I was so pleased with the you-cant-kill-it shotgun stock I got from Choate a few weeks back that I ordered four more to dress out a couple current and future boomsticks.
And while we’re on the subject of Choate, I picked up another of the somewhat-difficult-to-find pistol grip stock and forend combos they made. It’s my understanding that Choate didnt plan to make these, they were kind of a slight modification to some M1 Carbine stocks they were running off. (Or some similar story like that…I’ve no doubt I’ll get an email setting me straight on that.)
Anyway…..
I have a 21″ 30-30 barrel for the T/C Contender. For my needs, the .30-30 is a pretty good hunting cartridge in this part of Montana. I rarely shoot more than a hundred yards, and what I was really after was light weight and durability. So..when I found this stock and fitted it out on my .30-30 it was love at first heft.
I should throw it on a scale and see what it weighs.
Hmm. I always figured it was about five pounds. Turns out I’m off by half an ounce. Eh, I’d say with one in the chamber it would be an even five pounds. You gotta admit, five pounds for a rifle in a somewhat-respectable caliber is pretty freaking handy. This thing packs around in the woods like it weighs nothing.
With a shorter barrel, like a 16″, I could see this thing easily remaining below 5#…. maybe even the 4.5# range.
I’ve carried this thing around in the woods for a number of hunting seasons and absolutely love the light weight. Range is a bit limited since I’m sticking to open sights in order to save weight, but it’s easily a hundred-yard gun. I need to swap out that rear sight for a nice peep sight. (hey, there’s your Paratus gift giving idea right there!) Since it’s a single shot gun, I can load any pointed bullet I want in it since flat-nosed bullets in the .30-30 are only there to prevent magazine tube problems.
Anyway, I came across one of the stock sets at the gun show and felt like it needed to return to the house with me. I already have the .30-30 barrel but what I’d really like, and is dang difficult to find, is a carbine length .357 Magnum barrel. That’d be a fun little gun to play with, although a.357 Max might be even more interesting.
Sweet!
Ah, another person who wants a .357 Max barrel for the T/C. I used to have one years ago in pistol length. Sold it for one reason or another. About three or four years ago I had eabco.com make me a 20 incher. That baby loves the heavy weight bullets…………………
Buddy of mine used to have a 10″ Max barrel with a little 4x on top of it and it was a deer-killing machine. Used to put 180 gr. JHP Remingtons in it and the deer fell like theyd been poleaxed.
As I recall, my 10″ loved 180 gr Speer Flat-SP .358 rifle bullets over 16.0 gr of Hercules 2400 powder. Probably would have been great for deer if I ever would have gotten lucky enough to see one when I had it with me……..
Very nice, I’m impressed. About the sights… You may want to have a look at the stuff that Skinner Sights has.
http://www.skinnersights.com/thompson_center_19.html
I just put one of their peep sights on the barrel of my Ruger 1022TD and it works really well. I found that every time I took the barrel off the 1022TD, when I put it back together the zero had slightly changed. Now it’s a 50 yard tack driver.
One other thing, you may want to look at the gun cases that he carries. One in particular might go very well with your Thomson, it’s the folding take down case.
That looks like quite a woods roamer alright. The single shot is hardly a handicap when hunting – THE 1ST SHOT GETS YOUR MEAT IN NEARLY EVERY CASE. If you miss the 1st time when the animal is more relaxed, a sure running shot is much more difficult.
Nice guns those T/Cs. Easy switch barrel makes it a mouse to moose gun. That is a keeper – congratulations on your good fortune to own it.
That .357 Maximum has some possibilities. T/C manufactured some 14″ bull barrelled Max. barrels and also manufactured some steel barrel extensions which are legally required to be PERMANENT AFFIXED (I.E. WELDED TO BARREL) if you wanted the barrel to be installed on the rifle stock. You get a bull barrelled 16 1/4″ long Maximum barrel when that is all done – sounds really good to me. The barrel can be used on both handgun and carbine receivers – tres versatile !
And if your critters are big, furry, clawed and long teeth (nope, mother-in-laws aren’t included), I’d look up a .45-70 Govt. barrel, that would make me safe and secure.
Anon 5:52 – I should clarify, that steel barrel extension is (or was) manufactured by Choate too. Sorry – the coffee hadn’t hit my brain yet when I wrote that.
I have a TC contender that I added a shockwave brace to with the pistol length barrels. with a 10″ 44 mag it weighs just at 4#.