7 International Rimmed in 14'' Contender

Fire, smoke & recoil whats not to love.
Post Reply
United States of America
Alvin
Class C
Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:36 am
IHMSA Member#: 1707

7 International Rimmed in 14'' Contender

Post by Alvin »

I was able to purchase a 14" Contender barrel in 7 International Rimmed....which was great considering that I already have a bunch of brass and the die set for this cartridge having a Wichita pistol in this caliber. My question would be....this is a rechambered 7TCU barrel. I know that Elgin was rechambering 7TCU barrels back in the day for this...and the only markings that I can find is a 7IR on the side of the bolt block on the left side. Can anyone tell me how Elgin marked his barrels after he rechambered them? :-? This one also has a muzzle brake built into the barrel...something that Elgin was NOT doing.
Al Life 1707
Match Director for Tri-State Gun Club and Board member
President of the Iowa Handgun Metallic Silhouette Club
Joined IHMSA 1978
Life Member IHMSA, NRA, USPSA
Past Editor of IHMSA News
Past Region Five Director
Past Sec/Tres for IHMSA
poorbs
Target Setter
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:41 pm
IHMSA Member#: 0
Location: East Texas

Re: 7 International Rimmed in 14'' Contender

Post by poorbs »

I know this an old thread, but I'm new to the forum and have a 14" 7 TCU barrel that was re-chambered to 7R by Gates. My barrel has no other markings on it than the 7 TCU that was on the barrel before it was reworked. I sent this barrel to Gates for re-chambering and bought a set of dies from him at the same time. This is a wonderful caliber for silhouette, and loads down well for the first 30 targets (110 gr bullet). I used a 154 gr bullet for the rams, and never left a ringer.
United States of America
260 Striker
Class AA
Posts: 1623
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:41 pm
IHMSA Member#: 0
Location: DeGraff, OH

Re: 7 International Rimmed in 14'' Contender

Post by 260 Striker »

Another old string coming back to life. I just bought a 14" TC barrel in 7 INT-R off eBay. Barrel in very good to excellent condition. Hardly any wear marks from frame. I also found a set of Redding dies for it on eBay. Formed up some brass (super easy) and fired three today to see how the cases would turn out. Worked great. Read in the old Shooting Steel book about indexing the case when forming then turning case every 90 degrees and reinserting in gun to see if chamber was true. Mine must be good since rotating the cases didn't cause any issues.

Was wondering if there are any other 7 INT-R shooters out there and what loads are you using. I tried 17.0 grains of SR4759 behind the RCBS 145 cast bullet in my three fire forming shots. Cases looked great, fully formed, no smoky necks and extracted easily. Might try 16.0 grains for our match next week just to keep up my wimp load status. Hope to at least put some shots on paper to see how that load will group. Will probably use my laser bore sighter and get close to at least hit a chicken. Done that many times before so one more time won't hurt.

Weather finally turning nice here in OH so I might actually get to shoot it and get a actual chicken setting.

Anyway, are there any shooters out there using this cartridge and willing to share load info? Probably shoot cast but would like to know jacketed load info too.
Thanks!!!!
Lynn Shultz
IHMSA #15692 since 1980
Past Match Director Logan Handgun Association
Current VP Logan Handgun Association
NRA Member
United States Air Force Veteran
Retired USAF Civil Servant (47 years)
937-407-4885
United States of America
Alvin
Class C
Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:36 am
IHMSA Member#: 1707

Re: 7 International Rimmed in 14'' Contender

Post by Alvin »

I use 26 grains of 4895 with my own jacketed bullets, but this could also be used with my cast bullets. Shot 40's everytime with this combination and no problems with shoot-off chickens at 200. Shot really nice. I have a muzzle brake on my 14", which is a little distracting, but I wrapped a piece of leather around my leg to keep the pants in one piece.
Al Life 1707
Match Director for Tri-State Gun Club and Board member
President of the Iowa Handgun Metallic Silhouette Club
Joined IHMSA 1978
Life Member IHMSA, NRA, USPSA
Past Editor of IHMSA News
Past Region Five Director
Past Sec/Tres for IHMSA
Post Reply