Thompson Contender education please

[Lefty SRH]

A found a 10” .357mag Contender for sale at my LGS at a seems to be decent price. I have always been curious about these single shot handguns. Theres a (looks to be) a cougar engraved (stamped) on the side of the receiver/frame. IF I BOUGHT THIS HANDGUN, Is this a model that I could later buy and change out different barrels to shoot different calibers/cartridges?
Thank you.

[Lefty SRH]

How difficult is it to get a LEFT HANDED grip for this gun? It come with a right handed grip.

[C A Plater]

Yes you can swap barrels including ones for the G2 models but not the Encore. Other than the grip, they are ambidextrous in nature. Some have a thumb rest grips but that is a simple swap to fix that. Bullberry will make you a grip for your hand and there are lots aftermarket grip versions that do not have a rest. G2 grips do not fit the older non-G2 frames.

[uscra112]

Look very carefully at the headspace of that gun. Early style Contenders have a tendency to stretch the frame from the pounding of firing high pressure cartridges, and that stretching opens up the headspace. Also look at the pivot pin. If there is the least bit of play in the pin when the gun is open, you've got a project ahead of you to replace it with an oversize pin. Until that is done, it will never be accurate

I'm speaking from bitter experience - I bought one years ago and extended the .38 Special chamber to .357 Maximum. Big mistake. I did a LOT of gunsmithing on that thing before I got it under control. The early Contender was never designed for even the .357, I now know. The sweetest cartridge in it is the .22 Hornet, and that's all I shoot in it now.

[Dryball]

for everything Contender or Encore, do yourself a favor. Run, don't walk to Mike Bellm. He's the TC guru and is a wealth of information as well as experience. He will gladly spend as much time as needed to answer your questions. I prefer the Encore, but that's me.

[Lefty SRH]

Looking at it closer the hammer does NOT have the selector for rimfire or centerfire. The serial also starts 260xx it looks like. My interest is fading since theres not RF-CF selector. I also have no way to check the head space.

[rking22]

That is a 1970s frame, the selector is in the face of the hammer. Straight blade screwdriver will rotate the slotted part. There are 2 fire ING pins In the frame. If the lockup is tight you should be good, read Blems sight about it. My newest frome is 44xxx made in 1975, oldest is 1xxx, both have this selector, and both shoot well.

[pietro]

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Only standard Contender barrels will fit, original or G2, but Contender Armor Alloy barrels will not fit that Contender (due to the plating), nor will Encore barrels (different size/design frame).

Upon obtaining barrel(s) that fit, it's a pretty safe bet that the original forend will not fit the extra barrel (different lengths, fittings etc), so it's usually a good idea to buy a proper FE that fits the extra bbl you're buying.

[PapaG]

Great guns. I have three, one from each period up to but not including a G2, the earlier two set up as carbine with .22, .223, and .30-30 barrels. There are seven barrels for the pistol that I have, .22, .222, .357, .30-30, 44 mag hotshot but missing choke, 45 Colt and45/410. All are more accurate than i am and the 30-30 10" pistol barrel requires ear plugs and muffs. Beware, Contenders can be addictive. I have had a bunch more but got an intervention. Now my problem seems to be single actions and lever guns.