I know that interest in any product and/or hobby waxes and wanes.

I've only been involved in the TC World about 4 years but it seems that in the last 6-8 months interest has dropped off significantly for TC's products.

I've seen used barrels and frames drop and drop in price and lately it seems like you can't hardly give the stuff away.

Is it just that I got burnt out on Contenders and Encores that's affecting my perspective or is it really a trend?

I like the barrels I have and have two Contender and Encore frames left but I have been spending a lot more time with my Glocks and revolvers lately and am eyeing another Bushmaster.

TC people got spread out over SEVERAL forums and elists and that made it seem like there were less of us and less traffic but now it seems like message traffic is down everywhere.

What say you people? Have we moved on to other interests?

Is the party over? Will it come back?

$bob$

$bob$,

Thanks for alerting me to the topic.

Well, for me the demise of the old TC-List on prairienet has really drug me down without realizing it! I've not bought a new barrel in a year or so, ooh it's been 2 years! I've got a barrel for just about every use AND I'm still experimenting with them. I do look at barrels offered but most are NOT carbine length which is my interest. I've thought aboutgetting a G-2 but just haven't.

I have been finding myself looking at more and more leveraction rifles and revolvers. Not for SASS but as hunting or just-to-have guns. The black gun thing is SO over for me.

Locally, there is a LOT more interest in Encores. It started with the 209x.50s and has progressed to the other available chamberings. There is less interest in the G-2.

My newest major firearm purchase has been a Marlin M1894C in .357 Mag. I must be excited, I've already run a bunch of loads through it (over 500 rounds) and settled on a load I think will work for me. I now find myself looking for straight grip versions of the M39 and M336 and might get an M95 (22" preferable).

But I don't need any of them.

I'm trying to find the time to get back into a regular running and cycling schedule and we've now got an RV so I want to go and do some canoing/boating as well. Not to mention work and committments to volunteer work.

The thing I have the least of is time so who knows.

The party is still on. In fact its getting better every day. We pretty well go to one board and it gets better each and every day. That board is picking up members almost each and every day No pissing contests and no back stabbing goes on that board. I haven't seen things getting cheaper but have seen several asking outrageous prices for barrels and frames that we know they have little in. Bob not a flame at all but just my opinion. I don't see any trend going down but is picking up lots. In every hobby there are ones who try to take advantage of others but in the end it all comes out. Enjoy your new interests and we will enjoy our T/C's. Have a great day.

I agree with Tommy! The traffic on SP actually took longer this year to slow down than most handgun related forums have in previous years.You can always tell when vacations are getting started, people are spending time in their yards, etc..., same thing every year. You can also tell "summer time" by the selling prices of stuff on ebay andthe other auction sites. Now is the time of year that you can get a decent deal on something there.

This year I have noted....


• Increased interest in wildcats
  
  
• Increased interest in encores
  
  
• Increased interest in custom furniture for TC's
  
  
• Increased interest in long range shooting
  
  
• Increased interest in TC's in heavy calibers

I have also noted that the exchange of information has been amazing! There seems to be no end to the experience in the 800+ members!



Personally, i think it just keeps gettin' better!!

Bob......Are you drinking again???????????
I have seen people buying more and more encores then ever. Even at my local shops. I've never seen that before.

never ending party here dude! the economy has gotten tough, and everyone can't buy a barrel a week, but half the fun is dreamin toward the future.

i'm a TC handgunner for the long haul. i'll be doin my thing, whether or not there is anyone else with interest......regardless if there is an internet......and yes, even if the old woman leaves me
i'm true blue....hard core....TC handgunner to the bone.

and no.....the old woman is NOT leaving me. she likes me

As for me personally, I go through stages in which I am attracted to T/C's, or Normal Handguns. Guess I should have been born rich so I could have all I want of both. Yes I enjoy shooting my Ruger MKII, my S&W 645 etc., but I also enjoy shooting T/C's.

I think the time of the year has a lot to do with it as well. In the summer months most people are out and about and do not have the time to sit in front of their computers and talk about their second love (the wife and family is supposed to be the first love). Also unless the person is a Varmint Hunter, most are just involved in target shooting this time of year. Once fall starts to roll around again shooters will be out in force in preperation for the upcoming hunting seasons.

I am currently trying to sell a Rifle to fund another Contender project. However so far it seems to be a moot point as I don't see any Stainless-Steel Contender Frames for sale very often.

SD Handgunner

Sorry Bob it must just be you! I have an unending interest in T/C's & shooting them. I can always find something new to try & work on. It has been a real good diversion from my job. I shoot other things as well but my interest in contenders & encores couldn't be any stronger.

Perceptions are simply just perceptions. Sometimes they match, partially match, and other times they do not match at all what is taking place.
I started with Contenders back in late 1985 or early 1986 (don't remember exact time). After using it for a couple of years for hunting deer and antelope sold it to fund a custom XP. Also had an Encore for a couple years. Just a couple of weeks ago gained access to a G-2. Have a barrel I will be testing with (222 Rem Mag Imp) and in the future intend to get several more. And this is coming from an XP-100 nut.
Personally, my interest has picked up with Contenders & G-2's the last two years!

