OUCH!

[nastygunz]

Well as I have posted on here several times I really like hunting with my Thompson Contender .410 handgun. Mostly small game, squirrel, partridge,etc. I have really wanted to get a turkey with it but as previously mentioned it's illegal in Vermont, and still up in the air in New Hampshire.

I noticed a few years ago I heard about Schulz precision rifles putting in straight rifling and a choke tube to get a better pattern out of the Thompson contenders. As we know coyote101 had that done and has taken some nice turkeys with his Encore .410

I called Mr. Schultz a couple of years ago and he told me he was really busy building precision rifles  and to call him back in a couple of months which I did and left a message and never heard back from him. I also tried emailing him several times from his website and Facebook page without success.

Giving up on that venue I did an extensive search and contacted various places seeing if any of them did that kind of work. I had no luck until I talked to a fellow from SSK Firearms who said they were planning on doing some custom barrels with straight rifling and an extra full turkey choke.

After another long wait I received an email saying that the barrel that I was interested in was in stock. Going to their website and looking at the barrel and then the price I had to strongly reconsider if I really wanted that barrel!$. I finally said the hell with it and pulled the trigger pun intended and that beauty is heading my way.

I like that it has a rail on it, as my eyes don't work so well with iron sights anymore. I have a nice red dot sight that I'm going to put on it, or maybe a low powered pistol scope.

.410 3" SSK-50/Contender 14 Inch Barrel with TSOB Scope Base Extra Full Choke (0.380),
Browning Invector Pattern, Straight Rifled.

"We have patterned the 18" version of this barrel using TSS shot #9 and felt comfortable taking a turkey at 40 yards."

[bigben]

I have a gen 1 contender that has a .223 rem barrel on it.  I got a little spendin money and a guy on another board has a 30/30 barrel with comp and scope for 500$  i had thought about it but wanna go to a flea market this weekend and see what might be layin around there first.  the wife said to hold off on buying guns till we get in the house but she never said anything about barrels.   

[nastygunz]

LOL. I HEAR YA! Ebay has a ton of barrels, the price skyrocketed when Thompson contender folded but now the company is being reopened so there should be more barrels and stuff available at some point. Speak of the devil I just got this email regarding turkey hunting in New Hampshire with contender, sometimes you just can't win:

No that contender would not be legal under this law
 
Colonel Kevin Jordan
Chief of Law Enforcement
NH Fish & Game Headquarters
11 Hazen Drive
Concord NH 03301
Office 603-271-3128

[nastygunz]

I'm guessing the stipulation about an 18 inch barrel minimum is to keep people from turkey hunting with their taurus judges and such.

[Hawks Feather]

That is a really nice looking barrel and I hope to hear updates on how it shoots when you receive it. As for the price, remember that it is only money and you are worth it.

[nastygunz]

Squirrelapalooza I actually saved money, I was looking at a $1400.00 Magnum Research revolver.

[nastygunz]

Well I just picked up that finely honed piece of precision steel. Everything looks excellent on it and I looked in the barrel and you can just barely make out extremely fine hair thin straight rifling inside the barrel. There definitely won't be any donut pattern like with the regular rifling. Next step is a fit and function test, hoping it fits on my contender frame with no issues.

[nastygunz]

Well that beauty dropped right in with no problem. Hope to get out this weekend and shoot it and see how it patterns, then lookout tree rats!. Havent fully decided on a sight system yet, leaning towards a red dot.

[bigben]

Id choose a red dot as well.  nice looking setup.  What shells do you plan on using?

[Hawks Feather]

I think Nasty always uses rifled slugs in his .410s. That way there isn't any shot in the meat. He can only do this because of his shooting ability. 

[nastygunz]

Damn your good!.... BigBen I have a nice little stockpile of 3 inch number #6 shot that I use for hunting. Thankfully I loaded up on .410 back when the price was barely reasonable because it sure skyrocketed along with everything else I guess in price.

I think Nasty always uses rifled slugs in his .410s. That way there isn't any shot in the meat. He can only do this because of his shooting ability. 

[nastygunz]

I am almost happy that I can't turkey hunt with it here because then I would probably have to buy some of that outrageously expensive tss ammo.

[nastygunz]

I have a good supply of rifled slugs and buckshot too 

[nastygunz]

Headshots only