Any love here for T/C Contenders?

[Beauetienne]

My most beautiful and accurate handgun in the '70s. It came with an octagonal barrel 222. What a blast, literally, to shoot.
It was the first rifle bullet I reloaded for.
I also added a bull barrel 30/30 with a scope to it.
I ended up trading for a '69 Buick Wildcat. Also a blast!
Great thread.

 

[MG-70]

I remember one used to commit a crime in an episode of Riptide being described as a very accurate target pistol. I think the catch in the show was due to the person having been shot with a rifle round and the suspect not having any rifles registered in his name. Pretty intelligent for Hollywood; they hired a competent armorer for that episode!

By the time I was old enough to buy a handgun, they had been or were going out of favor, probably due to the decline in silhouette competitions. Even though I liked them, I wasn't into reloading, and had other guns higher up on the WTB list.

At the time, I believe they were the premier big game handguns, along with some custom single-action Rugers. I can't recall the name of the custom wildcat barrel maker whose pistols were all over the handgun publications at the time. I can see him now, wearing a glove, but can't remember the name, and general internet searches only draw up BS regurgitated ads in the form of articles, either written by robots or idiots who've never seen a firearm in real life. I don't think Freedom Arms was big back then.

Who remembers the name of the custom handgun hunting gunsmiths that were huge back then?

ETA. It may have been Lee Jurras!

 

[Bib]

I got one for IHMSA back in the day....still have it but haven't shot it in quite awhile. I have a .22lr, 357 mag and 357 maximum barrels in 10" and a Super 14 in 7 International-R. Scope on the 22 and 357 mag, open sights on the other two.

 

[375hh1973]

Not a Contender but an Encore. Stainless/Synthetic 15" in .243 win. Its got a 1.5-6 Bushnell Elite scope on it. Shoots 90 grain bullets into little tiny groups with minimal recoil. Have killed a bunch of deer with it.

 

[S-W4EVER]

Several (40+) years ago I looked at a TC Contender and I was favorably impressed but I never got around to buying one as it seemed like someone had a S&W revolver for sale that I wanted more. (Back then I was really into N Frames; I guess I still am...)

 

[Hunter Keith]

Lots of love for Thompson Contenders

Bought this as a set in 1982. .35 Remington amid .22LR match second barrel, with original T/C across the chest holster. In my dotage, my recoil and noise sensitivity is off the charts, so the .22LR get the most used. And I do agree with a previous poster. The .22 bbl is one of the most accurate, especially with good ammo. The bluing on the bbls is as good as I have seen.
PS That is a dummy .35 Rem cartridge, for the pic only.

 

[Johnnu2]

MG-70, I'm guessing that you are thinking about JDJ barrels (J.D. Jones). IIRC, that company is now SSK .....

J.

I remember one used to commit a crime in an episode of Riptide being described as a very accurate target pistol. I think the catch in the show was due to the person having been shot with a rifle round and the suspect not having any rifles registered in his name. Pretty intelligent for Hollywood; they hired a competent armorer for that episode!

By the time I was old enough to buy a handgun, they had been or were going out of favor, probably due to the decline in silhouette competitions. Even though I liked them, I wasn't into reloading, and had other guns higher up on the WTB list.

At the time, I believe they were the premier big game handguns, along with some custom single-action Rugers. I can't recall the name of the custom wildcat barrel maker whose pistols were all over the handgun publications at the time. I can see him now, wearing a glove, but can't remember the name, and general internet searches only draw up BS regurgitated ads in the form of articles, either written by robots or idiots who've never seen a firearm in real life. I don't think Freedom Arms was big back then.

Who remembers the name of the custom handgun hunting gunsmiths that were huge back then?

ETA. It may have been Lee Jurras!

 

[Krogen]

You guys are rekindling my interest in Contenders. I have a couple frames and some barrels that have been sitting in the safe for too long.

The good old Contender taught me a lot about case forming. First up was the 7 mm TCU. Quite a big stretch for a .223 Rem neck. I split a good many until I learned about work hardening and annealing. Still have my 6 mm TCU and .357 Herrett barrels. The .357 Herrett is nearly unused. I remember it's recoil being painful. Something about the recoil "jab" and the 14" barrel coming straight back made my arm sting up to the shoulder. Could be I'm a better shot now and can handle its recoil - or not . . . . I'll probably give it a go one of these days.

Back in the day, I shot NRA Silhouette. Contenders were common on the line. A lot of people shot 32-20 barrels for the centerfire game. I never had one, but recently my brother said I could have his to play with. Another good reason to dust off some of the old hardware.

So . . . once again, friends; Y'all are enablers! At least I'm not running out to buy new stuff. Using my languishing Contender hardware is going to be like buying something new.

 

[MG-70]

MG-70, I'm guessing that you are thinking about JDJ barrels (J.D. Jones). IIRC, that company is now SSK .....

J.

I believe that's it! I don't have access to my old publications, but that sounds right! It must've been the first time I saw three scope rings on a pistol.

Thanks for the flashback!