Contender Consultations Required!!!!

[BruceB]

I could use some help from all the Contender-knowledgeable pistoleros out there. MY "expertise" with such guns is somewhere between 'zero' and 'zilch'.

Years ago, my wife gave me a Contender (serial # 110xxx) with a .30 Herrett 10" bull barrel. Once I learned a few things about the gun, I noticed that the .30 barrel had a LOT of "'slop"...... the muzzle could be wiggled a good 1/4" extreme-left to extreme-right when the gun was in battery. Shooting results weren't very good! I really thought my frame was defective, or had stretched, or something equally bad. Never did do anything about it, though.

The gun sat un-used for years, and a friend finally talked me into selling him the barrel. Now, I had a barrel-less Contender frame! Comes .45nut to the rescue....he left me a .22 Long Rifle barrel, the lightweight octagonal model, after the Nevada CB Shoot. THIS barrel locks up like a bank vault on my frame! SOLID! Obviously, something wasn't right in the preceding match-up. The gent who bought the .30 barrel says it fits his gun just fine, thanks.

However, the forend for the ten-inch heavy-round .30-caliber barrel doesn't work with the .22 barrel, not even close. Can anyone tell me what type or make of fore-end I need? Or, does anyone HAVE such a fore-end which is surplus to present needs?

All input is much appreciated, as usual.

[longhorn]

Mine is a cute little walnut number with a checkered panel (very small) on each side and a schnable. Interestingly, it snaps on, over a little mushroom shaped stud, instead of being held on with a screw. Get out an old Gun Digest, say from 68 to early 70's, and I'll bet you can find a picture of one. I vaguely recall some discussion of the things coming off when used on the octagon .357 barrels--wasn't that the most striving caliber TC chambered for the first several years? Bigger ctgs. meant bigger barrels and stronger forend attachments.

[D.Mack]

Bruce You need to look for a T/C fore end, made just for the octagonal barrels. The locations of the forearm screws are slightly different than the bull barrels, and really look funny if you alter them to fit. Plus every foreend uses a different length screw, so you might have to buy a long one, and shorten it till it fits.

As for the wobble in the original barrel, the only thing I can think of would be either a too small hinge pin, or the original barrel was drilled for a larger pin( or misdrilled), back when that frame would have been made, some serious shooters were drilling either the frame or the barrels to almost matching diameters, and using an oversize pin that had to be driven into the frame, and were a tight fit in the barrel. This shrank groups, but made changing barrels a minor nussance. So occassonally barrels get sold or inherited and the pins are not always a match.

Some where in my shop, I might have an old fore end, when I get home this weekend I'll try to find it. DM

[versifier]

IIRC there were two different octagonal barrel forends, the snap-on one previously mentioned and a screw attachment of the same profile as the later bull barrel models. I had one of the latter in the early 80's with a .357mag, came with my frame, but it was all shot out so I traded it away quickly. Usually the odd sized ones got sold with the barrels that fit them, and I have usually seen them offered that way at shows. Does 45nut still have it? If not, there must be a Contenders Collectors group of some sort.

Whatever you put on them, they're an awful lot of fun. I wouldn't even want to try to guess how many thousands of rounds have been through mine out of dozens of barrels over the years. It's my favorite handgun. I might buy, sell, or swap a barrel every so often, but I would never sell the frame.

[Dye]

BruceB
If you don't find one call Eds contenders and check with him
http://www.edstc.com/edstc/acc.html Call him he don't answer E-Mails very well .

Be carefull Dye

[meldrimgunsmith]

fleabay (aka Ebay) has those all the time

[lovedogs]

Or you could do the obvious and give T/C Arms a call!!