Got the Contender pistol ltch scratched

[Shooter6br]

Bought a Contender first generation 1969 357 mag 10 in LIKE NEW.Had Contender Hunter case with it.$299.Very happy.Now more barrels!

[Tatume]

PM sent.

[quilbilly]

Welcome to our happy addiction.

[single shot jimmy]

30-30 is my favorite barrel.

[dale2242]

OH BOY, another Tender addict in the making.
Gotta love`em....dale

[Charlie, AKA The Deacon]

I have the itch also, thinking on a 357max, had one years ago. might have to replace it soon.

[canyon-ghost]

Gotta love a Contender! An accurate single shot, they're really great.

[kenyerian]

Good job!!! Love contenders.

[x101airborne]

Boy, that was a deal! I am actually a little jealous!
Lots to learn when using a contender. They are a different animal all together.
It starts with one barel, then the fever hits. I am up to 4 contender barrels and 8 Encore barrels so far and see no need to stop. My 338-06 barrel is one of my favorites for hogs during the day time. Not the most accurate, but REAL powerful.

[uscra112]

Resist the temptation to ream that .357 Mag barrel out to the .357 Max until you've really wrung out what you can do with the Magnum case. I'm kinda wishing I hadn't "Maxed" mine now, the full-house Max loads are too much for that frame, IMHO. I've dropped back to loads that I could have done in the Magnum case, with boolits seated shallow.

[TCLouis]

Get another barrel or after playing with the current Mag chambering, ream your current Mag barrel to Max.

[Combat Diver]

I also have a 10" .357 Mag barrel. Mine also is ported and has the Hot Shot choke tube to stop the spin of the shot capsule from the rifled barrel. Seems to work with Speer shotcapsules. Keep a tight pattern at 15yds for squrriels. Second barrel is a 14" .41 Mag.

http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/16/48/54/01/pb260210.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=793&u=16485401)


CD

[quilbilly]

This happy addiction can get out of hand. Got my first Contender and two barrels from my Dad as a welcome home present after my first tour in SE Asia in 1973 (I think). Now I am up to five frames and more than a dozen pistol and carbine barrels. Got my last a month ago I decided I needed a testing frame (so I would have to change all the time) and stumbled into an unfired "new" frame with an unfired old 222 Rem Octagonal barrel plus a competition grip for $320. Now if I can just find 222 brass... Not counting Encore and TCR.

[marshall623]

Contenders are very addictive , hard to stop at one. They a attention getter at the range too, especially when they are shoot'n little bitty groups :D

[fryboy]

turn back before it's too late !! send it to one of the guys here and let them suffer ..every new barrel - new dies,molds,scopes,stocks,brass,etc ... it only grows - run while you still can !!!!!!!! umm other than that they be alot of fun !!!!!! ok so i umm lost count of how many i have ( not enough ) and the very best thing i can tell you is to treat it ( and seat it ) like a rifle , sure they'll digest factory fodder just fine but tailored per barrel they are ummmm addicting :P good deal btw !!

[Artful]

Welcome to your obsession - Let's see
22LR, 222, 223, 256 mag, 30 carbine, 30 Herrett reamed to 30-30 AI (gone now), 357 mag, 357 max, 357 herreitt (gone now), 44 mag, 45 colt/410 w/ choke, 45-70

You can't go too long in remission before it comes back on ya.

Thinking about 300 blackout barrel

[tg32-20]

It is too late!!!!!!

Once you have one Contender you just have to have another barrel and another and another, the next one will shoot even better. But that is only the start; you have to get brass, powder (at least three different kinds), one mold is never enough and it just goes on and on. But then someone mentions a new barrel you just have to own and it all starts over again.

I just love it!!

[Ken TN]

Sell it now and run! It is an addiction and will grow. I know my name is Ken and I an a contenderhalic. This 12 step program involves finding at least 12 barrels....

I have switched over all mine to the G2 frame. 2 blue and 2 stainless. Barrels yep, rechambers yep, pistols and carbines yep.
Must have barrels: 22LR, 22 Hornet (cause you will want to reload and 22 mag does not let you), 204 Ruger in a Carbine, 223(no 10" in this to much blast), 357 Max(Rechambers are best), 44 Mag(or Rechamber to 444 Marlin on 14" with Hunter Brake), and at least one TCU chamer I like the 7TCU.

Encore addiction has started with 204 and 243, I'm sure I'll add a 444 and a 45-70 to it...

Ken

[blademasterii]

I love mine and congratulations on yours. I'm just waiting on my suppressor and then threading all my sub 380 calibers. I like the 16'' barrels with a rifle stock. Small side note. If you get the 45/70 barrel with the cheap plastic butt stock, don't load hot loads unless you have a shoulder pad. It will beat you down.

[sargenv]

I still have my original late 80's in 30-30 Win.. 14" bbl, I've horse traded some barrels over the years. I currently have a 10" .223 bbl in addition to the .30-30.. had a ported .44 mag 12", a 10" .357 and at one point a 14" .223 Rem.. Don't currently have a use for it, but I may eventually get back into Sillouette..

[John Allen]

Contenders can really become an addiction. I have 7 barrels right now and am always looking for more. I can not pass up a good priced one.

[flipajig]

Sell it to me and run before the sickness gets ahold of you.
Congrats on the buy. My first barrel was a 7-30 Waters very sweet now I'm up to 6 not counting the Encor collection

[Ohio Rusty]

You'll never be the same. You have caught the addiction and there is no cure .... I promise ....
Ohio Rusty ><>

[Shooter]

Whatever you do, don't buy a carbine barrel and stock.

