It's a valid question...
I'm trying to make a "holsterable camp pistol" rimfire for small game which is compact and round-butted and with a healthy melt job to reduce snagging and and reduce weight (maybe some relieving too). Folks have always searched for the "perfect kit gun" and most choices are suboptimal, in my humble opinion, because they are not accurate enough, too heavy and too complex to clean/maintain. The Contenders have a minimum of moving parts. "Geee... where can I get a single shot break open pistol with near rifle-like accuracy that I can clean with a knot in a shoe string?"
Here's a mock-up pic of the idea:
I already have the barrel on order from Bullberry's because they were having a sale
I'm waiting on a 6" bull barrel that is already threaded, with no forend attachment point (i.e. "smooth"), a dove-tailed serrated front sight ramp and Williams WGOS rear sight with square notch blade (less chunky in a holster).
I had posted about the idea about a year ago on the rimfirecentral forum and I'm only really getting time (not the money though) to ramp up on it now for this coming September's small game season.
http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236491&highlight=camp
I figure that I can get the hinge pin threaded on both sides simply enough. I can then use some large flat head screws (useable with a coin) with some thin Delrin spacers to lock it.
Yes there is quite a difference between the Encore pin and the Contender pin.
You have my curiosity up now. Why would you shoot your gun without a forend?
A few years ago there was a guy here asking about how to keep his pin retained because he had heard Contenders POI changed when barrels were changed due to forend screws and differing pressure. He had never shot his pistol, but had sawed the "ears" off his forends so he could change barrels without ever changing torque. That is another problem I have never had.
