TC Contender questions

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Howdy all!

I just got my first contender off gunbroker . . . http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=233408876

My concern at first was the rear of the receiver area? It seems pretty scraped up?

I then saw the rifling, and it seems pretty "thin" or shallow, is this normal for TC barrels? My Sako has at least TWICE as deep grooves . . .

Do you think this gun was misrepresented?

I kinda feel like I got took . . . but . . . I have never had or fired a Contender either, so wanted some input before complaining to the seller . . .

Here are some pictures . . .


















I did not scrub out the barrel, just ran a bore snake through it once . . . it was oiled quite heavily . . .

To me, it seems that the gun is not in "VERY GOOD" Condition . . . or has an "EXCELLENT" bore . . . what do you think?

[Ole]

I have owned 4 TC barrels and they never had scrapes like that.

It almost looks like someone tried to pry a stuck case out from the breech end.

The rifling looks OK/normal to me.

Is there something wrong with the ejector/extractor? I can't tell from the blurry pictures.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i dont think you got the best end of the deal that is in old tender
you may wont to look on( graybeard outdoors ) the oct barrels are just to thin for me
i would look for a round barrel and forend to match sell that barrel off to help recupe
your loss but if you look at it like this sell that barrel off $110 you got a nice frame
for $265 bucks thats not to bad

[jhalcott]

I agree with OLE that it APPEARS some one pried a stuck case out of the chamber. For that price though ,it ain't in bad shape over all! I have 2 (had 3) 7TC/U barrels from 10 to 21 inches. There is a definite difference in bore and chamber sizes. 2 of the 30-30 14" barrels have different twist rates! One .35 Rem barrel was so bad I had it rechambered to 358JDJ. I'd shoot it before I cussed the seller, you can't tell how good they are by looking at them!

[Rick459]

from the picture the breach end of the bore looks ok. i would say the scratches on the breach end of the barrel are either improper use of feeler gauges to check barrel to frame gap or the action would not open and some one tried to pry the action open. by looking at your photo yours looks to be a early model with the pivot pin on the frame up foward where it made opening the action sometimes very hard. so if you send the gun back to TC they will do the conversion of moving the pivot point back for easier cocking as you can see of mine in the photo. the pivot pin is right above the trigger. as for the overall rating of the gun i would give it a fair condition. how is the rifling at the muzzel? HTH
Rick

[Rick459]

123.DieselBenz,
from those new photo's that you posted it sure looks like some one could not get the action to open squeezing the trigger guard and then proceded to try and pry it open. as posted in my first post... the eariler TC's with the foward piviot pin was a flaw in the eariler design to where some of the pistol's after firing were very hard if not impossiable to break open. mine was such the case as i could not get it to open and sent the whole gun back to TC to be fixed and had the conversion done. i think they charge $50.00 for the conversion now but they also go through the whole gun and replace all springs and trigger and also thw newer style hammer with the safety on top of the hammer which is also the slector from rimfire to centerfire. HTH excuse the dog hairs.... those look like pits in the muzzel end.....after looking at your latest photo's i would downgrade that pistol from fair to poor. the seller needs to refund you some money back...go shoot it and see how it shoots then go from there. HTH

[blaser.306]

The type of frame that you have ( not easy open ) is I am led to beleive the one that people are after ! Before I sent it away to be destroyed ( altered ) to the easy open model I would check for interest in it the way that it is . I am led to beleive that they have the superrior triger of the contenders ! I know that my trigger is very nice !!!

[Rick459]

The type of frame that you have ( not easy open ) is I am led to beleive the one that people are after ! Before I sent it away to be destroyed ( altered ) to the easy open model I would check for interest in it the way that it is . I am led to beleive that they have the superrior triger of the contenders ! I know that my trigger is very nice !!!

my gun started out at first as not easy to open to not opening at all. as for the trigger ...the trigger now is much smoother and crisper than the orignal. no fun shooting a TC when you have to strain to get it to open and i use this to hunt making follow up shot's iffy before the conversion. my conversion was done back in 97 so unless TC has since changed their triggers due to product liabilty i can't see a problem with doing the conversion. so my gun was not destroyed by sending it back to TC.. in fact it is a better shooting since the work was done. HTH
Rick

[Ole]

It may shoot well, but I would never consider that pistol in "very good" condition.

[Ed in North Texas]

At best this pistol is fair to good as far as the barrel goes (exterior and bore combined). The exterior is fair (yes, it does look like it was dropped, hitting on the front sight base). It is hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like there is at least roughness (if not pitting) in the bore near the muzzle.

