For those that have not studied the Deer hunting regulations for the state of Mississippi (where I live)..We have an early primitive weapons season starting in early November prior to the normal firearms season. Interestingly the regulations specify the usual black powder arms, bows, crossbows etc but ALSO allowed are "single shot, exposed hammer firearms using metallic cartridges of .35 caliber or larger". My TC Contender in .357 Herrett comes to mind!

I am almost surprised that the words "Straight Wall" were not in the description of the ammunition.

Your 35 Herrett will work fine. This will give you an excuse to blow the dust off of it, and start trying to wear it out, instead of working with your 45 Super.
Tell us more. What barrel length? What sight you have on it? Any custom work on it? Lets hear about your reloading experience with it. What will be your bullet of choice? Will you be hunting from the ground or an elevated stand? Do you have any preseason work to do at your hunting location? Are you thinking about making any improvements to your Contender between now and season?
You only have two months to get you and the Contender ready.

I started getting ready for Mid-November Missouri Deer Season about the first of this month. I was clearing brush and limbs at a new stand location yesterday evening. I will be back at it today after Church. I put a new double wide ladder stand together for that location last week. I have the top extended with 26 feet of new 3/4" tubing to hold the plywood top. I will probably have it in place next weekend after getting the plywood cut out and painted. I am building a 4' x 4' elevated stand for the wife. I have the Leg Kit ordered for the 4" x 4" posts. I am using a 4' X 4' aluminum fire escape platform that I salvaged years ago for the floor. I just got my CVA Scout 357 magnum barrel back from Dan White who rechambered it to 357 Maximum. I will start loading for it in my spare time, probably at night.
I shot my Contender with 357 Maximum MGM barrel a little this weekend. Just threw it on the bench at the club with a bipod and bag and hit the 200 yard steel four times in a row, and threw one at the 250 and hit it also. First time that I had fired it since last deer season.

Bob

I wish Tennessee had a primitive weapon season like that.

Here in Missouri we have an "alternative season", you can use about anything but a center fire rifle. You can use anything from spears, atl-atl's, muzzleloaders, bows and handguns. It is held after the regular fire arms season.

I set up my Herrett Contender over 25 years ago and have not touched it since! It is still zeroed for 100 yards on the dot. I have a 10" barrel and am shooting 32 grains of a 30 year old lot of Reloader 7 and a Hornady 158 grain JHP for a measured 1955 fps at the muzzle. I have a Leuopold 2X scope on it..I shot my longest range whitetail (152 yards) and my largest ever white tail buck with that gun...I look forward to dusting it off some this year..

Alternative seems more appropriate than primitive. Particularly since the compound bow and in-line muzzleloaders took over. Still, I'm a bit envious. The way that the world gives in to any whim I'd expect Arkansas to follow suit.

Last year they started letting us use crossbows during the regular bow season.

I am pretty much in the same boat. We bought our Contenders in the early 1990's. We started with a couple Super 14 barrels in 22 LR, and a 7X30 Barrel. I met Mark Hampton shortly their after and picked up a 375 JDJ and 6.5 x 30 JDJ. I ended up selling the 375 JDJ and replaced it with a 35 Bullberry. I handgun hunted off and on for 20 some years, and killed a few deer. I got serious again about handgun hunting when I picked up my first 480 Super RedHawk, and decided to be a serious Handgun Hunter. I have not had a rifle or my muzzleloader in the woods since. At the moment I have too many choices. The 480 SRH, Contender in 35 Bullberry, 357 Maximum, or 6.5 X 30 JDJ. Then we have the CVA Optima V2 and CVA Scout now chambered in 357 Maximum. Too many toys, not nearly enough Deer Tags, or Freezer Space.

Looks like your 357 Herrett is about identical power wise to the 357 Maximum with a slightly longer barrel, and loads a little warmer than what is in the manuals.

In my experience shooting your hunting handgun a great deal before season really helps pull off the shots. This is one advantage to being retired, I can declare a range week, and just load and shoot.

This afternoon after Church I put in 4 hours on the John Deere mowing the North Pasture where the wife has her stand. I will be building her a new Tower Stand starting some time next week. I am waiting on the Leg Kit. I switched gears around 5 PM and took the UTV to the new valley stand location on my neighbor with the Generator, Electric Pole Saw and Chain Saw and finished my tree trimming in that location. I am ready to set up the new Double Wide Ladder Stand in that location probably next weekend when my brother is off work to help me.

If you decide to really get back into your Contender. Take a look at Tony's Stocks. He makes a super duper forend for Contenders. I have one on each Contender. His forends set on bags much better than the splinter style they came with. You can also get a bipod stud installed forward.

Bob

Bob you are right about my Herrett in a 10" barrel being the same as a Max in a longer barrel. My 32 grain load is at least 4 grains over latest BOOK max loads for RL-7 but my lot is almost 30 years old. The chronograph results and the fact that I can just tip the gun and the fired cases fall out tell me the load is pretty safe. New lots of RL-7 must be much faster than this old lot. 30 years ago when first developing my loads I used the recommended charges for IMR4227 and even before I got to the top loads my cases started having sticky extraction and flat primers! WAAAYYY too hot! That is when I decided that I would try something else and RL-7 seemed to hit the spot. Like you I stopped hunting with a rifle in 1986 and have only bow hunted and pistol hunted ever since. If I was going to build a contender now it would be in .357 Max..Just easier to load and fast enough..I got soured on the Max using a stock TC barrel at the time. They put that stupid forcing cone chamber in it and I could not get that gun to hit the side of a barn with any load! A rechambered .357 Mag barrel should fix that at low cost..

On both my MGM 13" 357 Max and the Rechamber job on the Scout, I sent in a couple dummy rounds. One with a long seated 180 XTP and a second with a long seated NOE 360-180. Just to make sure both would work fine.

The 35 Bullberry is about like the Big Brother of your Herrett. It is based on the 375 Winchester case or now days Starline 38-55 case necked down, and blown out. Unlike the Herrett, the Bullberry is easy to form the cases for.
I am in the same boat as you on the 35 Bullberry. I am loading H322 that I have had for years. I picked up a couple jugs when I got the barrel back in the 1990's. The instructions when I got the barrel were to use 35 Remington dies backed way off to neck size. That works for about 2 shots, then they would not chamber. This slowed me down shooting it a lot. I finally got serious and discovered C&H makes a two die set for it that is not off the chart expensive. Now it is like reloading a 30-30. Full length size, and seat the bullet. I am yet to pitch a 35 Bullberry shell case. It is easy on cases.

I hunt from Double Wide Ladder Stands mostly. My last two I have added about 26 feet of 3/4" Tubing to the top of the factory framework. I then put a 48" X 66" top of 3/4" plywood on it cut out to have eighteen inches on each side, and sixteen inches on the front for a rest. Solid as a rock, and safe to hunt from.

This season I am building the wife a 48" X 48" Elevated Platform stand. It will have a rest top on all 4 sides. I have her a swivel chair to set in. She can turn and shoot 360 degrees. This stand will be near one of our fence corners. We have a wooded draw on the South on us, and a narrow field to the fence corner West, big woods on both neighbors we border on. She can cover most of the field as long as the shot is not too long for her to make. She normally will see a good buck from this stand location every year.

I like to get her tuned up shooting one of the Super 14 22LR barrels with an UltraDot sight from her stand. Get her used to getting on target, and solid before season.

Bob