First and foremost - I need to say a BIG thankyou to listmember HeavyMetal for helping me out with my lockbolt issue. He had several different bolts, and was kind enough to send them to me so I could find the one I needed. Thanks Heavymetal for helping out a fellow listmember with 'contenderitis'.
I hope my sharing the past 'experiences' with different contender frames of different years, and this new thread will be a help to future contender owners.
I have had the opportunity to take pics of three completely different lock bolts, and they ae shown below. On the left in both pics, is the first series lock bolt that is on my first 4 digit contender frame. You can see it is completely different than the newer bolts. The top has a flat, and 45 degree angle machined into the top-face, then a stair step flat on the top of the bolt. It also has a tiny ridge that runs along the front edge of the top stair step. The half moon shaped cut out on the front of the bolt is alot smaller than the cutouts on the middle bolt and the split bolt on the right. Turned over, the shaft looks completely different than the other two bolts, middle and right. The shaft on the left bolt underneath doesn't have the machined in gap, and the foot on the end is much thinner. No wonder the newer bolts refused to let the barrel open on the older frame. The internals on the older frame are made to fit the machined shape of the older lock bolt.
The middle bolt is the newer one piece bolt. The shape of the top is missing the flats and steps. and is one gradual angle to the rear of the face of the bolt. The under side of the middle bolt has a machined in gap on the shaft, and the foot on the end is much thicker.
The last bolt is the one on the right, and is the two piece modern bolt that work with all the newer series 2 and series 3 model contenders. All three of these lock bolts all have the removeable roller pin that goes thru the underside of the lock bolt. (I have been told there is a 4th bolt that the roller pin is machined in and is not removeable.)
Although T/C made the split bolt design to upgrade and fix problems, the split bolt will not work with my older, 4 digit frame and the barrel locks up solid and will not open. The frame only works with the older bolt on the left in the pics.
I hope these pics are helpful and give a good show and explaination as to why some bolts will absolutely not work with some frames, causing barrels to lock shut and not open. I hope this an informative thread to for the list.
Ohio Rusty ><>