# New G2 Contender with 2 Barrels



## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Well I just had to try one. I have shot Contenders since 1982 but currently didn't have one. I had never shot the new G2 version of the T/C Contender and now that they are available in Stainless-Steel I just had to try one.

I had my dealer order me in a new Stainless-Steel G2 Contender with the Factory Rubber Grip and Forend, with a Stainless-Steel Super 14 .223 Remington Barrel. First off IMHO T/C did a great job when they designed the new Rubber Grip and Forend for the G2 Contender. It looks good and feels better in the hands. That is largely one reason I have never purchased a T/C Encore I never did like the Grip and Forend that they come with.

Well since I am an avid Bench Rest Shooter at our Local Indoor Shooting Range in the winter months I just had to have a .22 LR Rimfire Barrel for this Contender also. For this I bought a slightly used Custom .22 LR Barrel. There is a bit of history behind this barrel. I had ordered it from On Target Technologies, but sold it to a friend upon receiving it from OTT. The barrel is made from a Chrome Moly Steel Douglas Premium Blank, and has been Hard Chrome Plated by Metaloy Industries to match the Stainless-Steel Contender Frame.

On Target Technologies uses a totally different method of chambering barrels. Rather than using a standard Chamber Reamer in a Lathe OTT chambers their barrels via the Electro Discharge Machining method. As such Mike at OTT can make just about any chamber possible with just cutting the proper set of electrodes and programming the dimensions for the chamber in the computer. When Mike made this Barrel I had sent him 5 rounds of a dozen different brands and types of .22 LR Ammo. Included were Target Rounds as well as Hi Velocity Hollow Points. Mike took a series of measurements from all of these brands & types of Ammo and made the chamber to the dimensions he thought would serve to work with all of this ammo. (Yes there are variances in the measurements from brand to brand in .22 LR Ammo).

When I mentioned to my buddy that I had ordered a new Stainless-Steel G2 Contender he asked what Barrels I was getting. I told him I had order a .223 Barrel with the Frame but that I also wanted to get a .22 LR Match Barrel for it also. When I told him I was going to be getting a .22 LR Barrel he offered to sell me the OTT Barrel he had bought from me. He told me he never shoots it, but rather uses his .223 99% of the time when he needs to shoot some varmints around the farm yard.

To outfit both Barrels I ordered a pair of Burris 3x12x AO LER Handgun Scopes with Target Turrets and a Fine Plex Reticle. One of these scopes was returned to Burris and had the Adjustable Objective reset so as to toally elimiate parallax at the reduced distance we shoot at our Indoor Shooting Range of 54 Feet.

I also had a customized Rynite T/C Super 16 Forend from a pervious Contender project. This forend was modified to fit the Super 14" T/C Barrels by a local gunsmith. To get the hole spacing right, and to free float the forend (well as much as possible on a Contender) Roger Glassed a Pachmayr Forend Adaptor (used to attach the Pachmayr Forend to the Contender Barrels) into this Rynite Forend. The result is that the only portion of the forend that contacts the Barrel is the Pachmayr Forend Adaptor where it screws to the barrel.

Friday morning I finally obtain the last of the parts and pieces I needed to put this all together. Saturday I managed to take the time to get both scopes mounted. This afternoon I headed to the Indoor Shooting Range with the OTT .22 LR Match Barrel attached to the G2 Frame. I totally cleaned the bore, followed by hand polishing with FLITZ Bore Polish, followed again by a thorough cleaning.

I was finally ready to shoot my new prize. After I got it sighted in I proceeded to shoot ten 5 shot groups with some old Federal #711 Gold Medal Target Ammo. This ammo is at least 5 or 6 years old and predates the Federal #711B Gold Medal Target Ammo that is currently produced. I was pleased with the results so far, but plan on testing Wolf Match Target, Lapua Super Club and Lapua MASTER L before our Bench Rest League startes after the first of the year.

The smallest group of the day measured .098" as measureed center to center of the farthest spaced shots of the group, with the largest group measuring .263". The average of the ten 5 shot groups came in at .160". Again all groups were measured center to center of the farthest spaced holes in the gorup. Most of the groups were pretty much a single ragged hole in the target.



















All groups were fired with a Harris Rigid Bench Rest Bipod attached to the forend and the grip resting on my wedge shaped home made rear rest.

From previous experience with Contenders I think the Bedded Rynite Forend will work the best for the Bench Rest Shooting and stay with the OTT .22 LR Match Barrel. I think the T/C RUbber G2 Forend will work the best in Hunting situation and will probably have that forend Glass / Pillar Bedded so it to is free floated in the end.

Before next fall I hope to add a Stainless-Steel 14" Fox Ridge Outfitters (T/C's Custom Shop) .30-30 Ackley Improved Contender Barrel to the mix as well, but first I need to get a load worked up for the .223 Remington Contender Barrel so hopefully I can smack a Coyote or two with it this winter.

Thanks for reading.

Larry


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

Sounds good Larry, is the trigger as good on the G2 as the standard "old" contender? I have not shot one, but I have heard that the triggers were not a crisp as on the orginal contender. What did you think? The 30-30 mproved should be a great choice for general mid-sized game.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

No the Trigger on the G2 is not in the same league as the original Contender. Granted most of the time it is quite crisp, but every once in a while I can detect a little creep.

It is at the Gunsmiths right now (probably done by now) getting the Trigger Tuned. I requested a 2 Pound super crisp trigger pull. We'll see how it ends up. Bob (the gunsmith working on it) has a G2 he shoots himself and he is as fussy as I am about triggers so I am sure it will be done right when he gets it done.

With that said I like everything else about the G2. I really like the new Rubber Grip and the slightly increased Grip Angle. It just seems to hold more natural on the bench for me. I also like the ease of breaking open the action on the G2. I think it takes way less pressure on the trigger guard to break the action open than on the last Stainless Contender Frame I had. Lastly I like the fact that if the hammer is decocked it can be recocked without breaking the action open. I would say about 95% of the time this is a moot point, but when it is needed it is a nice feature.

Not sure if I am going to get another G2 Frame and a .30-30 AI Barrel or a Stainless-Steel Encore just yet but it will be one or the other.

Larry


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

I got my G2 Contender Frame back after the Trigger Job was done. I had a short time to go to the Indoor Shooting Range with the 14" OTT .22 LR Match Barrel to see how much different the Trigger feels now.

Man talk about SWEET. Bob did a super job on the trigger. According to my RCBS Trigger Pull Scale it breaks right at 2 pounds. The trigger is as smooth as glass and quite crisp.

I am more than pleased with this trigger now. Hopefully I can do some more shooting tomorrow.

Larry


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