I think this old Contender can still shoot. My original testing resulted in disappointing 3+ inch groups. The original hinge pin allowed a lot of play with the barrel after locking up. I ended up replacing the .376" oversized Bellm pin and finally tested again this afternoon.

I might have found a load that my old contender frame likes with it's new barrel. This is the 20" Bullberry barrel that I bought last summer, almost 100 rounds thru it now. I also bought the stock off eBay, stained and bedded it back in November and finally attached the forearm this morning. Attached is a group that I shot today at the club while testing some loads.

Maybe I found something it likes. 40 Grain V-Max, 25.5 grains of AA-2230C. Five shots @ 100 yards measure .473" extreme spread. The square is one inch.

Great group! A very nicel looking Contender. I bought an Encore .308 back in Sept. Hoping to add a Contender sometime in the future.

I've had this Contender since the early 80's and if I was going to start over I believe that I'd just go with the Encore.

The Encore has the benefit of time and design improvements learned from the Contender and the TCR. I think you have a first class system and the Contender has been moved to the back seat.

Yes, those Contender Carbines do shoot!
I had two [2] actions, a while back. One without all the safety junk and one with.
I put a stock to the "without" action and got a .22 Hornet barrel. It shot less than 1/2 inch at 100 yards. I got rid of both action aand gun when Rugger's 77/22-Hornet came out