After a six year hiatus, I bought another Contender. It's a 1976 vintage frame with an octagon 357 mag in great shape. It's age caught my eye, more so than the price tag. I'm surprised how prices of used barrels haven't really changed much but the prices of complete guns has gone up substantially. From a financial standpoint, I can pick up where I left off.
I read the "Sticky" on the ATF ruling and I always felt that the gray area was intentionally created by them. Now that I'm starting from scratch, I'll keep my handgun and rifle frames segregated and build them accordingly. Their language in question #3 about the same source can be construed as being bought from your local gunshop, EABCO, ED'S, gunbroker or ebay. I love how vague the government can be to instil the "fear factor". Now I just bought this as a handgun and now it's registered as a handgun but who knows how it started life at T/C? That's the part that I don't understand. Of all the Contenders that wind up at dealers from trade-ins, a great percentage of those have to be reconfigured from their original registration. Dealers could now be accepting traded Contenders that originated as rifles, wearing handgun barrels and grips, to resell and register them as handguns. I believe if there was really a law being broken here, other than the under 16" barrel with a shoulder stock, ATF would be all over shops selling used Contenders, especially on the internet. I'm not saying to disregard the law, I'm just saying that it's the government's mentality to rely on paranoia as a form of control.
