Hard to open contender

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  • Last Post 07 October 2019
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DBW posted this 29 September 2019

 I have a TC contender that I used with various bbls in the 1980's and 90's  pulled it out of the gunsafe and found it very hard to open. I removed the butt stock and forearm, lubed it with my needle oiler still no joy. With the hinge pin and bbl removed everything moves freely, but when assembled will not open. I have not used this since I worked up a few loads for the 25 hornet over twenty years ago.It feels like something is not right though it was working fine when it was put away. I did take the bbl off and wipe everything down when I put it away and did not test it for function at that time. Could I have done something to cause this situation. any insights would be appreciated............DBW

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Redleged posted this 29 September 2019

Hi DBW. Have you tried switch barrels to see if it's specific to that barrel? I believe there's a catch / lock that prevents you from opening the action if the hammer is cocked. Is there a possibility that the catch is frozen? If the weapon is clear, try cocking & dry firing a few times to see if that makes a difference. Ed

Growing old is mandatory, growing up, however, is totally optional!

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R. Dupraz posted this 30 September 2019

One of my Contender pistols is a "70's" edition and is very hard to open. If yours has been stored for that length of time and it worked with that barrel when you put it away, likely that some lube in the action has hardened freezing some of the internals. 

One thing to check is to see if the locking bolts are free to move to the limit of the their travel as they are pushed back into the barrel lug when the barrel is closing into the frame .You can check this when the tube is out of the frame by pushing the bolts up against some thing solid such as a wooden bench. 

The action of the Contender is supposedly made to run dry, I don't lube mine at all.

What I would do is spray the inside of the action and the locking bolts  with automotive brake cleaner, being sure to get some back into the bolt recesses where the springs are  and see what happens.

While not exactly to the point of your question, one other thing that can happen is that when something is obstructing the hammer strut preventing the action from moving the hammer back into the safety notch, the action will be hard to open . 

Might want to try this website

https://specialtypistols.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?csra=Y&s=9066056864

 

R.  

 

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DBW posted this 04 October 2019

Drupaz,

I tried your suggestion of cleaning by spraying both the action and the locking bolts (I used some carb cleaner) which allowed me to open it though it was still stiff, but about like I remembered it. I then disassembled the locking bolts and polished them with my dremel tool which reduced the stiffness by at least another 25%. Then following the suggestion in the other post I tried another bbl I have from Bellm which worked pretty good so I disassembled the locking lugs on it and discovered that he uses a longer spring with a smaller gage wire so switched it to the TC rifle bbl, now it is the best ever. I also puffed a little graphite onto the locking lugs and into the action which seemed to make little difference. I may order some locking lug springs from Bellm for my other bbl's. The main reason I stopped using the TC was the stiff opening. Now I am feeling very good about it. MANY thanks...........DBW

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R. Dupraz posted this 04 October 2019

You are welcome

I replaced the locking bolt springs in all the used barrels that I have with Bellm springs to insure solid lock up. However, they do make the older Contender frames a little harder to open. I just live with it. 

R. 

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Richard Pickering posted this 05 October 2019

I havent seen a mention of the frame Ser #. The change of the pivot from the front of the trigger guard to above the trigger occurred about 195,000. An early frame can be difficult. rp

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DBW posted this 07 October 2019

The pivot pin is above the trigger. I bought it in the mid 80's..........DBW

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DBW posted this 07 October 2019

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I cut one coil off of the Bellm locking bolt spring................DBW

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