Cowgirl Corner: Super 16 Contender Carbine

[North Country Gal]

Thought it might be interesting to share some info on a not often seen Contender setup. It involves taking a standard Contender frame, adding a carbine stock and then adding a Super 16 barrel, as seen in this Super 16 carbine in 223.


What is a Super 16 barrel? A Super 16 Contender barrel measures 16.25", so is legal to use as both a rifle barrel or a pistol barrel. It first appeared in the 70s, shortly after the introduction of the Super 14 (14") barrels, which are not long enough to legally use as a rifle barrel. Hence, the idea of the Super 16. As a pistol barrel, that long Super 16 length is pretty unwieldily, though, as seen here in this Super 16 45-70 rig. Much prefer using the 16s as carbine barrels.


So let's take a closer look at that Super 16 Carbine in 223, above. It doesn't get much handier and packable in a carbine than one of these Super 16 rigs. Even with the Leupold 2-7x scope, the gun struggles to break 5 pounds and talk about short at only 32" overall length. On this 223 rig, that leather lace on recoil pad from Buffalo Arms serves to add a touch of length to the buttstock. I could get along without it, but not Bill. He really needs that extra LOP to make this a comfy shooter.


And, of course, such a light handy little gun makes a delightful offhand shooter for me.


And then there is this version of the Super 16 Carbine that is another animal altogether, just by switching to another Super 16 barrel. Yup, this is a 45-70 barrel with a muzzle brake. Now that Buffalo Arms recoil pad serves a completely different purpose. Honestly, though, as long as I stay with traditional Level one, Trapdoor 45-70 loads between 1200 and 1500 fps, the recoil is not a big deal. Need to stick with those in the Contender, anyway, because that's what TC recommends, though some Contender folk push that a bit. Scope is a delightful Leupold Compact 2.5x. Perfect match for this short range brush buster.


Accuracy is pretty decent with these factory 405 grain Remington loads, as you can see from this sight in target. I was a little alarmed at the accuracy, at first, but then I remembered what I had learned from shooting other very light carbines in big calibers, namely, never rest the forearm directly on the bag. That produces some horrendous gun bounce off the bag and that, in turn, destroys accuracy. Once I placed my hand between the bun and the bag, accuracy was right there within my expectations.


As for shooting anything heavier in the 45-70 in this carbine, no thanks. That old traditional 405 grain at 1200 or 1300 will drop anything that walks in my neck of the woods. I'll leave the hotter loads to you Henry 45-70 shooters.

[tractortad]

Geat write-up(as usual) on your contenders. That super 16 in 45-70 looks like loads of fun. Did that 45-70 barrel with the muzzle brake come from TCA or is that a custom?

[North Country Gal]

No, it's a standard factory Super 16 45-70. TC made most of their 45-70 barrels with these factory Muzzle Tamers. The 14" and 16" barrels with these factory muzzle tamers were sometimes referred to as "Hunter" barrels. The Tamers don't reduce recoil that much. They're really about doing just that, taming muzzle jump, which can be horrendous in a Contender pistol or rifle with some of the cartridges. Really helps to manage the recoil. The down side of the muzzle brakes is that they are LOUD. You also have to be very careful shooting them at the bench. The blast can actually blow a spotting scope off the bench. Ask me how I know.

Also, you'll notice two different forearms used on these two Super 16 barrels. The early Super 16s like the 45-70 used the same bolt hole spacing as the Super 14s. That fore arm on the 45-70 is actually a quite rare early Super14 fore arm. The later Super 16s like the 223 used a wider bolt hole spacing a la the 21" factory carbine barrels. I collect these things, so always a source of fascination to me.

[Sir Henry]

That .223 carbine setup with the Leupold sure shoots straight in your hands. What is the rate of fire to load and get those shots?

[North Country Gal]

Slow and relaxed. It's the single shot way.

Seriously, shoot any type of single shot a bunch and you settle into a fluid routine. It may seem that it takes forever to reload a single shot, at first, but with these Contenders, I'm actually reloading and raising the gun to my shoulder, cocking the hammer and lining up the shot in about two seconds, average, three if I take my time. Could even cut that in half if I had to, with a little practice. I know guys who can do a shot a second with accuracy with a single shot. Shooting single shots is faster than a lot of folks realize.

Our Winchester Low Wall Hunters are actually even faster than Contenders, because the Winnies eject the empties and cock the hammer for you when you drop the lever. Very convenient and easy to use. I suspect that's part of why Bill loves them so much, too.

The biggest source of delay is not the gun, actually. It's the fumbling around as I deal with pulling a round out of the factory ammo box or, in the case of the 223, the ammo bag. Competition shooters who use single shots usually pre-load the ammo in loading trays for easy access. I know some Contender shooters who use ammo wrist bands when hunting, for the same reason. I really need to put Bill to work and have him build some loading trays, especially for rimfire ammo. Those are the worst for pulling out of the factory box. I usually end up just dumping some on the bench out of frustration, but then they spill all over the place.

[JEBar]

most interesting ... I can see a muzzle brake as being a necessity for a Super 16 in 45-70 .... I've heard of Contenders for many years but know almost nothing about them .... info appreciated

[tractortad]

Hey NCG - if you were to buy one of these today from Smith&Wesson owned TCA, would you still get the contender or would you get an encore?

[North Country Gal]

The original Contender is no more. It has been replaced with the G2 version, which is actually a downsized Encore in terms of the action. Other than being able to use all the original Contender barrels, the G2 has little in common with the original Contender. I have several of them. I like the G2 for some features, prefer the original Contender for others. Going G2 limits you to cartridges such as the 30-30, 35 Remington, 45-70 (trapdoor loads), 44 mag and so on.

The advantage of the Encore is that it allows you to shoot higher pressure centerfires, such as the 308, 30-06, 7mm mag, 300 Win mag, 454, 460, 500 and all the other big nasty revolver cartridges. The Encore 209 ML barrels are superb, by the way, if you are looking to go with an inline muzzleloader. In other words, the Encore is basically an over-sized G2. Great choice for shooting off a rest, but offhand shooting with Encore pistols is a little tough for me because of the weight. Since I don't need the kind of power the Encore offers, I sold off my Encores and am now Contender/G2, only.

S&W has done a fair job with these. The most noticeable difference is that they cut way back on barrel selection, which is ironic, since S&W mainly bought TC for their barrel making machinery. Customer service is okay, but nowhere near what the original TC, back in N.H. was. Of course, very few companies have been in this category. From what you guys report, Henry is probably the closest, these days.