I had the old small frame Contender and it was a great gun. Contenders usually have one of the finest triggers you will find on a centerfire handgun, but I don't care for any handgun with over a 10" barrel. I might as well use a rifle, but the 10" .45/.410 barrel was the funnest barrel I had and it performed pretty well with 3" shells. The Encore pistols seem huge, but if you are a recoil junkie, and want to shoot big rifle rounds I guess they would work dinw. I just wish the Conterder came with 7 or 8" barrels and was lighter and easier to pack.