Difference in frames

[kshock]

I am going to buy a Contender and I have a question for someone better versed for me. I read that there are old style, easy open, and G2 frames. Will any Contender barrel fit any of these frames or are there some that will not fit certain frames. I had a Contender in the late 80's and I don't know which frame it was, just that it was a load of fun and I want another now that I can maybe afford it. Also, is there a difference between a carbine frame and pistol frame?

[mcwoodduck]

All barrels are interchange able.
The main diff I can tell is the G2 will allow you to set the hammer down and then recock the gun with out opening it.
As far as a pistol or Carine frame.... Here in California I registered mine as a pistol so I can make it a rifle with out breaking any laws.
If I were to register it as a rifle (carbine) it would have to stay that way.

[DEACONLLB]

All barrels will fit contender and G2 with one exception and that is the muzzleloader barrel which will only fit the G2 also the grips will not interchange.
Deaconllb

[teamnelson]

Pistol frame and carbine frame are legal terms applied when you register. The frame itself could care less; you can convert back and forth all day, if it were legal. All barrels, and their respective forends, are interchangeable between G1 & G2 frames. Stocks & grips are not; the G2 opened up the grip angle is what it feels like to me, moving it further away from the trigger guard. Still comfortable for off hand. Biggest difference is the recocking hammer - I like that for hunting.

Not all original (G1) Contenders were easy open. That was something you could send to the factory to have done, and there's a 3rd hole on the side of the frame down by the front of the trigger guard that will clue you in if the frame has had that done. Worth it to me shooting silhouette; hated wrestling to break the action to reload while timed. The G2 opens up great. Some folks claimed the G1 trigger was easier to tune, but I've not found that to be the case.

[Ladobe]

There were several vintages of Contender frames from 1967-2000, and now the G2.   Most user friendly of the originals was the Easy Open vintage that started with serial number 195,000 near the end of 1981 and ran until they were discontinued in 2000.   

"The main diff I can tell is the G2 will allow you to set the hammer down and then recock the gun with out opening it."

A common misconception and not true at all...  you can easily recock the original EO's as well without opening the action if you know how.   The real difference between the Contender and G2 triggers is the former can have a much sweeter trigger than the G2.

The pistol/carbine frame thing is a joke IMO, and I ignore it as just that.   BATF doesn't know... I doubt even TC knows how any frames made before the plant fire were first sold if production records were lost for them like they were for all their muzzleloaders.   No doubt the lions share were sold as pistols though.   So nobody in LE actually knows what your frame was first sold as, and in normal localities nobody in LE cares as long as the configuration you have it assembled in meets the legal limits established for handguns/rifles by BATF and local regs if any.   If you live in a place like the Peoples Republik, well, you reap what you sow I guess by living there.   In 41 years of being a very heavy user of Contenders for hunting and competitive shooting across at least a dozen western states nobody has ever asked what my frames were originally sold as.    If anybody did ask that I felt had a right to an answer, I'd say that they were all pistols.   As handguns they can't say squat when I've got them configured as legal carbines.   It's a legality issue that I took a firm stand on years ago.   YMMV, so do what's right for you.

BTW, I bought my first Contenders from 1967-1976 as a resident of CA.   Back then they hadn't gotten around to trumping up against hunters and shooters much yet.   

L.

   

[Hopalong7]

    Well said Ladobe!!!

[Grumulkin]

Another exception to the barrel fitting thing is Armour Alloy barrels which won't fit regular frames unless modified but you hardly ever run across them these days.

[mcwoodduck]

Ladobe /Hopalong7 ,
I disagree with you.  I do not think it matters what the frame was originally sold as.  Here in the commie state of California you are not allowed to have a handgun that is not registered to you.  You are allowed to borrow long guns but not handguns.  The handguns are registered to you and there is a data base that the police can pull up.  If you have a Carbine that was registered as a carbine and you make it a pistol and are stopped for anything.  (I once had a CHP officer unholster his pistol when he saw a copy of Guns and Ammo in the back seat and asked "are there any firearms in the car"  I said no he then explained about the Magizine.  I asked if he saw a Playboy would he think I had a hooker in the car?)  But they do run serial numbers here and as a carbine it will not show up as yours and then it will be a problem.  I tell everyone if you want a Contender or Encore to register it as a handgun.  It does not cost any more to do it and will keep you out of trouble just in case......

