Recently, I tried purchasing a 445 Supermag barrel for my Contender. Long story shot, I lost my money, no barrel and no reply from the seller. I have a 10" Octagon barrel for my contender that I am thinking about having reamed to 445. My concern is with the thickness of the barrel. The octagonal barrels are thin in my opinion. Will the barrel handle the rechambering?
Thanks
Rick

i don't know if the rechamber is feasable....but i do know that thing would be monsterously brutal in recoil!....eek!

I know the recoil could be tough, but I shoot my 35 rem with full load 200 grain rounds without trouble.

I would contact MGM, SSK and or anyone else that does rechambers for TC's and they should be able to give you a good answer on that.

If it's a newer/stronger step lug barrel they may rechamber it, but as others have said with the light octagon contour recoil would be brutal to say the least..... Why not sell the barrel, add the cash you would have spent on rechambering and have a new barrel built by MGM ? Last I checked the handgun length barrels were $250.00 and you could have it built as a full bull along with barrel length choice..........Regards, Dan

There is no comparison. A 10" full house 445 sans brake will make that 35 Rem seem like a pussycat. I agree, better to have one built than rechamber as there is always the issue of the chamber not cleaning up completely from the 44.

P.S. Was it an auction gone bad or a classifieds somewhere?

Thanks for the replies. A couple replies included mention of MGM. I have not heard of them before. Please provde information on this company.
It was classifieds gone bad.
Thanks

Here is their link. http://www.matchgrademachine.com/ Good Luck!

Thanks for the link.
Rick

I thought it was a Casino in Vegas. I know that place cost me alot more then the price of barrel.LOL

A .445 Supermag 10" octagon barrel is a terrible idea, when recoil is considered.

I don’t know that is the reason I am asking this question. Would 10 barrel even be optimal for powder burn? It would seem like a 14 would be much better!?!

I agree with most of the guys, the light barrel is a bad idea for a 445 rechamber. Find a factory 12 or 14" and have it rechambered or get a custon full bull. Either way get a good break on it. Even a 44 barrel loaded hot is not fun to shoot with full house loads.

I had a 12 Encore barrel that was rechambered by OTT and his shark gill break added, it was a tack driver and pleasent to shoot with the break. I took the break off and put 3 rounds thru it. OUCH!! Muzzle rise was minimal but it came straight back in the hand and hurt. I was using 240gr Rem SJHP at 2,000 fps. I did a little penetration testing with that load on a melted snow bank at the end of our parking lot. The snow was quite dense, and wet. Here are the results with the bullets recovered at about 20-30 inches of penetration. Good uniform expansion.


And this is waht that load does to charlies at about 30 yards freehand shooting in the tall alfalfa fields.

Guys, thanks for all the replies.
You all have convinced me to get a 14" new barrel.
I have noticed that a 44 mag in the contender is harder on the hand than the same round in my Super Blackhawk.
Thanks again.

I let a guy shoot my 44 mag T/C years ago at the range. He had never shot a large handgun and wanted to try it. He made the mistake of placing his elbows on the bench so as the very hot 300 XTP exited the barrel of my 10" contender it came right up into his forehead. The rear sight caught him just above the right eye. I do not know the rest of the story but i would say at least 4 stiches

Just to let you know the only reason I don't have a 445 barrel is the OTT was a loaner and I have not got around to find a 44 to rechamber or order a new one. Someday "soon" I'll have one back.

It will make a nice companion to my 445 DW SM.

Tigger,
How does the DW 445 feel when the hammer drops?
It is time to find the money and get one on order.
Yes it will make a nice companion.
Rick

The Dan Wesson 445 I have is a pleasure to shoot. It likes 300gr pills and is very accurate. The gun is very heavy so recoil with 300gr pills is like a medium to heavy load in a standard weight 44 mag gun.

You can contact CZ, but last I heard they have dropped all DW production. I know they still list the 445 and the 445 Alaskan model on thier web site so maybe they have a few still on the shelf in inventory. Good luck. Other wise just watch the auction sites or hit a few gun shows. The 445 was quite common and should not be to hard to find.

A comparison of the DW Super Mag frame and the S&W X-frame.

As you can see the 445 frame is almost as big as the X-frame. So the extra weight helps to tame recoil of the stout loads.

445 super shouldn't be to bad to shoot---I use a T/C in 45/70 gov't 350 grain rounds 14" bbl with muzzle tamer

Tigger, looking at those two guns you have a love of big bore guns. At a quick glance those two look identical except for the brake. Gun show in Wisconsin are nothing more than junk sales in most cases. I have went throuh wo shows in the time I have been here and found nothing. Lots of tee shirts, bumper stickers and the like. Not like the shows i was accustomed to in the Houston area.

Thanks for the picture Tig!

I have not decided if it’s love or a disease! Might just be the collector in me also. Most of my guns are hunting, working guns, but a few have made it to the safe without being fired…..yet. I have a couple collections that are missing one caliber or another and over the next few years I hope to fill the gaps.

It could be a little of both. Nothing wrong with it though. I have the same problem with 22 pistols, just not able to feed it.

yeah tig, there is a 460 suffering from neglect.