A point of some distress with Contender pistol forearms....

[alan in ga]

Seems like every forend I run across/buy does not always fit as far as the barrel forend screw/lug spacings. I just purchased an MGM 11.5" 44 mag barrel and it has rifle forend spacing....probably because it was a special order barrel. However I've run into this in the past...forend screw spacing not matching.
A walnut T/C forend I have fits this 11.5" barrel and comes right up to the muzzle, but the combination is heavy. I purchased a Pachmyer finger grip and forend set from Amazon [new] and find out the forend screw spacing is shorter than this MGM's screw lug spacing. I also have an old Pachmyer forend and it has a steel bar making that forend's single mount screw adapt to a pistol lug spacing. ALSO, it has molded into the forend inletted area 'bull barrel', but the newer bull barrels are larger than the forend barrel channel. I'm remembering that older 'bull' barrels had some taper to them [I think].
Anyway, I've considered having a friend with a milling machine cut another dovetail so I can mount the new Pachmyer forend to this barrel.
Maybe it's just me... : )
Follow up: Just figured out the older Pachmyer forend with ONE screw and bar device will fit MGM barrel if I remove the forward barrel holddown lug nut. Now wer'e cookin'....

[Ladobe]

Most (if not all) custom barrel/furniture shops use the standard forend spacings IF not for those forends to be used with a specified hanger bar.   So if you did not order this barrel from MGM yourself, it may be a specified custom order with that spacing OR a longer barrel cut down.  If you did order it from MGM the Stratton Boys either screwed up or cut down a longer barrel and recrowned.  I started dealing with TC custom shops 30 something years ago, never had one custom barrel or custom forend from any of them that didn't follow TC handgun and carbine spacing specs UNLESS I asked specified for using on my hanger bars.   What I did ALWAYS have to specify was barrel D&T for scope or special sight mounting... all of mine back over the chamber no matter what length the barrel was.   
 
Yep, it is you... what you get for treating the TC's like a now and then lady of the night that was bought, used and then sold again instead of being loyal to them.   

[alan in ga]

you got me Ladobe.....I'm even starting to understand your fondness of the G1/origional Contender frame size.
I checked again and discovered [DOH!] that my first Pachmyer forend fit ok. It was either hard or hardened over the years and shrunk a tad as it had to be pushed onto the bull barrel to 'fit'. It has 'Bull Barrel/ Sup 14' molded into the inside of the forend and fit after warming up a bit. Single screw w/about a 1.5" bar and 'middle' hold down screw. Now this 44 feels right.
This was a custom order MGM listed here as unfired...10" twist intended for heavy long subsonic bullets with lead dust collector intended to have been threaded at some point. Probably was specified 'rifle' forend spacing.

Contenders of the night...ha!

I'll post on how it shoots as soon as I get a trip to the range! Only have factory ammo around now but components to be loaded when time allows.

[Ladobe]

Alan - it's not that uncommon with Pachymyr products to need to rework them, remove excess "slag" (for want of a better short term) that they didn't remove... relieve barrel channels and the rear "wings" that ride over the frame, and almost always the molded cut out for the hanger bar when you use a custom bar instead of theirs.   I personally didn't use them without custom bars and spacers if needed that got them off the barrel.  Sometimes if not reworked they are bad enough to be an effort to get installed, same with the grips that can actually prevent the frame from working properly.   IOW they are not 100% right out of the package all the time.  A note on "understanding"... there is no such thing as a G1 Contender frame, they are a Contender frame, period - the G1 moniker that someone dreamed up getting perpetuated in error.   The newer frames are G2 Contender's, but commonly shortened to just G2 by some folks.   Correct nomenclature has always plagued some of TC's products, in part their fault by leaving no choice but for folks to put their own on things simply because of TC's failures to make what is correct readily available.   It will never change, it's rooted too deep in end users now, so probably just moot points that will continue to misinform and sometimes confuse noobs.