T/C Contender G1 School me

Sunday I'm picking a 1st Gen T/C Contender in 44 mag with a 10" barrel. I've wanted one of these for a long time. Looking to get a 357 Mag, 7-30 waters, and 22 RF, barrels in the future. Any good sites to check out?

Back a number of years ago I used to compete in Ihmsa and probably the most common gun was the Contender. But I saw the writing on the wall realizing that people were not really interested in accurate shooting using a pistol and the run and gun game was going to take over and sold off all my stuff back when it was worth something.
The Contender is a fine gun to shoot, its very accurate with a great trigger. The supplied iron sights are very visible and have very small adjustment clicks, it IS a shooters gun. Below is a list of the barrels Ive owned.
44 mag 10 inch,, harsh recoil and not very accurate, but you can hand load it to produce some impressive fireballs at night if that's your thing.
357 14 inch, once again, not very accurate at 200 yards but recoil was OK.
223 10 inch, Everyone next to you is going to hate that gun.. The side muzzle blast from factory ammo will produce a shock wave that will rattle them until tomorrow.
222 14 inch. Downloaded loads produced very accurate shots out to 200 yards. I used a rifle scope and shot it prone with no scope eye.
22 lr in 10-12-14 barrels. The longer the better for accuracy. I knew a guy that shot the 10 in bench rest 50 yard and scored pretty well against Savage and CZ rifles.
Lastly, 45-70 Govt Do NOT be stupid. I shot one round, barely missed my head due to the recoil and gave me a flinch it took a month to get over.
Lowers should be available for cheap due to the lack of interest, barrels even cheaper. I remember selling my barrels for about $100 plus shipping and that's when folks wanted them.

graybeardoutdoors.com has some pretty active Contender/Encore sections on their forum. Lots of good Handi rifle stuff if you're into them as well.

I got one a few years ago and I've collected barrels since, all 14". Honestly my experience was a bit different then @Lager

44 Mag - recoil is very manageable, similar to that of 44 wheel guns
357 Max - felt like a 357 magnum
223 - like shoot mild 38s, report didn't seem bad to me
30-30 - mild recoil, I like this one a lot because it seems like a good balance of recoil/power
357 Herrett - fun to shoot and accurate but I haven't had a lot of time at the reloading bench lately so it doesn't get shot much.

I never went beyond 50 yards but the gun is more accurate than I am at this point. If I take my time and do my part all of them group well. As mentioned, it's a shooters gun and something that I think you would have to practice with regularly to be good with.

If you can find ANY barrel for $100 you better buy it. The going rate I've seen lately is $150-250 depending on the chamber and if it has optics you can increase accordingly.

I remember tables full of barrels at gun shows, but no more.

The 14” 44mag is supposed to be pleasant to shoot, the 10” not so much.
I have 14” 357mag, 41mag, and 22 hornet, also a shorter 22 lr of some sort.
Just bought a 16” in 22 k-hornet, no idea what I’m gonna do with it, maybe midrange groundhogs in TX?

Honestly I haven’t figured out the grip on these things, need to get some bags I’m sure.

currently looking for barrels to suppress.

Had one of these years ago and sold it when I moved to Raleigh and stopped competing. Regretted that decision and recently acquired another G1. Currently have 10" .357 mag barrel and 14" 30-30, both scoped. I hand load the 30-30 WAY down and it is pleasant to shoot and will consistently hold a less than 1" group at 25 yds ( from a rest). Shooting offhand is challenging because of the weight. I agree with the other positive comments made here regarding trigger and accuracy. Some forends can be hard to find. Its a plus if you can buy a barrel with the correct forend already on. Ebay is a pretty good resource. For kits and info try https://www.bellmtcs.com

spittinfire said:

graybeardoutdoors.com has some pretty active Contender/Encore sections on their forum. Lots of good Handi rifle stuff if you're into them as well.

I got one a few years ago and I've collected barrels since, all 14". Honestly my experience was a bit different then @Lager

44 Mag - recoil is very manageable, similar to that of 44 wheel guns
357 Max - felt like a 357 magnum
223 - like shoot mild 38s, report didn't seem bad to me
30-30 - mild recoil, I like this one a lot because it seems like a good balance of recoil/power
357 Herrett - fun to shoot and accurate but I haven't had a lot of time at the reloading bench lately so it doesn't get shot much.

I never went beyond 50 yards but the gun is more accurate than I am at this point. If I take my time and do my part all of them group well. As mentioned, it's a shooters gun and something that I think you would have to practice with regularly to be good with.

If you can find ANY barrel for $100 you better buy it. The going rate I've seen lately is $150-250 depending on the chamber and if it has optics you can increase accordingly.

Click to expand...

LOL,, Good reply. I am pretty much of a wimp when it comes to recoil. If I shoot a heavy caliber it gives me a flinch that takes a while to get over and really effects my USPSA shooting using my 45 and 9 mm in 1911. Obviously your tougher then I am. Try to get the chance to stretch your shots out to at least 100 yards, these guns are quite accurate .

JimB said:

I remember tables full of barrels at gun shows, but no more.

The 14” 44mag is supposed to be pleasant to shoot, the 10” not so much.
I have 14” 357mag, 41mag, and 22 hornet, also a shorter 22 lr of some sort.
Just bought a 16” in 22 k-hornet, no idea what I’m gonna do with it, maybe midrange groundhogs in TX?

Honestly I haven’t figured out the grip on these things, need to get some bags I’m sure.

currently looking for barrels to suppress.

Click to expand...

Yeah, these things really are not made for off hand shooting. You can hold them like a rifle, the forstock is there but its not real stable.Its best shooting position with out a rest is the Creedmore but using a front rest works best. Hope this helps..

Oh, and if you like reloading than this is the gun for you. There are TONS of wildcat chamberings available and even more of the oddball factory supported stuff. I picked up some 30 Herrett dies really cheap a while back because I figured I might stumble into a barrel at some point.

I'm with @FredB , I'm still figuring out how to best hold the thing to be accurate.

Here is the new to me T/C Contender...

I love to reloaded, started in the early 90's..

Dad shot Hunter's pistol silhouette back in the 80s 90s. Contenders were the #1 gun. He has a small pile of receivers and small mountain of barrels. He got very good accuracy out of most, had a few through the years that just wouldn't shoot. The triggers could be amazing, ounces, and virtually no travel. He has taken a lot game with them.

The offhand position I recall was thumb under fore, fingers over scope.

You have an early model original contender. Congratulations! These "evolved" over the years to the easy open model as T/C ' s lawyers got more and more involved. As part of that evolution, the triggers deteriorated. You got a prize in my opinion. Enjoy.