Contender hard to open

My new 357 mag Contender barrel is hard to open. My frame is SN 209xxx, so it's the easy open version.

Question: could I Dremel off about .002" from the tip of the barrel's locking lug?

Are the locking bolts one piece or two? If two take a felt tip marker mark top and open and close several times to see if both bolts are locking up. If not than you can diamond lap the high spot until you get both to engage

NO !!!!! The things are not to be touched . LOL . I have about 15+ of em and some times they do need to be stoned to remove burrs . If it is new or new to you it may have some gook in the recess the lugs go into , I mean the hole the they slide in under the barrel , You can remove the pin that retains them and clean it all up with brake clean and lube very conservatively . Good word huh . I have had to take a coil or two off from the spring to ease the problem, but you don't want to get carried away with it . Also is it a 1 piece or 2 lug also called a split or solid ? The old ones were solid and T/C will replace with the new for free . My typing skills suck so if you would like more details feel free to call me 913-568-8247. James

Fixed!!! It is the old one piece lug, and so is the 7tcu barrel I bought with the frame back in circa 1976. This new-to-me gunbroker.com 357 barrel looks brand spankin' new even though it's an old one according to what you guys say.

The problem was in the frame/action. As the barrel closes and the lug scrapes down the front of the action there was a burr on the edge of the action where the lug slips under the action and locks. Fifteen seconds with a small file, and now the pistol opens much easier.

I believe after the upcoming hunting season I'll send the action back to T-C for a ~35 year checkup.

Doesn't hurt to have the springs changed after that long. The hammer springs seem to get weak after awhile. I had one that was misfiring and the new spring cured it.

I just finished fixing a problem similar to this on my Contender 22 Hornet carbine. Not that it may be germaine to this particular contender, but mine had an undersized chamber that made the gun lock up once it was closed. It seems that the shell was being jammed in hard as the action was being closed, and that for some reason this makes them hard to open. The clue that lead me to this discovery was from someone who posted on my thread that overlong cartridges or cartridge cases would cause lockup release problems.

mine was getting to be a real bear to open,was looking a several things that might cause this an found the fireing pin hanging up. it wasn't retracting. works great now.

How did you cause the firing pin to retract properly? I've had that happen at times before. You can see it tearing the primer on one side as the action opens.