Bob-
I think it's more of a seasonal thing than interest actually waning. This is the time of year when I do the grunt work -- developing loads, expansion testing, continued practice, et. -- and don't visit the boards as much. Like others have said, summer is also family time moreso than at other times of the year.

My interests do vary, and I've been shooting heavy-barreled rifles (including a real tackdriver I got from you!) more lately, but my interest in the TCs only grows. I can't see it ever waning.

With that being said, though, I am headed outside to assess a few more loads in a heavy-barreled 25-06 that I just picked up from a fellow board member. But my 7mm Bullberry Contender carbine will be out there as well to keep me "entertained" while the 25-06 barrel cools between shot strings...

Bobby,

My interests have always been diversified but lately it seems like the message traffic has been way off and many of us have sold a lot of Contender and Encore stuff and have drifted away.

I still have a pretty healthy collection of hunting and varmint barrels left, most of them custom and still have 3 barrels coming from Virgin Valley but I've sure bought and sold them a lot less in the last year and the Glocks and my Desert Eagle are getting a lot more use lately.

I guess it's just ebb and flow like the tides.

I'll still stand on my statement that message traffic seems to be way off from a year ago when there were often hundreds of messages a day between here, the Pond, and TC-L.

Nobody seems to feel very strongly about anything...

This isn't meant to slight Contenders and Encores. I still have them and love them and some of us are still primarily centered on them as primary guns.

It just seems like the fever that gripped the TC world has abated.

Remember all the intense debates about cartridges and barrel lengths and who made the best barrels.

God forbid that someone would "dis" a barrel maker. There would be 20 or so people on each side of the debate and passions, and tempers were high.

Hinge pins, hanger bars, trigger jobs. Six groove rifling. Chambers needed to be perfectly aligned.

It was a slugfest anytime anyone said their stuff was better than anyone elses.

I remember when................

Now... <yawn>... It just seems different somehow.... Kinda boring and less intense. The fire went out... The party's over.... <sigh>

$bob$

Hardly. Good used barrels are getting scarce as hens teeth hereabouts. Wildcats and "wierd" chamberings are my thing to include 17 Rem. 6 and 7 TCU, 7mm Int. Rimmed, 284 Win., 30 and 357 Herrett among several other more "usual" ones like 22 Hornet,30-30, 45/70, etc. Folks seem to hold onto their treasures once they get hooked.
There are always those who try single shots but think them to slow. The market is limited somewhat to those who value accuracy over multipe shots and the versatility of easy barrels swaps. And there is turnover caused by those who compete with gun ownership per se. (Someone I know actually bought two matching Contender rifles in .233 and 16x Leupolds "to keep the barrel from overheating" on prairie dog shoots once a year. His partner outshot him with an Encore in 22-250, so he had to have one too....a Cooper. He traded both at considerable loss...one hadn't even been shot! Now he's upset because he can't match the Encore's accuracy. Proving again that, regardless how much money one throws at it, the loose nut behind the trigger has more to do with accuracy than anything else.)
But generally, it's a seller's market from where I sit.

I for one have started some heated up discussions and have been laying off them for now cause it just don't solve anything. But it is fun
But did ya ever think that alot of these guys are out shooting there toys instead of shooting the shit???
Sometimes I wish I never owned a computer. It's just too damn easy to get online and talk about shooting instead of going shooting. I think i'm getting lazy

can't get lazy now Jules with a new Encore in the works

I had not owned a T/C since the late '80's until last August. Some trading and some buying later, I now have two Contender frames and one Encore frame, and I have four rifle barrels and six pistol barrels.

I've had a lot of fun, learned a fair amount, and I have been seriously frustrated a time or two ( which helped the learning part!).

Well when I shot my first Contender I knew I was hooked, bought my first one in 1980 and 5 Contender frames, 2 Encore frames and a multidude of barrels from 8" to 26" long,40 plus, and 2 more on order, one of each, and trying to make up my mind what to get next, I guess the party is not over for me. I never did visit the T/C list site but on SP we talk about them every day, and every night. I see just the opposite going on, barrels for sale for rediculus prices, even more than you would pay new. Just my .02 cents worth.

Amen

I think you are totally wrong. The T/C has been around a long time and will be here for a long time. Go to some of the other sites and you will see how popular T/C contenders and Encores are. You may have lost interest, but a lot of us are still going strong. JMHO.

Don't know about you, Bob, but my ten inch 357 Contender (wearing a 2x Burris) is coming to the deer blind with me this November. My Remington 180 hollownose soft handloads print two inches high at 50 and two inches low at 100, and in tidy little two inch clusters at either range. I figure Bambi's folks are in big trouble. Sell your generic, plastic Glock short, not your steel and walnut T/Cs! Good hunting! McB