Thompson Center Contender

[bbqncigars]

I bought mine in .30H around late '74. Accuracy was no better than 5 MOA off sandbags no matter what I tried. Shelved that barrel in '99. Put the comped stainless 45-70 on it. That is a painful gun to shoot with full power 405gr ammo.

 

[David.Hylton]

I bought my .223 Carbine in 1994. It was my go to stalking gun for groundhogs for years. 55 grain Winchester ammo shot less than an inch with a 6X compact Leupold at 100 yards. Over the years I lost count of the varmints that I killed with it. Other barrels in .22lr, .41 mag., and 30-30 have come and gone. The .223 is here to stay.

 

[1sg]

Have some with several barrels. They are Great fun and economical especially given today’s ammo prices. I can spend an enjoyable day at the range and only go thru 1 box per caliber

 

[gemihur]

444 Marlin

6x223

 

[rkittine]

I have one with a bunch of barrels. .22 Competition, .22 Jet, .221 Fireball, .223, 38/357, 44 mag, 45 long cold / .410.

 

[Oldfrt]

Not a Contender, but I do have a Encore Pro Hunter Katahdin in 460 SW Magnum, I can spend a hour or two just casually launching 45LC downrange with it. The 460's and 454's are not as much fun but will garner some attention from the spray and pray crowd.

 

[m75rlg]

From back when I had a steadier hand and was more ambitious! Now I just take my Remington 700 in .270.

 

[gemihur]

Nice buck, sir.
That super 14 barrel ... was it a 7-30 Waters or 35 Rem?
You can still enjoy target shooting from the bench.
Just strap some legs on 'er

 

[GypsmJim]

Mine isn't a Contender either, but an Encore with a .308 Winchester barrel. I like wood best, but with this gun I find its much easier to handle with goodyears.

Its a bear to unholster. I carry it in a shoulder holster draped across my chest. It takes a little doing and it (usually) doesn't come out too fast.

I had deer hunted with a .45 Colt Blackhawk for years. Just decided to switch to something different one year. On my first day out I had just walked across a a small hill and as i entered the valley, the deer popped up. Dropped my gloves and had her out of the holster faster than I could have imagined and one shot to the neck and he was down.

Biggest deer I ever got in 50+ years of whitetail hunting.

That was 2006. Guess what I've been carrying ever since?

 

[ggibson511960]

I still have an original Contender in .22 LR that I used in NRA Hunter Pistol. I didn't shoot it that well, and sadly it gathers dust in the safe. The gross forward weight bias that the odd shaped grip induced didn't suit me. What was outstanding was the adjustable trigger. I need to pull mine out to measure it. It was approaching a set trigger. It was handy to dry fire for practice without cocking the hammer. I remember a guy had his Contender trigger TiN plated and worked on to get it to seriously light weight. An interesting piece.

 

[gemihur]

Hold a contender, hold an encore, you are more likely to pick up the contender again.
Yes, it has pressure constraints but so does the seat of my pants!
A contender can do nearly everything that I need to get done with a firearm.
Handy little sucker, ain't it?

 

[Krogen]

I still have an original Contender in .22 LR that I used in NRA Hunter Pistol. I didn't shoot it that well, and sadly it gathers dust in the safe. The gross forward weight bias that the odd shaped grip induced didn't suit me. What was outstanding was the adjustable trigger. I need to pull mine out to measure it. It was approaching a set trigger. It was handy to dry fire for practice without cocking the hammer. I remember a guy had his Contender trigger TiN plated and worked on to get it to seriously light weight. An interesting piece.

I sure understand your point about forward weight bias. A scoped 10" barrel is bad enough, but a 14" is impossible - for me anyway. I used to shoot Hunter's pistol too. A lot of people shot with a Taco hold. A short eye relief rifle scope and the gun held by clamping your hand around the barrel and the scope bell. Held close to your eye, it was fine with 22LR and 32-20 for the rimfire and centerfire matches. Anything bigger would put your eye out!

