Need help......barrel stuck...!

[offhand35]

Well, my 10" 38 Spl octagon barrel came today.  It looks brand new and unfired, though no box.......I was thrilled.
So I placed it on my Contender frame [389xxx], pressed the pin into place, and snapped it shut......and there it stays. I cannot get the barrel to unlock....I even put on a leather glove to help me put more pressure on the action...but no go. I even tapped out the pin with a brass rod, but that barrel is not coming off. 

Did I inadvertantly install an older barrel that is known not to fit, or do I have a problem that only TC can resolve. It is too late to call them today.
But I will be calling them in the AM.

[Grumulkin]

That happened to me once.  I sent the whole gun back to T/C & they fixed it with the "easy open" modification and no problems since then.  The only cost to me was my shipping cost to T/C.

[Minnesota1]

What probably happened was the barrel you ordered had a one piece bolt under the extracter.  If you look at your other barrels go under the extractor to where you can see the bolt that springs in and out with pressure applied.  You should be able to split that bolt in the middle with your finger.  That's the culprit on the stuck barre-it doesn't split and was made for the older contenders.  What you have to do is call T/C and they will send you out a nice modern bolt kit for free-Just remember to have the proper roll pin to drive the pin out otherwise you could have problems and remember to push or have someone push in the bolt before you try to drive out the old pin or put the new one in.

To get your gun open is rather easy.  just take out your trigger guard and trigger.  There you should be able to see where that bolt is locked up onto the metal thus making it impossible to open.  Just take a flat head screw driver and carefully push the bolt forward.  You will have resistence because it is spring loaded.  At the same time you are moving that forward you need to push up on the spring that opens the barrel and it should just come right off. 

I'm sorry if I haven't explained myself very well but if you are pulling your hair our e-mail me with your phone number and I'll grab my contender and walk you through it.  I had this happen about 2 months ago to me.

Thanks,

Bob

[Jim Stacy]

Bob is correct tap out the pin holding the trigger group in and remove the spring and bolt from the back of the trigger guard and it will all drop out. You can see the bolt under the shelf of the frame. Like Bob said push the bolt out of lock and it will rotate out.

[offhand35]

Alllllllriiight!
Thanks everyone for all your advice. I did get it open. Yes the bolt is one piece, and a little longer than those on my other barrels.
Asking T/C to send a new bolt will be a lot easier than FedEx'ing the whole rig for them to work on.

[offhand35]

Well, when I called T/C this AM, they still wanted me to send them the fame and bbl, so they could do the bbl modification and be sure the frame was ok.
They asked for a check for $55 (to do the easy open modification). They may wind up refunding that, this is a later frame, and was manufactured with e/o.

[offhand35]

An update re: the stuck 38spl octagon barrel.   My frame and bbl arrived back today from T/C service. They returned my check, as I thought they might, since the frame did not need the Easy Open conversion, being above s/n 195,000. The note enclosed reads in part:

"....the barrels that you use should have a 2 piece locking bolt on them. Then barrel you sent in was with a 1 piece which is why it would open hard. Sending you 3 sets of the bolts you need to use on your barrels when using this frame. Replaced bushing, firing pins, hammer spring. Test fired...  RB 6/15/07.... (any questions call)."

I have to tell you that this frame now opens far easier than before with any barrel. That was probably taken care of as a side effect of the service they did do.

T/C  did a great job, costing me only  FedEx out  and at no charge for the return shipping.

Thanks for "listening", and to everyone who responded!