I just got a 10 round 221 barrel for my old style frame. The barrel has the humped bottom and two piece lug. It has the symtoms that Mike Bellem explained in one of his article; lugs not engaging far enough to cause the hammer block to fall. Everything works fine with my 6.5 TCU barrel installed on the same frame. So what is the remedy for this? It is also extremely hard to open and when the lug is pushed in with your thumb, it feels very rough. If I polish the bottom of the slot to smooth it up will it be easier to open? Is this the place to remove metal to cause the lugs to engage farther? I would rather remove metal from a replacable part. Also did I read somewhere that T/C has lugs of different dimensions to correct the problem by changing the lug? Thanks in advance

First thing I'd do is tap out the bolt retaining pin and clean and lube the bolts and spring, then reinstall and see if it fixes it (make sure you keep the bolts slightly depressed as you do this or they'll go flying across the room). If not, the next step is Mike's to explain, how to properly fit the bolt to your frame. His web site has a pretty good discription of this and I'd just screw it up if I tried to explain it.
Helicopter Bill

If there is not already too much clearance between the locking bolts and the size of the slot they are in, some material can be removed from the bottom surface of the slot, and sometimes just a couple strokes with a file is enough to lower the locking bolts far enough that they then engage the frame far enough.

But to make the locking bolts slide more easily in the slot during unlocking, it is the TOP of the slot that needs to be smoothed since the trigger housing's two cams push UP on the locking bolts.

To smooth unlocking, break the sharp corners on the locking bolts themselves just a little on the forward edges and smooth up the bottom of the small diameter "tail" just in front of where it contacts the spring.

DO NOT put lube on the top surface of the locking bolts. This makes them prone to sliding out of engagement under pressure and letting the barrel fly open..... not a good thing.

Best way to drop the top surface of the locking bolts so they engage further into the frame is to use the Diamond EZE Lap to stone down the top surface that engages the frame until that surface when inked with a felt tip pen shows marring of the ink to a point about 1/32" in front of the "U" notch in the locking bolts. Or, get a set of UNDERSIZE locking bolts from TC.

TC has a wide range of locking bolt heights, but last I knew were only selling 1x undersize or 1x oversize locking bolts. I have had them in the past as extreme as 3x...... these are increments for which I have no measurements.

Do not feel alone not understanding the problem. You are one of many thousands of Contender shooters...... many of whom never got it and left the Contender system entirely...... and needlessly.

If it does not fit, fit it. Obvious and simple enough solution, right? But the majority of shooters don't see it this way.

Mike

Mike, thanks a bunch!

I found that one lug was locking farther than the other. The left half of the lug measured .002 thicker than the right half so I carefully stoned the bottom until it was the same as the right half. They then engaged even with the top of the notch but if you close it slowly the hammer block would stay up occasionally. I took off .001-.002 more from the bottom of each. Engagement is now about .025 past the notch and it functions flawlessly regardless of how gently the action is closed. I also stoned a few corners where you suggested and it opens much easier. The back of the trigger guard now comes up even with the frame when it contacts the roller; before it would go past flush at least 1/16. BTW I use this relationship to adjust the sizing die. I read your article on adjusting the die by taking out the extractor, here is how I do it without any disassembly. Close the action on an empty chamber and pull the guard back until you feel contact with the roller. Now notice the relationship of the very back of the trigger assembly and the bottom of the frame. Now chamber a fired case; you will notice that the trigger guard will go past where it was with the empty chamber. This indicates that the lugs are not locking fully. Now start a little long on the FL sizing die and keep moving it down until the trigger guard contacts the roller in the same position as with an empty chamber. This works great with the old style frame because the trigger guard hinges up front and the back basically moves straight up. Don't know about an easy-open frame; maybe you could measure how far the front pivots down. Comments?

Mike, thanks again; I learned a lot in a fews hours.