Bob,
Is your Contender the "early" model that has the pivot all the way at the front of the frame? If so, I would highly suggest you send it back to T\C and have them "re-do" it to the "easy open" pivot. I think (don't quote me on this....memory is a bad thing) the cost is $45, but they drill the pivot about mid-frame and replace the trigger "guts".
I had this done on my early model and would highly recommend it.
Dave