I have a stainless 10" .45/.410 vent rib barrel from T/C. It has a l-o-n-g chamber and rudimentary sights, so it's not that great for .45 Colt shooting. I noticed that T/C's .45 Colt barrel with sights also includes a choke tube. Does this mean it has the same long chamber?

Is .45 Colt accuracy decent in these barrels, or should I look for an aftermarket brand that is chambered specifically for .45 Colt?

Thanks for any information,
desmobob

I have an old octagon .45/.410 contender barrel and accuracy is fine with .45 colt ammo. It has the looong chamber and external choke. A .45 colt only chamber would be better but it wouldn't help ME shoot any better.

The .410 part of this make for a great short range pest gun. Snakes and skunks or armadillos.

I have an old octagon .45/.410 contender barrel and accuracy is fine with .45 colt ammo. It has the looong chamber and external choke.

To put things in perspective, my only other Contender barrels are 10" stainless bull barrels; .22LR Match and 30/30. Both are scoped and produce outstanding accuracy.

When you say accuracy is fine, what kind of groups are you talking about? All I really need is one-minute-of-whitetail at woods distances, but I'd like better.... ;)

Thanks,
desmobob

The standard .45 Colt 10" bull barrel is available, only without a choke, with a standard .45 Colt chamber from the T/C Custom Shop / Fox Ridge Outfitters. It will shoot groups of an inch or less at 25 yards if the shooter can. Shorter or longer barrels are also available. I don't have a current Fox Ridge catalog handy, but the selling price is probably $225-240.

I always liked the .45 colt, but ran into the same problem. I went to .41 mag for my Contender/ Blackhawk hunting duo for this very reason.

I ended up extremely happy with the .41 mag, but at the time I was choosing. I was a little upset that the only barrels I could get in .45 were the .45/.410. I wanted the most accuracy I could get and the .410 just was not in the running.

As previously posted, Fox Ridge and others do have barrels at about the same price that you'll pay for them from TC. Good luck in your quest.

Regards,
Gene

Thanks guys.

I thought I'd save myself from the registration hassle by getting the .45/.410 barrel; two calibers in one. I live in NY and I'm required to put my Contender on my pistol permit as a different handgun each time I get a new barrel! This means paying a fee and taking time off from work to visit the county pistol permit office. What a crock of #@*&!

Good shooting,
desmobob

Well I have only one experience with a .45/.410 Contender Barrel. a buddy insisted he have one for a holster gun. He had Virgin Valley Custom Guns build him a Stainless-Steel 8" .45/.410 Contender Barrel with Open Sights.

We shot up a lot of .410 Ammo finding something that would pattern acceptablly, but in the end did find a couple brands and types of shotshells that were satisfactory.

Once that was done we went to work trying to work up a .45 Colt Load that would serve for Short Range Deer Hunting. For the Accuracy testing we removed the rear sight and installed a Weaver Scope Base and a 3x12x32mm Burris LER Handgun Scope via Weaver Rings for testing purposes.

I think we shot well over 100 rounds of ammo in searching for the right load with the components I had on hand. Long story shot, the BEST Groups we fired were from 4" to 5" at 50 yards with a 12x Handgun Scope shooting off of a Harris Bipod.

My buddy kind of gave up on this project and I think this barrel just now occupies space in his safe.

I guess if I wanted an ACCURATE .45 Colt Contender Barrel I would one of two things. #1 I would buy a Fox Ridge Outfitters (T/C's Custom Shop) Barrel chambered for the .45 Colt Cartridge. In you case in NY would you have to register the second barrel even if it is the same chambering as the first barrel (ie both being chambered for .45 Colt, but with one being able to fire .410 Shotshells also provided the latter is the one you have registered).

#2 (and I have not done this but rather have read about people doing it) is I would use .444 Marlin Brass and neck it up to accept .45 Colt Bullets. I would then work up a load that would duplicate the Ballistics of a .45 Colt but via the use of the .444 Marlin Brass would have a much longer cartridge case and the bullet would not have nearly as much area to jump before it engaged the rifling. From what I understand this can be done, but special tools need to be made to do it. Depending on the powder used I would also think that a filler would need to be used between the powder and the bullet. Like stated I have never worked with anything like this but do know others who have.

Larry

I guess if I wanted an ACCURATE .45 Colt Contender Barrel I would one of two things. #1 I would buy a Fox Ridge Outfitters (T/C's Custom Shop) Barrel chambered for the .45 Colt Cartridge.<SNIP>

#2 (and I have not done this but rather have read about people doing it) is I would use .444 Marlin Brass and neck it up to accept .45 Colt Bullets. I would then work up a load that would duplicate the Ballistics of a .45 Colt but via the use of the .444 Marlin Brass would have a much longer cartridge case and the bullet would not have nearly as much area to jump before it engaged the rifling. From what I understand this can be done, but special tools need to be made to do it. Depending on the powder used I would also think that a filler would need to be used between the powder and the bullet. Like stated I have never worked with anything like this but do know others who have.

Larry

A new barrel is always the answer, isn't it? ;)

The other idea is interesting.... I'll have to do some Googling and see what turns up.

Thanks for the info, Larry.

Good shooting,
desmobob

For barrels try http://www.sskindustries.com ,http://www.bullberry.com and http://www.matchgrademachine.com .

Yep that is what I keep telling myself, "A new Barrel is always the answer". However my wallet doesn't always agree with my logic, go figure.

Good luck with the project.

Larry

I have a standard .45 colt barrel from T/C and it has always shot very well. I was never satisfied with the way the choke version shot. Chief