T/C Contender in 5mm Rem Mag

[256wm]

Is anyone here shooting the 5mm Remington Magnum in one of the 23" Contender barrels Thompson Center offered a few years ago? If so how is accuracy with the Centurion ammo? I'm heading back to CT for my next tour of duty and the many acres of public land available for varmint hunting require use of a rimfire. So I am thinking of going with the 5mm mag and would like to hear how it performs in the Contender. Thanks.

[Little Augie]

First, I am a big fan of T/C rifles and pistols, with more than 2 dozen rifles & pistols. The 5mm Rem. in a T/C Contender rifle has been the most problematic round I own, the reason being the design of the firing pin mechanisms for switching from center fire to rimfire. The 5mm Rem. is currently the only rimfire with a larger case head than the other rimfires and in the T/C the rimfire mechanism is designed around a standard rimfire case head. Therefore the firing pin on the T/C impacts the rim slightly in from the edge and in my opinion this contributes to misfires. The same T/C receives that produce misfires with the 5mm Rem. works flawlessly with other rimfire and center fire cartridges. I would recommend the 22 WMR as the best alternative. The new 22 WMR cartridges produced by Hornady, Winchester and CCI are superbly accurate, have exception bullet performance/design and are less expensive than 17 HMR rounds. My two cents!

[GLWenzl]

I found your info interesting LA so went out to see if I had any fired cases in my boxes and have some comparisons. It appears you have a point about misfires. While I have never experienced one I can see it happening. I have shot my 10” barrel a fair amount but mostly with CF ammo.



The 4 on the left are from the 10” contender barrel with that weird frame that has a safety on it and you need a screw driver to switch between RF & CF. I think my other frame shot em well but not sure what the rim looked like after firing. the rest on the right are from one of my 591s.



the 5mm mag has been fun for me to shoot along with a 10" 22 CCM. neat thing about those barrels they could make a dandy lil 20 Squirrel, Mink, Hornet, Bee

[fat cat]

I know you didnt ask about the 22 magnum, but Im going to say this anyway.
Get the 22 magnum!!! Stay away from the 5mm magnum.

[GLWenzl]

My buddy at work is a big bore guy and also a huge fan of the 22WMR. He just returned home from antelope hunting and PDn. I don't think he could have been any happier with the 5 mag PDn. I'm sure he will never sell either one they both seem to have their place. My son wants a coon rifle, I told him to buy a 22 WMR.

[256wm]

Little Augie is your barrel from the 2008/9 production 23"? When it has gone bang what type of accuracy have you had?

It is looking like if I go 22WRM I will have to go the custom barrel route as I can not find a T/C barrel in that round - even looked at Ed's.

I wonder how a 22LR Velocitor HP would perform on fox at 50 yards and under? It has a stated velocity of 1435fps for a 40gr bullet. I've got a very accurate Contender barrel in 22LR but I'm a little skeptical of using a 22LR on fox... What do you think?

[hornetboy]

Those velocitors hit very hard. If you put one in the centre of a foxes chest at 50yds, that will be "all she wrote".

[georgeld]

Touch OT:

GW: Did you notice that top case looks like it's been either a double or triple
hit by the f/p??
sure looks like it from the enlarged pic's you posted. Doubt you noticed it.

Any chance that hammer rebounds sometimes? IF it does, is that an indication of
something being wrong? I have zero exp with TC's in any form.

My old Steven's 86C .22lr bolt has a round pin like that too.

[Little Augie]

I purchased the 5mm Remington 23" T/C G2 Contender barrel new from Ed's Contenders approximately 3 years ago. I have tested the barrel on 5 different Contender receivers (3 G2 & 2 old style) and the best receiver/frame still only gives me 80-90% ignition on the first attempt. The accuracy of the only available brand of ammo (Aguila) is mediocre and is bested by both rimfire and center fire cartridges on the same receivers.

I also noticed that 22 WMR rifle barrels for the T/C Contender are not available from any of the normal sources and the secondary market or custom barrel producers would be the only source of the 22 WMR.

The photos of fired 5mm Rem. cases provided by GLWenzl, tell the story of what is wrong with this rifle/cartridge combination. The firing pin hits are light in comparison to the 22 LR rounds and note that the firing pin hits do not impinge on the very edge of the case like other rimfire rounds.

[fat cat]

The 5mm Rimfire magnum has had problems from day one!! Stay away from it! Let the damn thing die in peace!