Love those Contenders.
At the moment I have a 30-30 in carbine length.
14" bbls in 17HMR, 25-35, 38-55
12" bbl 17K Hornet
10" bbl. 44 mag
And a 17" 22 Hornet is in the makings right now.

Over the years I have had and shot a bunch of diffrent calibers from 17 to 445 super mag.

The 445 was the most brutal I have shot
The 223 and 7-30 waters were the most accuate next to the 17HMR
The 38-55 is the most fun.
The 30 herrett was the most frustrating

Recoil on all the bbls I've had were/are managable. The 445 was OK but not a caliber I would pick for sitting down to punch paper[:@]

Just be very careful as the Contenders are very addictive!!