Author Topic: 10'' to 12 '' (Read 671 times)

MAX HUNTER · « **on:** January 04, 2004, 12:05:12 AM »

Does anyone know why T/C only sells 12'' barrels? 10'' is much easer to shoot off hand. :? Max Hunter

C A Plater · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2004, 02:58:29 AM »

Actually they are making only 14 incher pistol and 23 inch carbine barrels. This is the work of marketeers and bean counters They sell mostly 14's so let the rest can go to the custom shop and order what they want. I personally favor the 10 inch form factor too as the longer ones get somewhat unwieldy in the field. But that is what sells the most. :roll:

Bullseye · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2004, 06:25:28 AM »

I cannot figure out the factory 12" barrels either, it is just to close to the 14's. I personally prefer the 10"ers in a caliber that suits them.

Ladobe · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2004, 06:57:22 AM »

Imagine how it made the IHSHA shooters feel (you know, that small group who probably made the Contender sales excell as much or more than the hunter's did all through the early years for TC) when TC ran out on them and dropped the 10" barrels and most of the good chamberings all at the same time. So much for the production class silly shooting with TC's. Was the beginning of the end for me with TC, and I switched to custom barrels and have never looked back. As a hunter, I always did prefer the 12" or 14" barrels though because of the calibers I shoot - still have a couple of 12" customs but now shoot 14" and 15" mostly and have no problem with them even off hand. To each his own I guess. :wink:

Ladobe

Bullseye · « **Reply #4 on:** January 04, 2004, 01:14:08 PM »

I thought I was right in knowing that the 12"ers were to long to use in the production class but was unsure enough to mention in my first post. Thanks for the info Ladobe.

It seems strange that you would cut off one the biggest segments you sell to. I rarely see many Contenders at the range I go to. Everybody knows what they are and comments on them, but your average hunter, shooter does not seem to own them. I assumed competition shooting was their big draw. Assume you can still use them in the other classes, just not production class. I must admit that I have been very dissapointed in their dropping of some very fine factory calibers in the last few years also.

Am I starting to sound like you Ladobe? Nope, not quite there yet, but am dissapointed in a few things. :grin:

Ladobe · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2004, 01:41:04 PM »

Ah Gee, am I really that bad Bullseye? :wink: Guess its well known that even though I still love shooting the wildcat Contenders a lot there is no lose of love between me and TC. Happens when you have a long association with some of the people there and they suddenly run out on you (and all Contender users) so to speak.

Yep, I continued to use their 14" barrels for a while to shoot the unlimited classes - did the same with the Encores when they first came out and had a 15" 7BR that was unbeatable, including in any shoot-offs. Even got the state IHMSA Director to let me "start" a bigbore match once with one of my SSK 375JDJ's. He did make me start on the 200 yard rams... and I only got one shot. Ram went up and over the berm and he banned my pistola from the range. :wink: Went to XP-100's mostly after that, then quit shooting silly's soon after.

And so it goes....

Ladobe (the evil one)

Keith L · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2004, 01:55:35 PM »

It defies logic for a manufacturer to stop serving one of the largest segments of their market. I work with small manufacturers for a living, and have found a few that do things that are just plain wrong, Bbut without some demographic information about the market, and data on sales trends for the line I am not going to make that assumption. My guess is that the decision was made for survival reasons, putting resources into part of the business that made money and eliminating parts that didn't. Few compnies can keep much in the way of inventory these days, and slow moving product is frequently the first to go.

Having said that I wish I had gotten into this Contender business when the catalog had pages and pages of options.

Bullseye · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2004, 04:57:15 PM »

When you think about it, Fox Ridge only charges about $20-30 more for one of their custom barrels (though these do not have sights at this price). In my opinion the only thing custom is the caliber. But if you are T/C, you minimize your inventory and still make a little more from the people who want all the calibers that used to be factory that now need to be custom. They might be pretty smart and I can live with the extra money, but the wait makes me made.