Why are Contenders so darn hard to open?

[JohnClif]

Every Contender I've ever had through the shop has been a bear to open, to the point where I had to rest the opening lever on a bench and put my weight on the action to get the lever to 'give' and get the action to open.

If it weren't for this attribute I probably would have bought a Contender and several barrels by now.

Am I the only one who has run into this problem, or is it endemic (characteristic?) to Contenders?

[Alan4620]

All of the older style Contenders that I have shot were all hard to open.
Solid locking lugs on older barrels cause this too.

T/C,for $55.00 :eek:  will install on Your frame an easy open re-fit.I have one there now. They have a 6+ week turn around.

I've heard good things about this repair.

Alan

[Keith L]

Early Contenders are hard to open.  The hinge pin for the trigger guard/release lever is at the front of the part and gives little mechanical advantage.  If the locking "bolts"  on the barrel are tight fitting then one has to work at opening these frames.  The next generation of Contenders moved the hinge rearward and are much easier to open, hence know as "easy open" Contenders.  Early ones can be converted to this mode by the factory or by the custom shop as described in the above post. The current model, G-2 Contender, is quite easy to open.  Most of my frames are now G-2 for that reason.  As I approach middle age <VBG> my arthritis makes it harder for me to love my originals!

[Bullseye]

While I will admit that they can be harder to open than you think they should be, something is wrong is you have to put the trigger guard on something and put your weight on it.  I do not know the answer, but my two girls have been shooting my 4 Contenders since they were 10 and they could open them.

[skb2706]

I have had or do have three different generations of Contender. The original had the trigger guard pivot far forward and lacked the mechanical advantage found on later models that the pivot was moved back. That is the conversion referred to in the earlier post. They move the pivot back...and changed the release arms/trigger assembly. If your Contender is a later style and is still very difficult to open there are some things to look for....check to make the locking bolts on your barrels move freely they can bind. Make sure all your barrels have split locking bolts (two piece...not one) older barrels had one piece and were very difficult to open. TC will send you replacement bolts if yours are one piece......When TC came out with the new G2 Contender they had changed the geometry to improve the mechanical advantage and make the gun so much easier to open....you could always trade up. If all else fails....go to the gym.

[southern utah]

On a few barrels I found the hole that the locks go in were machined really rough. looked like they were threaded not drilled. I cleaned up the hole with a light file and some sandpaper and made a big difference.