I'd contact the seller about it. You may have to get an "appraisal" from a local dealer/smith if you have to go through the folks at GunBroker to get satisfaction. It does not look like "Very Good" with an "excellent" bore (I've seen turn of the last century military firearms rated "very good" which (other than normal finish wear) were better than this. My 1939 Savage 99 has honest carry wear, but doesn't have the damage this barrel exterior has.

[fryboy]

it has honest wear , the barrel however is ...a bit rough , i'm guessing a feeler gauge and accidental grit , are there corresponding/similar scratches in the frame ? IMHO the 222 in the short barrel isnt the best option but at least it isnt some bruiser in the ocotogon , the barrel may shoot fine , with the exception of the rust? in the muzzle the leade looked ok ( from my limited vantage point , if it's never had another barrel on it it shouldn't be too abused , there is a point to that easy opening , there's also some style of locking lugs that do just that and switching them can help , bellm's tc has alot of info

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/

congrats on the 'tender ! and fair warning - they tend to breed - with startling regularity and at great cost , nothing else has expanded my handloading knowledge as my first one , mostly it wears heavy pach's and a bull barrel and in carbine configuration they are a lite quick handling joy

[leadman]

The seller stated no rust or pitting, which appears to not be true. That is probably the worst bore in a Contender I have seen, and I have owned and seen alot.
Having had many of the older oct. barrels I do not even consider buying them now. I find much better accuracy with the 14" on up barrels. Only had one or 2 really good 10" bull barrels.
That gun appears to have been neglected/abused. I would try to get some money back so you can at least replace the barrel. Sending the frame to T/C might be iffy right now as I think they are in process of moving. A phone call will confirm their status.

[secondshooter]

The barrel may been painted black, in some of the pictures you can see over spray on the rear sight, the scratches on the chamber face may be where the paint has worn off? hard to tell from the photos but thats my impression.

[leadman]

Benz, take the screw out of the forearm and remove the forearm. Open the action and slide the big pin out that goes thru the frame. This holds the barrel.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

get the 14" barrel and dont look back

[TCFAN]

If I understand your question,the square thing on the hammer slides right and left. It should push a pin out to keep the hammer from hitting the firing pins.

I have the same frame as yours and find nothing wrong with it being the hard to open old style frame.

I am on dial up here and can not see good quality photos that you posted but the ones that will come in look like you did not get what was advertised....I wish you luck in getting this corrected...............Terry

[uscra112]

I would say that your gun was grossly misrepresented, and at $375 is a ripoff, since that barrel is essentially scrap. Selling it to someone else is not an option if you have any ethics at all. The pictures on the listing seriously failed to convey the true condition. I would add another 100% negative feedback that guy's growing pile if he won't take it back.

FWIW, by way of comparison - I bought a barrel-less action on Gunbroker for about $275, after looking at Gen 1 'tenders for about a year at gun shows. I felt that I got it for a pretty good price. The seller was a local shop, with a good reputation, and of course I avoided shipping costs and FFL fees by just driving over to collect it. Mine was far less worn and abused than this one appears to be. (Is that rust that I see there?) I did find that mine had a chronic misfire problem, which is not unknown with these. The solution was simple and cost zero $. (It wasn't at all what Mike Bellm touts, either.) Now I have a piece that I really like, and already have three barrels for.

[rhbrink]

Well 'Benz looks like there is some severe pitting in the barrel up toward the muzzle. No doubt that sometime or other there was a stuck cartridge in the chamber looks like to me the extractor is clearly bent foreward you can see that in the picture above. The back side of the extractor should be flush with the back of the barrel. I would sure try to get some of your money back at least for the barrel it looks like a reject to me. The reciever looks OK and if you have to keep the barrel there is always the option of having it sleeved to another caliber maybe something mild. Probably cost as much as another used barrel just a idea. I did have a similiar Contender with a 22 rimfire barrel shot great and was a bunch of fun to shoot cheap too.

Good luck

Richard

[scb]

Benz.
If you don't receive satisfaction from this "gentleman" I would request that you post here:

The web site where "purchased"
The sellers User Name.
His real name and address.

That way the rest of us can perhaps not be scammed by the same "gentleman" as this was obviously grossly misrepresented. I would classify that barrel as JUNK. As to new barrel length, I personally wouldn't own a 14" barrel to hunt with. One might as well carry a carbine IMHO. But to each his own.

For a new (or used) barrel check here:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ghlight=ed%27s
I can also add my endorsement to Ed.

[uscra112]

Just a word on 14" or even heavy 12" barrels - unless you have hands like a gorilla, you'll need to fire from a rest. I don't, what with age and arthuritis, and I can't hit a barn from the inside without a rest with my 14" Hornet barrel. Not complaining, mind you, it's just a factor in my planning.