T/C carbines on the same action as tthe handgun

By now, you’re probably getting tired of reading about Thompson/Center (T/C) Contender firearms. I’ll do my best to wrap up my experiences with this single-shot firearm in this column so we can move on to other things next week.

I’ve talked about some of the various handgun calibers and versions of the gun in previous columns, but the Contender action was also available in a carbine version as well. One could put a handgun grip on the action and shoot it as a handgun or mount a shoulder stock on the same action, along with an appropriate length barrel, and have a single-shot carbine too.

As stated in previous columns, I started with a handgun version and stayed that way for years. After I had acquired a couple of extra actions, I decided to “convert” one of the actions into a carbine version. Under federal law, you can convert a handgun into a rifle with a barrel over 16 inches. However, it’s generally considered illegal to convert a rifle into a handgun. Years ago, T/C worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) to get an exemption for the Contender. The exemption was granted to allow the same action to function as either a handgun or as a carbine.

The selection of calibers in carbine length barrels was not as extensive as for handguns, but the available calibers covered the full spectrum of needs your average hunter would have. From that factory selection of carbine calibers, I’ve purchased a 17 Mach 2 caliber barrel for small game like snowshoe hares and grouse; a 256 Winchester Magnum caliber for predators like coyotes and wolves; a 7-30 Waters caliber barrel for deer and caribou sized animals and a 28-gauge shotgun barrel (from their Custom Shop) for birds.

I happen to like both the 17 Mach 2 and 256 Winchester Magnum calibers, even though they both are fading into obscurity, because they are fun to shoot and are accurate. I have a good supply of 17 Mach 2 rimfire ammunition and a set of forming and reloading dies for the 256 Winchester Magnum, which is simply a 357 Magnum case necked down to 25-caliber. The 7-30 Waters caliber is still factory loaded but is also starting to fade in popularity.

The one missing piece in my array of carbine calibers was a larger caliber for hunting big game like moose or black bears. For years, I’ve looked for a 375 Winchester caliber carbine barrel, but never could quite justify the cost. There was always something else I needed to buy about the time I had enough money to order the barrel. I finally waited too long because T/C was closed a couple of years after Smith and Wesson bought the company.

Now that factory barrels are no longer being made, I was left with either an after-market version or a used barrel as purchase options. That caliber carbine barrel rarely showed up in the used barrel market. A few weeks ago, I spotted a nearly new T/C Custom Shop carbine barrel in 375 Winchester for sale on a gun auction site. Of course, it cost more than I could have bought one for while T/C was still producing barrels, but those who hesitate….

I promptly bought the barrel, and I am currently awaiting its arrival. I don’t need to get anything else in order to shoot this carbine barrel since I already have the reloading dies (for the T/C handgun barrel I did buy years ago), a spare rifle scope, the barrel mount and rings, and of course the carbine action in hand. I have some reloaded ammunition and will be shooting this gun as soon as I can get out on a shooting range this spring.

I’ve actually just scratched the surface in discussing the T/C Contender. The action has gone through several upgrades over the past 50 years. For example, there’s the “hard opening” version and the “easy opening” actions; the trigger shape has changed; the hammers incorporate at least three different ways to change the firing from rimfire to centerfire and vice versa; and the trigger has been upgraded from having to break open the action to reset the trigger mechanism after cocking and not firing to being able to recock the hammer without breaking open the action.

Barrel lengths for handguns include 8-, 10-, 12-, 14-, and 16-inch lengths. The carbine barrels are usually either 21- or 23-inches in length. There are several different handgun grips and foreend styles as well.