I have often thought about buying one of these if I got the chance. This week was the time. This one has .22LR barrel and was made in 1982. In very good condition with a few handling marks. The receiver has a nice plum color and the barrel has beautiful bluing. Hope to shoot it soon. Anybody else here have one, chime in.

Used to have one, back in the day. Wonderfully accurate with .22 and brutal+ with .44 Magnum. Probably only weighed 28-30 ounces and had a straight back recoil impulse due to really low bore axis.
I’ve been eying them too, might go home again.
Sometimes you just need to slow down.

That’s a Beaty! I have one of the same vintage with a .22lr barrel and two for wildcat rounds.

Should be a good shooter.

knew a goy (RIP) that shot smallbore shilloutte (spelled wrong, surely) with one,

he used a scope and to get the right height, he had a match 22 barrel with rings, a 1" tube in the rings, and another set of rings mounted to that with a scope,

odd looking but he was in the rules, and it was quite accurate,

rifle scope, BTW, not a pistol,

Back when I was shooting in IMHSA competitions I had a 22lr Contender with 10" and 16" barrels. Both barrels were tack drivers out to 100yds. Great pistol to shoot. You will have a lot of fun with yours.

Going back 40+ years, a friend of mine (a bit over the top) bought one chambered in 45-70. A number of us guys were shooting it in a gravel pit, and well I have to say never experianced recoil like that before or since. Probably still have a scare on my knuckel from that crazy trigger guard.

I haven't shot it yet, hopefully this coming week.
Just sighting down the barrel, I'm probably going to need a scope. I can't see the front sight clearly. Also would like to find another caliber to play with. I think maybe .45LC or 17HMR.

Form and function. There is just something about owning and shooting those that is more satisfying.

My first one was a .357 Herett way back in the 1980s. That taught me a lot about reloading. Had a .45/.410 for a while that I actually took a grouse out of the air with once.

Congrats on a very fine looking .22!

Here’s a chance to meander down memory lane…

I was at Fort Hood from 96-99. Pet time I worked at the gun counter in a pawn store chain.

While there I bought a contender set in a tan doskocil case in 22LR (10”), 35 Rem (super 14) and 44 mag (super 14). Pachmayr furniture.

Well I didn’t like the 35 rem for some reason and traded for a 30-30 at the Austin gun show.

Several years later I discovered the 7mm TCU which is a damn good time! Love that caliber.

This year I finally got into a carbine length barrel in 22 hornet.

Haven’t shot it yet but I do enjoy taking it to the range by itself. A single shot day is hard to beat.

I bought my Contender back in the 70's as I remember.It came with the 22lr, octagon,10"barrel.
I purchased a .223 14" barrel and mounted a Burris 3-12 scope, its a real tack driver.
I used to shoot IHMSA so I bought a 30-30 14" barrel and mounted a Nikon 2-7 scope.I enjoyed shooting at the 200meter steel Rams and waiting for the bullet impact, and seeing the 40# target topple.
Time to dust it off and go shoot it again.I should look to see if there are anymore IHMSA matches around me.
Love the Contender.

…They can be addicting - first adding barrels, then more frames…G2 model…encore to try the bigger stuff. Fun to slow down and just shoot.

Years back I had the Encore in 454 Casull. (my go to big bore round at the time) Recoil drove that trigger guard straight back into my knuckle. Quite painful with every shot. Nothing like my Ruger or Taurus. Finally sold it. Yours should be quite the pussycat though.

Big T/C Contender fan.

I have two frames: stainless and blued.

Barrels;
14” 7-30 Waters - blue
14” .44 Magnum - stainless
14” .223 - stainless
10” .22 Hornet - stainless
10” .22lr Match - stainless
10” .22lr - blue

I don't have T/C Contenders, they don't have the standing breech strength required for some of the calibers I like to shoot.
I went with the T/C Encore series and never looked back.
I have two frames, one for rifle/carbine barrels, one for handgun barrels.

I have barrels in rifle/carbine configuration in .500 S & W Magnum, and .50 cal. muzzleloader. The rifle muzzleloader barrel has an Aimpoint up on top.
In handgun configuration, 30-06 Springfield and .50 cal. muzzleloader.
Yes, the 30-06 15" handgun really barks! I got "banned" shooting that under a metal roofing covered outdoor firing point.
The blast wave was blowing the steel roofing off of the attachment screws. (screw heads and rubber gaskets pulling through the metal roofing)
That configuration is 100% plugs and muffs even when hunting.

The pistol frame with the T/C Custom Shop barrel in 30-06 which will easily shoot one inch groups from a rest at 100 yards.

Guns 003 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The pistol frame with the .50 cal. muzzleloader barrel.

DSC00100 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I still have my original TC that I bought in 1979, and, only one remaining barrel from my TC heyday time. That barrel is a .410 barrel that is my go-to grouse gun. I just love it, out to 25yds, it's grouse in the bag.

Contenders are a lot of fun. I've got a rifle & a few pistols, all in .22LR & .22WMR. My favorite is this .22LR Match. Awesome suppressor host. I'd like to get some different barrels too, especially .357Mag.

I used to shoot Handgun Silhouette with mine with a .30 Herrett, 10" bull barrel. Inexplicably that barrel was stolen (just the barrel) along with several handguns.

As a replacement - not wanting to go through the hassle of making and fir forming cases again - I bought a .357 Maximum barrel so I could load using carbide dies. It is the most brutally recoiling handgun I have ever owned and that is saying something because, also stolen, was my unlimited gun - a Remington XP100 chambered in full-length Win .308.

Kind of switched games in the mid-80's from IHMSA to IPSC, so to keep the Contender exercised I bought a .221 Fireball barrel (10") and mounted a Burris 7X AO IER scope on it. Used it to go groundhog hunting with my father. Anything 200 yards and in was mine with the Contender and anything beyond 200 yards was dad's with his .243.



Still have the .357 Max barrel also.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

Shown is my Contender with the Pach furniture set up and the scoped .223 barrel; I also have the wood furniture as well.

My son paid for it for one of my past birthdays, it also came with the same length .357 Maximum & .44 Magnum barrels plus the leather chest holster.

They were the focal point of my shooting a for a bunch of years and the majority of what I did. Things changes (mainly FINALLY being able to hunt with a rifle and having a lifetime's accumulation to finally get to use), so they sort of got set aside and I haven't got back to them.

I still have three frames and a few barrels.
I've had or have:
.22LR
.17 Ackley Bee
.222 Rem
.256 Win
6.5 TCU
.270 REN
.300 "Whisper" (several)
.309 JDJ
.357 Mag
.357-44 Bain and Davis
.35 Rem
.357JDJ
.45-70

Plus a couple barrels and frames (Contender and Encore) that passed through my hands after a family member passed. .22 Hornet, 7mm Waters, 7mm TCU, .257 Roberts AI, .280AI, .41 mag, .45 Colt. ?? Probably a couple others. Would loved to have kept them up but couldn't do it at the time. Mostly shot up the ammo, played with them a while, then sold them and gave the money to their spouse.