[Hopalong7]

    mcwoodduck, Please do not take any offense to this, but I don't plan on allowing the rules of Kalifornia to ever have any effect on me.  There is a whole lot of good places to hunt between here and thar.

[mcwoodduck]

Hopalong7,
None taken.
I was just pointing out that there are a bunch of places that fear firearms.  What may not matter to you could effect others on this site and I just wanted to point out reasons why you may want to register it as one or the other when you purchase one.

[Hopalong7]

    mcwoodduck, Your point is well taken, sir!

[hunterspistol]

     Ladobe has it about right on different styles. I have Contenders from the time you talk about, they were made in the eighties. They are all Easy Open, with probably the most complicated mechanics TC made. The earlier(than these) models had the trigger lever pin in the front of the frame, these have the pin directly over the trigger.  The trigger itself is different, the early ones more curvy, mine a little straighter. The new G2 has about the same pattern as the Encore.  I haven't tried the G2 yet.  I love my Contenders, almost more than my bolt action rifles!

[Ladobe]

mcwoodduck -

It certainly does matter what it was originally sold as to someone who doesn't live in Red California (and maybe a few other fun places like it in this country).   So you can not apply the CA BS with the rest of the country in general pard.   IOW, in many states you still don't have to register your firearms at all, not even handguns, so what a Contender was originally sold as to someone in those states is still it's current status and determines what configurations it can be made into legally under BATF regs.

I will agree that if you do have to register your frames, do so as pistols so you can legally use them as carbines/rifles as well.

L.

[teamnelson]

Many states that register are tied to the federal database. When I took my collection into HPD for registering they noted that my 45/70 carbine contender had been registered by a previous owner as a 22 pistol. Unfortunately should I ever sell that frame to someone in one of those states, they will have to keep it a carbine because that's what it is now in the database.

Yes, yes, I know. Your state doesn't do that, or you don't register, it's all bs ... Uh huh. For those of us required to move every 3 years to liberal states, not complying is not an option if I want to excercise my rights. Stuff like TC frame registration is very important to some.

[Colonel Daddy]

Back to the OP. All barrels WILL NOT fit ALL FRAMES!!!!
The very early frames from 67 to somewhere around 73 'sometimes' will not accept newer barrels. Case in point: my 1972 5 digit serial# frame will not accept barrels with a 'step' on the bottom of the barrel lug. Look at the early octagon bbls. They are flat on the bottom, except for the bevels on both ends. These work on my frame.
TC will alter these early frames to accept later bbls, or sometimes the locking lugs can be polished a couple thousandts and the newer bbls will then open.
I polished mine and when before it completely locked and refused to open, it now opens about 75% of the time. Not good enough so I've been looking locally for a slightly newer frame.
Greybeard told me this, but I took others advise instead. Greybeard was right!

[Keith L]

I can't speak for your experience, but my early frame works with all my barrels, and I know of lots others that do as well.  Maybe you need to send it in for an update if you want it to work.  A selling point is that barrels switch, so I have to figure your experience is not the norm.

[Colonel Daddy]

Keith L, is the serial # of your early frame above 156XX? Above 440XX? Somewhere above 440XX, but I don't know where, the early frame with the early trigger and hammer would take the barrels with the split locking bolt.
I'm waiting to hear from TC about changing the locking bolt on my 7-30 Waters bbl. Otherwise, I'll be looking for a later frame than the one we now have. It's my wife's gun......and she said "no way" am I gonna send her gun anywhere , but it's OK for me to use it!
Talked with Graybeard some time ago on rugerforum.com, and he stated that the earliest frames would not take barrels of a later vintage and in the 'old days' (my quotation) it was common to change the locking lugs or to polish them to make them work in the earliest frames.

[Keith L]

And changing the bolts or polishing them is still common to make them work.  This is a minor tweak that doesn't need a trip for anything back to the factory.