Bee-Kay

It sounds like you've owned a few contenders. This is my second one, I had a Gen1 before this. In a conversation that I had with Gary Reeder, he told me that there are some G2s that will only fit nbarrels that he has made for them. In another conversation with Mike Belm, he told me that there have been design changes for different series of Contender frames within each generation. This discussion is a bit premature because my frame is still in the FFL shop where it will have to stay for another 9 days from today before I'll be able to pick it up. I did have a chance to try out my barrel, a .41 mag from an older contender from back in the days when the factory still produced .41 mag barrels. The dealer let me try my barrel out at the counter to see how the fit is. It would snap shut nicely but I couldn't cock the hammer. Something that's interesting is that on a different G2 that he has my barrel fit perfectly and there was no hammer cocking issue. That's all I can say for now. If I could I'd send it back or trade. I got it online.There's good news though, TC (S&W) offers a rebate of $75 for purchaces made during 2017 Maybe I'll collect the rebate first then send it back, that will compensate me for the transfer fees lost. It's difficult to recommend buying a Contender to a friend, knowing the issues with barrel fit. Every bit of literature out there from the company says that any barrel made will fit my frame, and that is simply untrue.

Gary's planning an Africa hunt right now. He's a guy who has managed to turn building custom guns and hunting with them into a profession

There was a great thread on this forum from 2014 discussing that very issue. I am hoping to figure out what the next step is to be. Repair the frame? Return it? Modify it? Gary Reeder tells me that lately there have been a lot of frames with similar issues. His solution is to build custom barrels that match the defect in the frame. I'll probably end up taking this to the gunsmithing board

Hey My batteries ran low for a bit My Contender frame is a G2 and I bought a barrel on Ebay for a .41 mag because I have a bunch of ammo that wants to be fired. I bought the barrel prior to buying the frame because I saw one on Ebay and got the brilliant idea that I would buy that barrel and then pick up a frame and have some fun doing some pi stol shootin on the rifle line. They don't offer .41 mag in a complete gun. The barrel is supposed to fit. I just bought the frame and it's still in the dealer going thru the mandatory FFL treatment I did have a chance to test fit my barrel to the new frame and what I have is about .010" headspace behind the rear face of the barrel. And the safety mechanism that prevents the hammer from being cocked when the gun is open won't disengage even though the gun does close. I had the opportunity to take my barrel to a dealer who has a new G2 in his case and he was good enough to let me try my barrel on his new gun and everything functioned perfectly. Indicating that I have a defective frame. It seems as though the pivot pin hole was bored too far away from the breech. That's what's goin on with my Contender

Thanks for the hospitable welcome. In the county where I live a lot of us heat our homes with wood. If we could, we'd become our own state, but then the rest of the state would have to buy their water from us. There was an old thread on TC Contenders that I was following and wanted to reply on. I'm having some issues that I promise myself I won't let me have headaches over.

I ended up on this board when I was searching for info on Contender barrels and fitment issues. I think that there was a thread that came up in one of my searches. Anyhow I just bought a Contender frame online and I'm discovering that the quality control isn't what it was 20 yrs ago and the barrels aren't as interchangable as they're claimed to be. If there are any sites that I ought to visit or material to read with info on that stuff, feel free to fill me in. Thanks in advance - Have a great midsummer day