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Thompson Contender

cactus-man
Hello, i bought a very
early 1st gen contender,
sweet gun, engraving, nice
grips but the trigger is frozen,
won't even wiggle.All else works
did bubba get
a hold of this pistol?
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • cactus-man
    [/size=3Hello,

    I just purchased a old Model Contender by TC, it is after 195,000 serial#. It is very stiff opening up this gun,does anyone have any thoughts about loosening this up ?

    Thanks
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  • cash777
    Should be 3 position lever, center fire rim fire safe in the middle Could this be it Dave Brownells or midway may have schematics
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  • wtroper
    Many of the "custom" bbl makers also work on the frames. BTW -- what caliber are you shooting? If is one that is not rimmed, contenders can have problems (even with new factory ammo) if the shoulder on the cartridge is set back just a tiny bit. Is the firing pin denting the primer at all?

    It is not unusual that the firing pin touches (slightly dents) the primer without firing it. If so, many times it is a problem with the ammo not the frame. 35 Rem ammo is a good example and misfires are not that unusual.
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  • gene4570
    I once heard that the external hammer extensions that we use are too heavy for the internal springs to carry at the proper force to strike the firing pin .Could this be you're problem ? Stiffer springs are sold as tune up kits .Good Luck
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  • brier-49
    After you pull the trigger the hammer will be sitting the 1/32" from the pin this is where it rests not down all the way.
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  • cactus-man
    The firing pin never is hit by the hammer. I can watch the hammer as it falls. There is a block of some kind inside the frame. Tried several calibers on this frame. The factory also removed the hammet extension. The note from them indicated it was tested ok.
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  • cash777
    after gun is cocked, hold back hammer completely, while holding back hammer pull trigger to see if block is dropping down. this lets hammer go to frame --see if trigger adjustment screw is set to far and not letting gun cock -- EDIT -- I have two contender frames with the hammer block safety. After reading your post I tried both and could make them do what I believe is happening to yours. After closing and opening the action a few times it functioned normally. Maybe it needs to reset the internal parts by opening and closing the action not just by pulling and resetting trigger with the action open. I never noticed this before..Hard to believe you could return something back to the factory and still not work but I hear it happens more than once. Hope this may help Best Dave Let us know the outcome
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  • dcs shooters
    Have you put a shell in this gun to see if it goes BANG yet [?][?]
    Contenders have a hammer that when you break it open the hammer moves away the firing pins.
    Neither of my old style frames have a hammer block.
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  • cactus-man
    The hammer block is what is stopping the hammer from hitting the firing pin but I can not see any to make the hammet block move down out of the path of the hammer.I have several other frames and 22 other barrels. all other frames work with this barrel that was removed from the problem frame JC
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  • mrbruce
    If when the gun is loaded, and you just start to pull the hammer back you should hear a distinct click when the block unlatches....
    If you don't hear that slight click it will not go bang .... and you need to find the reason it don't go click so it is ready to drop away when the hammer starts down.......
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