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Contender won't open

TWalker
I have a very old, but excellent condition contender that I put an old octagonal .222 barrel on today. Problem is that I can't get the barrel to open when I pull the release (trigger guard). I removed the hinge pin and that loosened the barrel but it won't come off. Any suggestions befor I ship it to Thompson Center? Thanks.
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6 comments

Date Votes
  • shooter10
    When I read your intro, I thought for sure you had a .223 with a fire 5.56 stuck in it. I had this happen years ago. Took a towel and wrappped around the end of the barrel (no sight). Held the release and tapped the end of the barrel with a rubber hammer. It popped open. Maybe not a good idea but it worked more than once for me. Then I found out I was not supposed to shoot 5.56 in the .223 that the dealer had said "will shoot great".
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  • dcs shooters
    Does the barrel have the solid lug [?] If it does you need the replace it with a split one.
    Try pulling very hard on the trigger guard while bumping the barrel.
    On my first contender I had to hit the guard with a rubber mallet to open it.
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  • dfletcher
    quote:Originally posted by TWalker
    I have a very old, but excellent condition contender that I put an old octagonal .222 barrel on today. Problem is that I can't get the barrel to open when I pull the release (trigger guard). I removed the hinge pin and that loosened the barrel but it won't come off. Any suggestions befor I ship it to Thompson Center? Thanks.


    Removing the trigger guard is pretty easy, you should then be able to use a flat screwdriver to reach up and push forward the locking bolts. Only thing I can think of is that the locking bolt(s) is not being pushed forward enough by the top end of the trigger guard.
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  • gruntled
    I have the same problem with a .223 barrel. Eventually it does come off but rarely easily. I remove the hinge pin & just keep playing with it until it finally comes loose. Pulling on the trigger guard as hard as I can usually helps.
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  • rong
    Same happened to me as soon
    as I bought a 3rd barrel.
    fortunately TC arms is an hour
    up the road.I took it up there
    and they said to bring in all
    my barrels and they would "fix"
    them to function properly.It
    seems all barrels are not equal.
    They were great, they did the
    easy open job for my 1970
    contender and modified my five
    barrels for zippo
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  • slumlord44
    Had similar problem years ago. Ship it back to manufacturer. They will fix it for free.
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