I can't get the barrel off of the Frame! Help!!

[Minnesota1]

A friend of mine asked if I could look at a contender of his and see if I could fix it.  I said sure.  Anyway, to make a long story short here is the jist:  It is a 45 long colt barrel, you can take the hinge pin out and the barrel still will not come off.  It will move enough forward and down so you can see that there is no round in the chamber!!  I removed the grip, the trigger mechanisms, the hammer and there really isn't a whole lot left up there.  The dang barrel still will not come off!   Has anyone had anything like this happen to there contender?  Can anyone give me any advice as to what might be catching the barrel and not letting it release off and how to possibly fix it?

Thanks,

Bob

[Lone Star]

I assume that you tried using the trigger guard to open the action first.  The most likely cause is the use of a one-piece bolt on a newer barrel design.  I had this happen twice in my 30+ years with the Contender.  Remove the trigger guard by driving out the pin and taking off the screw and spring under the grip.  This exposes the bottom of the lug and the bolt.  Use a large screwdriver to pry the bolt back into the lug, and the barrel will then come out the top of the frame.   


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[Lanny]

I had this happen to me just last night.....Lone star is correct about the
one piece bolt being the culprit....Four hours, and a lot of unspicified words
later, I finally got the barrel off..I took the hammer off,  the sear off and
had all the parts laying on the bed just about all of the inners.....
and the barrel still would not come off....I could not get a screw driver
to reach the bolt....So I decided to put just the trigger group back in
and Wah Lah it worked...the barrel just came off as usual.....I hope that
this will help alittle.....this has happened to me twice now in the last
25 years also.....Good Luck.......Lanny.

[Minnesota1]

Lonestar,

Are you talking about sticking the screw driver into the trigger guard stop screw hole and pushing it up towards the frame or down towards the bottom of where the grip cap would be?  Or am I way off on what it is I need to move?

Thanks,

Bob