Hoping someone can help me out with a few questions on my recent purchase. I bought a Contender with Leupold in 223 recently and then found a guy selling other barrels. I decided to pick up a 22 Hornet with a Leupold scope because it was different and I can still find ammo at Cabelas since I don't reload.

So now my question. I bought the 22 hornet online and figured it would just pop on. I took the handguard off the 223 upper and see there is a block below the barrel with two screws. My current forearm will not fit the new barrel. I see the dovetail on the bottom and assume I am missing a piece that holds the screw and looks like my existing forearm won't work. After some research I see there are Gen 1 and Gen 2 guns so not sure that matters in my case. All I am trying to do is get this barrel to work on my existing frame if that is at all possible??



22 Hornet Dovetail missing part??


Screw won't line up so I assume I need the smaller handguard? Are they hard to find?




Is this a Gen 2 bases on where the lever is for centerfire vs rimfire?

Thank You.

You can check EABCO. They stock Contender parts.

Also, more expensive, https://sharpsbros.com/

The .22 Hornet is my favorite barrel for the Contender.

I think the main difference between G1 and G2 is the angle of the grip. It may be that the forearm with the screw hole closer to the muzzle is on a barrel with two mounting screws and a connecting "hanger" converts it to a single screw forearm.

If so, that forearm will not work on your single screw barrel. The rear hole on a two screw barrel is in the same location as the hole for a single screw forearm. The two holes on a two screw barrel are 3- 1/8" apart, so if a hanger is used, this hole will be about 1-9/16" closer to the muzzle than your single screw barrel mounting hole.

The first generation Contenders have a Cougar etched into the side of it. Like yours.
Second generation Contenders do not have the Cougar etched.
I’m guessing that the 22 Hornet barrel is for a G2 Contender.

Also, check and make sure that the hornet barrel is not for the Encore system. Hard to tell in pictures.

You have a couple issues going on here. First, the Hornet barrel is missing the dovetailed insert that the foreend bolt screws into. Second, Contenders use different forends for 10" barrels and the longer 14"and 16" in barrels. Your 223 looks like a 14"? The 10" foreends use one bolt, the longer one uses two.
TC is open again, you might be able to source the dovetail insert from them. If not like up Mike Bellm Contenders, he is a custom shop but always has a supply of parts.
About Gen 1 versus Gen 2, the Gen 2 Contender was called the G2. Barrels are 100% interchangeable between the original Contender and the G2. The big difference with the G2 was they bulked up the sidewalls of the receiver. The original Contenders had an issue with high performance rounds warping the receiver. The solution was to add more metal to the problem area. The G2 also has a different grip, those are not interchangeable between the original and G2.

This is likely the hanger your Pachmyr forend has, and the hole isn't centered between the threaded inserts in the barrel:

https://bellmtcs.com/03381forendadaptor