I have a T/C Contender with two 14" barrels, a .223 and a 7-30 Waters. There is a plethora of loads listed in the various books for .223, and a dirth of loads for the 7-30, but both have the same problem: None of the books show loads that work WELL in 14" barrels!

I am curious about what others have found to be loads, and more specifically, powders that work well in the 14" barrels. Do you stick with 4895/4831 and take what you get? Does 4227/4198/VV130/AA2520 work better? Unique/Blue Dot? What works best in this length and for which callibers?

What else have you tried with good results? For that matter, what have you tried that doesn't?

Thanks
John

Lyman keeps a seperate secion in their manual of T/C's, so that may be a manual to pick up.

"Best"...doubt any manual can really predict how accurate a load will be in a roandom barrel...can give a pretty good predictin of velocity.

For what it's worth, ayman does bold print a load now and again as one that was highly accurate in their test barrel.

With 50gr. bulets in the .223, looks like AA-2230 or Reloader7 are the velcity (both breaking 3,000).

In 7X30Waters, lists loads for 120, 130, 140, 150, and 160gr. jacketed bullets. At the heavy weight enod of the spectrum, WW 748 gets the the "bold print". At the lower weight end, looks like H335.
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Only .223 barrel I tried in the T/C I've loaded for liked 45gr. Hornady (.224" Hornet) bullets and 22.4gr. of IMR 4198. Tried a few others, but this combination gave me the best combination of range and expansion.

Stanger,

I use IMR 4198 and BL-C2 in my 12" hunter 223 with VERY good results.

I would guess that the 7-30 Waters would like RL-7 or 748.

They make a reloading manual specifically for the Contender...it is usually available at your gunshows...

Darrell

I have a Sierra manual that has loads for Contenders. I load for my 14" .222 with 2400 and get good results. Some of the loads use pistol powders with faster burn rates so that more consistent velocities occur. There are also some other Contender specific manuals available elsewhere. I can't remember exactly where I saw them but a good place to try might be Fox Ridge. They have a web site.

For the 7X30 Waters barrel, H-4895 works extremely well in 14" handgun length barrels as does IMR-3031, Win. 748 and AA-2015BR...

For the 14" 223 barrel, H-335, H-332, Varget and BL-C(2) all work very well....

D-A

Ww 748.................

As others have stated the W748 has been a good all around powder, the one drawback is that being a ball powder it is extremely temperature sensitive. The Long distance record was, and might still be held by a production 7-30 Waters in a 14" barrel loaded with IMR4064 and a 140 gr bullet. I have been loading with W748, IMR4064, H4895, H4350 and H4831 with good accuracy from all powders. Does one outperform another? Not that I can see. I have been looking into Varget and will probably do some testing with that this spring. Your best bet? Try a few different powders and see what your gun likes. The 223? It doesn't care, you can put almost anything in a 223 and it will shoot good.

Strange as it may sound the powder that produces the highest velocity in a long barrel will produce the highest velocity in a short barrel. The powder is burned within several inches. With really slow powders, there will be more flash as the burning gasses hit air. So it really depends on what powders work best in your piece. If you primarilly want velocity start with the powders that produce it. If you want accuracy, either cut back on the same powder or focus on what lends to it: generally a full case, perhaps even slightly compressed. I shoot a 7mm Int. Rim. (a forerunner of the Waters), it like BLC2. My 223 likes H4895 but I'm sure others mentioned would work just as well. A pet load in someone else's gun will not necessarily be a pet in yours. Only a workup will tell.
In loading the Waters, size the case so ithe headspaces on the rim and the shoulder. Take a fired case and size the neck a bit at a time until it just fits in your chamber without setting the shoulder back. This makes for a tight fit in the Contender and contributes more to accuracy for me than nearly anything else...and the cases last longer.