Howdy Jim, and welcome to GBO.
You'll find a real fine group here on the TCH Forum, and a bunch of gents with many, many years of experience with Contenders and Encores to draw information from.
Your frame is an early easy open version, made about 1988-89, and is the best frame TC made in the original Contender line. It should give you very good service and pleasure.
A 12" is actually a nice compromise between a 10" and 14" barrel. They balance well for offhand shooting and I think you'd find are just as easy to carry as a 10" would be. Almost everyone who gets a Contender ends up with a 22LR barrel early on, so there are a lot of them out there and they crop up for sale all of the time. You'd be able to find a 10" fairly easy if that's the way you really want to go. Do stay with the match chamber though if you can - they do have a bit of an advantage over the standard 22LR.
In my opinion the best all around scope choice would be a Burris 2-7X (#200293) in Burris mounts and rings. Great scope for any handgun, but it just makes a real nice matchup to a short rimfire.
Might be a bit biased in my opinions though - been shooting Contenders for 34 years and my 22LR match is a 12" custom Bullberry wearing the Burris 2-7. Great combination all the way around.
Good luck and welcome to the world of TC's.
Ladobe :bye:
