Help with my old Contender

[californiabill]

I'm new here and thought I might get a bit of help in getting my old Contender shooting again. I purchased my Contender (SN 1269xx) in January 1980 with 2 10" bull barrels (22lr and 357 mag). After a short while the action became really difficult to open and I didn't take advantage to have the barrels fited with new locking bolts. It just took too much effort to open the action of a 22lr so it wasn't fun to shoot anymore. I liked shooting the 357 barrel but then the centerfire firing pin began piercing primers. I tried using small rifle primers but they also were getting pierced. So my pistol has spent the last 30 years in the back of my safe.

Last week I met a fellow at our range who was shooting a Contender and he suggested that I should ship it back to the factory and get it repaired. So I called the Contender customer service person at Smith & Wesson. The lady explained that they no longer had the capability to upgrade the locking bolts but she said that they still honor the lifetime waranty on the frame to fix the firing pin and upgrade the hammer and she emailed me a pre-paid FEDEX label. The customer service lady gave me the name of sombody in Oklahoma who can fix the hard opening action problem. I researched it on the web and found that they are no longer in business. I thought the free shipping was a very nice gesture considering I bought the pistol 35 years ago and the original waranty required that I pay for shipment to the factory. I returned my pistol with including both barrels hoping that they will take care of both problems.

My pistol is still at the factory and yesterday customer service said it will be 4 to 6 weeks. I give and updated report when I hear from the factory or get the gun back. If they don't fix the locking bolts how can I get the required parts? CS said that they didn't have spare parts.

Thanks for your help.

[swamp]

Try Eds Contenders. He seems to have parts.

[tdoyka]

Try Eds Contenders. He seems to have parts.

i second that!

[gandydancer]

www.bellmstc.com (http://www.bellmstc.com) the best there is. GD Mike Bellm on facebook mike Bellm's TC's

[leadman]

Are you sure the lady said they could not upgrade the locking bolts? This only involves a change to the new style. What they are no longer doing is the "easy open fix" that involves repositioning a pin IIRC.
I am concerned with the downturn in the quality of the service from S&W.

[quilbilly]

www.bellmstc.com (http://www.bellmstc.com) the best there is. GD Mike Bellm on facebook mike Bellm's TC's
ditto's

[ubetcha]

+2 on Mike Bellm. Lots of info on his web site

[Leadmelter]

What is the real story on the Contenders? I looked and they hardly offer anything new and the custom shop is not listed.
I have a frame that is under 50K that was updated and a G2 frame. I wanted a case harden G2 and then everything went crazy.
Leadmelter
MI

[clum553946]

I had issues with my old contender. Got great info on his site & got the parts I needed to get her up & shooting again. I even bought a 357 Max barrel from them! I also recommend them!


www.bellmstc.com (http://www.bellmstc.com) the best there is. GD Mike Bellm on facebook mike Bellm's TC's

[R8ed]

I had put mine away for a long while also. It had stopped firing reliably, not just the usual .35 Rem FTF. I upgraded with Bellum springs and ball bearings.
Works great now except for some of the factory .35 Rem, ( but I'm working through that with the info on Bellm's website).
I forgot how much fun this pistol is to shoot.




www.bellmstc.com (http://www.bellmstc.com) the best there is. GD Mike Bellm on facebook mike Bellm's TC's

[californiabill]

Last Friday I called to check on my Contender which has been at the factory for about 2 weeks. The lady said that they replaced the 2 firing pins, the FP bushing, the hammer and hammer spring. They had test fired both barrels. I asked about the barrel locking lugs and it sounded like that they may have installed split lugs. The customer service lady explained that my pistol and others that do not have an alpha in the s/n are being delayed in shipping while they figure what to do when they ship a non alpha s/n gun. Must have a new computor system or something. I'll post another update when I finally get my pistol back.