]

I've been hunting whitetail since 1966. This year I decided to try handgun hunting. I picked up a Contender in 7-30 Waters and worked up loads this summer; found the best loads using Nosler 120 grain ballistic tips over Hodgdon 4895. Happy to report I bagged this nice 8-pointer late in the afternoon on opening day; shot was at 100 yards. The buck dropped in his tracks.
First pic is the buck. Second pic is the grouping of the Nosler 120 BTs at 100 yards with the Contender with 14" 7-30 Waters barrel on it.

 

[DrMike]

Congratulations on a job well done. Beautiful buck you bagged. To have taken it with your 7-30 Waters is icing on the cake. Again, congratulations; and, welcome aboard. Good to make your acquaintance.

 

[Thebear_78]

I have done a little hunting with a contender in 35 remington. It definitely adds a new dimension to hunting. Looks like you have got a good setup there.

 

[salmonchaser]

Welcome aboard, fine work with the contender, both the pistol and the deer were shooters for sure.

 

[Guy Miner]

Congrats! I've used the .44 mag revolver and the .45 1911, but never one of those cool single shot pistols.

Good looking buck!

Guy

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Very cool and great buck. What scope are you running on your rig?

 

[KeithNyst]

Very cool and great buck. What scope are you running on your rig?

It came with a Burris 2x-7x when I bought. Here is the full gun.

 

[Thebear_78]

Nice looking piece. I always liked the pachmyer grips too. I had a 2x on my 35 rem super 14, I bet being able to run up to 7x helps shooting longer ranges

 

[JD338]

Welcome to the forum!
Congratulations on a dandy buck. The 7-30 Waters is a great round and capable of impressive accuracy from a T/C Contender hand gun. I have the SS version with Georgia Jim furniture on mine.

JD338

 

[sask boy]

Welcome to the forum that is a great buck!!! Thank you for the post & photos.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[pre6422hornet]

That is one heck of an accomplishment!

Awesome Buck and Awesome shooting.

 

[FOTIS]

Nicely done! and welcome!

 

[Oldtrader3]

Welcome and nice deer! I have killed deer with a revolver but never with a Contender. Seems as though it worked well for you, congratulations.

 

[Thebear_78]

jd338-
is your contender stainless or hard chromed. I thought the contenders were all blued and armor alloy (hard chrome). I had an armor alloy barrel in 35 rem on my blued receiver. I really like the contenders in the pistol platform and encores in riflr/ml platform.

how does the 7x30 compare to the 7 tcu? I expected it to be faster, my dad gets over 2k fps in his 14” 7 TCU barrel with 120s, the 7x30 being a tad bigger I would have expected 2300-2400fps

 

[Vince]

Very nice buck.
Welcome too.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[NYDAN]

Congratulations on taking a nice buck with a handgun. Hunting deer with a handgun can be very rewarding. I hunted for years with a Rem XP100R in 260 Rem. taking about 20 deer with it. Wishing you much continued success with the pistol.

 

[KeithNyst]

how does the 7x30 compare to the 7 tcu? I expected it to be faster, my dad gets over 2k fps in his 14” 7 TCU barrel with 120s, the 7x30 being a tad bigger I would have expected 2300-2400fps

My 2200 fps 7-30 loads were well below max load. You can get 2400 fps with near max/max loads with the 120 grain Nosler. I found my best accuracy load at 32grains and was completely satisfied with the 2200 fps velocity; 100 yards is the longest shot I get where I hunt. I did run some ballistics online using 2350fps muzzle - with a 150 yard zero the Nozler 120s would be 3.3" low at 200 yards 1059ft-lbs; at 250yds 8.8" low and 972 ft-lbs.

Max loads with 120gr in the 7TCU is about 2100fps.

 

[SJB358]

Great shooting and excellent buck. I have always wanted to get a rifle chambered pistol like that. Your picture is great motivation!

 

[longrangehunter]

Welcome to the forum Keith!

Nice buck and good shooting, handgun hunting is not easy. You did well!