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Contender/Encore handguns
bigbigshooter
Member Posts: 4 ✭✭
I have been trying to educate myself on these as I am interested in getting one in a larger caliber. I understand the Contenders are older and not built as sturdy and therefore not able to handle the heavier loads as the Encore does.
My question is: If I purchase the body (handle/action/forearm, etc) of an encore or contender and buy the barrel/s later, will any contender barrel fit any contender and any encore barrel fit any encore? I see some of the new encores are fairly inexpensive. If I buy the body, for instance, will a 454 Casull or 500 S&W barrel fit on any of them or are they exact model specific?
thanks
My question is: If I purchase the body (handle/action/forearm, etc) of an encore or contender and buy the barrel/s later, will any contender barrel fit any contender and any encore barrel fit any encore? I see some of the new encores are fairly inexpensive. If I buy the body, for instance, will a 454 Casull or 500 S&W barrel fit on any of them or are they exact model specific?
thanks
Comments
just buy which ever you choose as a pistol first then do what ever you want with it , just remember to never put a short barrel on a frame with a rifle butt stock ,, if you have a rifle stock on the frame it has to have at least a 16" barrel to go with it to keep it legal
as for the Encore yes any encore part with fit even the new pro hunter frames and barrels with fit the older receivers ,
as for the contender there are a few things that do not swap , if you have a newer G2 frame only a G2 grip or butt stock with fit that frame .
the new G2 black powder barrel will NOT fit on the older Contender frame , other than that most things will fit from one to the other and if you do buy a older barrel that doesn't fit up right with a frame you can send them to T/C and they will fit it for you
also if you want know more T/C's go to this site
http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php
they have a ton of info on their forums about T/C
A Contender is a Contender and a Encore is a Encore. You can buy a Contender frame and shoot anything from 22LR to hot loads of 45-70 on the same frame. But you cannot put a Contender barrel on a Encore.
Thanks a lot. What is the largest cal. Of commercially bought ammo you can get a contender barrel for?
you have it pretty well covered ,
just buy which ever you choose as a pistol first then do what ever you want with it , just remember to never put a short barrel on a frame with a rifle butt stock ,, if you have a rifle stock on the frame it has to have at least a 16" barrel to go with it to keep it legal
as for the Encore yes any encore part with fit even the new pro hunter frames and barrels with fit the older receivers ,
as for the contender there are a few things that do not swap , if you have a newer G2 frame only a G2 grip or butt stock with fit that frame .
the new G2 black powder barrel will NOT fit on the older Contender frame , other than that most things will fit from one to the other and if you do buy a older barrel that doesn't fit up right with a frame you can send them to T/C and they will fit it for you
also if you want know more T/C's go to this site
http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php
they have a ton of info on their forums about T/C
Thanks a lot. What is the biggest cal avail for older contender for commercially bout ammo?
I seem to recall that there were some Contender barrels that were not interchangeable. The ones with a different type of finish as I recall. It may have been that the finish added some amount of material that made them not fit.
You are correct. The older Contender barrels with the silver alloy finish will not fit properly on the blued frames.
The G2 barrels will fit on the older Contender frames as well as the newer G2 frames. The older Contender grips will not fit on the G2 frame.
The "largest" caliber for the Contender is the 45-70. The hardest hitting caliber for the Contender is the .375 JDJ.
The Encore can handle the higher pressures of the later bottleneck cartridges (.308, 7mm Mag, 300 Mag, etc) due to a larger diameter and heavier frame.
The older Contenders have easily adjustable triggers. Also, if you pull the hammer back and then let it down, you have to break it open again (or at least pull the lever back) to reset the hammer. The Encores and G2s are not like that. If you let the hammer down, you can pull it back again without breaking it open.
If you want to shoot high pressure cartridges, get the Encore; however, most of the "rifle" type cartridges for the Contender are plenty accurate and have plenty of power out to reasonable pistol ranges (200-300 yards), such as the TCU and JDJ cartridges.
Largest pistol chambering available from the TC Custom shop for looks like 450 Marlin. For rifles looks like 416 Rigby or 416 Remington not sure which is larger.
I started with the Encore about a year (love it btw) ago and I'm trying to settle on my 1st pistol barrel. I have been going back and forth with the 7mm-08 and the 308. I think I'm going with the 308 because of the wide array of commercially available loadings. Primary use for me will be cow elk, secondary use will be pigs and whitetail at relatively short range, 150 yards.
If you are looking to use the larger calibers I would recommend the Encore over the Contender. It has been specifically designed to withstand higher chamber pressures.
Largest pistol chambering available from the TC Custom shop for looks like 450 Marlin. For rifles looks like 416 Rigby or 416 Remington not sure which is larger.
I started with the Encore about a year (love it btw) ago and I'm trying to settle on my 1st pistol barrel. I have been going back and forth with the 7mm-08 and the 308. I think I'm going with the 308 because of the wide array of commercially available loadings. Primary use for me will be cow elk, secondary use will be pigs and whitetail at relatively short range, 150 yards.
Im pretty sure the .416 Rigby is bigger case wise than the remington. although im positive that I seen a .600 nitro express encore.
And how much fall off in velocity do you get, as opposed to published ballistics through rifle length barrels?
I'm planning my next barrel, and right now, it looks like a 22-250 is in the offing.
Sahagan