We shoot cowboy silhouette at my club - at least until "recent events" changed everything. It uses Hunter's pistol targets but the guns are lever action, iron sight. Hunter's pistol can be shot simultaneously and we do see the occasional Contender. One of these days when we get back in operation, I'll dust of my Contender and give it a go.

 

[glenwolde]

I had one in the early 80's. I was trying to figure out what type of handguns I liked and decided to give single shots a try. Obviously the Contender was the platform of choice. I was doing the .22-.38-.45 thing with revolvers so I got .22, .38 Special, and .45 ACP barrels for the Contender.

Boy did they shoot well. But they were slow and my hand would cramp up from opening them during a range session. A hundred rounds was a workout. But I wish I had kept them. .38 and .45 barrels are now expensive if you can find one. Ultimately I decided on revolvers, and eventually S&W revolvers specifically. That's about all I shoot now, except for a couple of 1911's and one Ruger single action revolver thrown in for variety every now and then.

 

[Dieseltech56]

I have 4 frames and probably 10 barrels. 32 H&R, 223, 357max, 10mm and 445 super mag. The super mag barrels are some serious firepower out of a handgun. Borderline the most recoil I can handle benchresting a pistol. It would be a really fun carbine caliber

One 223 barrel is a 16" MGM fast twist that I found on ebay. I want to set it up for a carbine but it got put away and forgot about.

Here is one 445 set up on my G2 frame

 

[.38SuperMan]

I had a 223 version with a Leupold pistol scope back in the 70’s. It was a bull barrel and think it was 14”. This is one gun I wish I’d kept.

My brother had one he used in silouhette shooting and had a 7mm TC and 22LR barrel. My dad had one at the same time and had a 44mag and 357 barrels.

Fabulous guns!

 

[CH4]

I've never owned one but I view them and the Ruger No.1 as two of the sexiest firearms out there.

I agree! I just bought a TC with 45-70 bbl to go with my #1 in 45-70. The 45-70 should be interesting to shoot out of a TC, even with muzzle brake. The bluing on the TC reminds of Colt's Royal Blue found their Pythons.

 

[Cleandean]

For my 1985 TC/Contender , I bought .223 Remington & .35 Remington.
They were my first barrels.
Adding a 12” hunter barrel ( muzzle tamer) in 45-70 Govt. in 1993.
I dropped a feral Hog with the 45-70 … at a little over 60 yds.
I had to use it for something after sessions of practice and boxes of handloads.
Now I have very little use for the Govt.

 

[Echo40]

The Thompson Center Contender is a cool gun, everything from the look to the action is just so unique. The aesthetics remind me of flintlock pistols, only more modern, it's a hunting handgun that looks the part. It might sound corny, but there's something about it being a single shot that just oozes masculinity, it's like it says; "I've only got one shot, but that's all I need." and you've got to be confident in your skills to carry something single shot.

Sure, one shot, one chance is all you've typically got on a hunt anyway, as the shot will spook the animal otherwise and send it running into the brush and out of sight, but carrying a gun that only holds one round at a time just leaves me with the impression that the guy who's carrying it is especially confident.

It takes someone talented, someone special to carry a Contender into the field, just don't go feeling too special or you'll get into trouble for that.

 

[kenjen]

If you have one in 45/70 and want to enjoy shooting it, use Trail Boss powder. Really tames it down a lot.

 

[Lonegle57]

An older thread revised. My first handgun I bought was a Contender in 44 mag. A ten inch octagon barrel, new to me back in the early 80's. With a Keith load it kicked like a mule. Soon picked up a bull barrel and recoil was better. Down the road, found I enjoy hunting deer more with a handgun. Fast forward to today and my TC herd is double digits with both Contender and Encore. I still look at them and though most of my wants are filled, have a few custom barrels am thinking about. Would post a pic of the herd but been awhile since I have done so.