I do not believe that Texas Contenders is still in business, but I could be wrong. In the 1970s and maybe later, Frank Kendrick was a T/C distributor in Houston, TX. Before T/C started offering carbine barrels he made custom barrels under the Texas Contender label. He also made stock sets available (from Fajen and maybe others) and made up some complete guns. The success of his Texas Contender operation was instrumental in convincing T/C to offer carbines. I have one of his early, stepped light weight barrels in .256 mag and another regular contour in .223. I have read some place that he used Wilson blanks. Both are good, but the .223 is, for me, exceptional as regards accuracy. A few years ago after obtaining the carbine in .223 I contacted him. He said he was retired, or partially retired, perhaps. In any case, I got the strong impression that he no longer made barrels. I certainly would not hesitate to buy one of his barrels if it were in a caliber I wanted.
Hope this helps you.
RonF