[Alchemist]

Whatever you do, don't buy a carbine barrel and stock.

Why is that?

[Artful]

I think he might be concerned with ATFE -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thompson_Center_Arms


General legalities
The receiver on a Contender, whether G1 or G2, is the portion of the combined grip/buttstock assembly containing the trigger mechanism, and this is legally considered the serial-numbered gun. Hence, barrels with iron sights, barrels with telescopic sights, and even the hinge pin, are all simply gun parts, with no serial numbers, making the choice of changing cartridges from a multitude of rimfire, centerfire rifle and pistol cartridges, and even shotgun shells, very simple.

It is possible to fit a shoulder stock on a pistol frame in place of a pistol grip, and, when combined with a 16" or longer barrel (see "Thompson Center Arms and the Supreme Court" below), a Contender may be legally converted from a pistol to a rifle or reversed. Although it is technically possible to fit a pistol grip on an original Contender rifle frame, and use a pistol barrel to convert it from being a rifle to a pistol, this is not legal, being an illegal creation of a pistol from a rifle. In order to be able to go back and forth, the receiver must have been originally sold as a pistol, per ATF rules.

[edit]California Legalities
Possession of a Thompson Center Arms .45/.410 pistol barrel is illegal in California, for both dealers and individuals, and such a barrel may not legally be shipped into the state, or even taken into California for a hunting trip, by reason of it being classified as a short barreled shotgun (SBSG) when used with a Contender receiver.[7]

66511
66512
66513

Safest course of action

Alternative is register it as a SBR for $200 and you can use anything together you want.

[Shooter]

No, I ment the carbine is another addiction. You start to enjoy carrying a 5# deer or varmint rifle.
It starts again, barrels, scopes, stocks. Then you need another frame, on and on it goes.

[Chamfered]

Congrats on the 'Tender buy! That's a good price. 357 Mag is probably my favorite barrel. The 22lr Match is a close second though. It is is crazy addicting. Sure you buy that first Contender frame thinking it has all this mutli calibre capability, but then you find a sweet Fajen butstock and fore and it has to have that custom.223 barrel, and well you can't be breaking up your carbine rig so you have, and I mean have to get that second frame for pistol work..... Welcome to the lovely insanity we call Contender collecting. The contender collectors website is worth a visit also....which reminds me, there was a 5" 45ACP special run barrel Contender did for collectors years ago I have to start looking for.....

[Rocky Raab]

If you (or any of you) get that itch again, allow me to make a one-time special good deal. Or two. Now that I'm retired from writing, I'm downsizing the gun safe. Some of the things that are going are most of my Contender barrels. The first one on the block is my .Super 14 .375 Win hog and elk hammer. This is the barrel I used when writing several articles (which please see at reloadingroom.com) The package deal includes all the stuff listed below, which at today's prices would come to darn near $1400. :shock:

I'm asking $600 and I'll pay the fully insured shipping. You get:

Super 14 bull barrel, blue in .375 Winchester
Burris mounts
Tasco 1.5-4X scope
Hornady dies
180 pieces brass (most of them fired)
120 handloads (you can pull them if you desire, but they are safe)
80 factory loads
Bullets as follows:
100 Sierra 200 FP
100 Hornady 220 FP
150 Speer 235 Semi-spitzer
50 Barnes X 210

PM me if interested or with questions.

[Vtnam68]

I have a 35 Rem Super 14...357 Herret barrel never shot! I have not shot the 35 for over ten years! That is about to change soon! I am trying to find out the right molds to get, does anyone have any suggestions? I can see many more barrels in my future!

[Zim]

Y'all are too negative. I can quit anytime i want. :shock:

I am at 3 frames & 6 barrels. Just a little more experimenting really.

Having said that, they are very accurate.

[**oneshot**]

Mine is a 22hornet. It is fun, accurate, and cheap.

[tward]

Just bought my fourth barrel, 10" 22LR match. Took it to the range this morning and got 3/8" 5 shot group with CCI standard, nearly as good with Aguila 60 gr. all at 50 feet with 2.5x scope.Tim6770767708

[M4Punisher]

Just got my hands on an Encore in .308 with a custom 18" Bull Berry barrel. Yummy!!!!

[Iowa Fox]

I'm going to buy one more barrel then its quits forever. Anybody have a factory 21" 7mm TCU with sights?

[Shooter]

I'm going to buy one more barrel then its quits forever. Anybody have a factory 21" 7mm TCU with sights?

That's what they all say; I can stop anytime I want.:kidding:

[daniel lawecki]

I shoot a 22k hornet at 100yrds 1 3/4 in group last saturday 36 outsde snow on the shooting benches. Today I,m going to top that group I should lay down a 3/4 group. Gander Mountain has 7tcu gun with scope $500 used.

[fivegunner]

Wow, just got to thinking, I have the same Problem, I have 7 contenders one .22match bull blue. a 45/70, 7/30 waters,375JDJ. 338JDJ and two 10inch 410`s, all stainless, and I would like to get a .223 and a 35 Rem. that should take care of my itch for awhile[smilie=s:[smilie=s::Fire:

[M4Punisher]

I want a .222 rem barrel myself... addiction just starting I am afraid.

[M4Punisher]

Good addictions!!!

[Shooter6br]

Got a second Contender with 44 mag 14 in Hunter . Previous ower tried to re blue the barrel. "Bubbafied" it Cost to me $149 .(no red dot)