I have a friend that is having to sell his gun collection. one of the guns is a .35 Contender with 14' barrell w/ muzzle brake. I would like opinions pro and con about this particular caliber for deer such as range, recoil and any other specifics that you may have. he also has a .223 for sale, but I hear a lot of negatives about this caliber for deer.

the .223 is a great caliber to have....just not for deer if there are other choices available that said, i think i could make one work if i really had to for economic reasons etc.

the 35rem is awesome imo. it is one of my top picks. the past 2 seasons i took a decent buck at 200yrds with mine(no holdover either!). well....mine is actually a rimmed version from 303 british brass, but same deal, same dies, same chamber etc. a heavy load of H322 with the hornady 180gr ssp does a great job. i will find it difficult to choose another chambering to head to the woods with from now on.

recoil is very stiff with heavy hunting loads, but i don't find it overly abusive. there are so many good loads out there, you can shoot the lighter recoiling ones for practice etc and save the horsepower for serious business. of course the TC muzzle brake will take out a lil bit of the recoil.

buy it!

I don't have one, but I'm with Kyode.
I have shot a .358x.444 (.444 Marlin case necked down to .35) Contender quite a bit with no brake (a stouter caliber) & not had issues with the recoil. I shoot an Encore in .35 Whelan improved (30-06 case necked up to .35 with the shoulder moved forward) & also in .450 Marlin, both with the factory TC brakes & neither is abusice with the right grips. The 35 Whelan is pleasant to shoot.
I think youl find the .35 Rem. will do a great job for you, especially if you handload.
Personally I'd keep the .223 in the varmit area.
By the way, WELCOME to the boards!!!
And, if you look in the articles section (top menue)I think there are one or two on the .35 Rem. Contender.

The 35 Rem is a great round. I have an XP 100 in 35 Rem. It shoots the 180gr Hornady SSP in small groups at 100 yards. Recoil is very managable. The powder of choice is H322. I practice for deer season all summer on the local charlie population.

i'd say buy it.i have hunted with one for over 15yrs,and recently gave it to my son.i used the hornady 180gr ssp bullet and 40.8grs of h322 powder.had groups as small as 1" at 100 yards and no drop at 150 yds only 2" drop at 2oo yds.recoil is very managable.the 223 is a good varmit cartridge but only for that.if you don't reload for yourself,try remington 200gr bullets they gave me good accuracy and knock down power.good luck

Depending on where you hunt the .223 may not even be legal for big game. In MN, regs discount all 22 cals. With a brake that thing will be a pussycat to shoot, although a bit LOUD. I have braked 45/70 and 7-30 Waters (braked for use with a rifle scope) and can't imagine shooting without protection. This may be inconvenient in the field at times so a non-ported barrel to compliment it may be in order as well, say a .44 mag or .357 max. That is the convenience of the T/C, 2 minutes and new shooter. You can't go wrong, have fun!

I have a 35 rem 14" tube that I will always have.It has taken deer out to 150 yards with no problem.Everyone needs a 35 rem barrel.I have a 223 14" that is a shooter but I have never used it on deer I have too many other barrels that will work better.

I also have a T/C Contender in 35 REM.It's a great short range cartrige,125yards and under.I load mine with 200gr sierras,over
BL-C2.As for the 223Rem for deer,DONT DO IT)

don't sell the 35rem short. it will do a good bit better than that easily with the right load for a contender. manual listed lever action loads are quite conservative for a single shot action such as the contender. 200yrds is a cake walk with a 180gr hornady ssp at 2150fps+ as long as you do your part of the deal. i've slammed 2 decent bucks to the ground at 200yrds the past 2 seasons.

Hey Tigger, I'm glad to see you are not going into the Charlie woods undergunned We know how tough them critters are to bring down, good shootin Wish we had a huntable population of them 'round here, looks like fun

The charlies can be vicious. Sometimes I question the 35 as being enough. Now that I have the 500 dialed in, that will be the charlie gun of choice.....LOL<LOL