Initially, it appears that big game wasn't on the radar scope, but it wasn't long before. Offered from the start as a switch-barrel pistol, early barrel offerings (from 1967 ads) included. Reflecting this, legend has it that Center's original prototype was barreled to. The former was unlikely for a single-shot, but Center's massive barrel, ability to accept any sighting equipment and rigid lockup were obviously conducive to greater accuracy (and more powerful cartridges) than was likely with any revolver or semiautomatic design. In 1965, the handgun's primary purposes were personal defense and target shooting. The Contender could be centerfire or rimfire simply by attaching an appropriate barrel and selecting the firing pin. Exactly how the rimfire or centerfire pins are selected changed several times, but the concept was original. There was one exceptionally brilliant difference: The exposed-hammer, single-action Contender contained two firing pins, one for centerfire primers and a second for rimfires. This meant that virtually any barrel with appropriate outside dimensions and the proper-sized lug and hinge-pin receptacle could be dropped into the action. The design of Warren Center's Contender was based on a massive but easily removed hinge pin forward on the action, held in place by the forend and mated to an opening in the locking lug below the barrel, with the lug dropping into a recess in the bottom of the receiver. Though less common than today, switch-barrel firearms weren't new, and certainly break-open firearms were far from new, but a firearm specifically designed to be switch-barrel was unusual. 44 Magnum would follow very soon, but right out of the starting gate it appears that big-game and long-range handgunning weren't the initial focus. These very early advertisements from 1967 show the initial barrel offerings. Practical pistol shooting was in its infancy, and years would pass before Elgin Gates pioneered handgun silhouette and the International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association (IHMSA) was founded (1976). Handgun competition was primarily bullseye, which is all about accuracy. The sport started to grow, but it wasn't widespread, and legal concessions (in terms of seasons and authorized methods of take) were rare. 44 Magnum gave handgunners a practical and powerful handgun hunting platform. A decade earlier (1955), Remington's Keith-inspired. Setting Trends Not all would agree, but I'd rate Guns & Ammo's Elmer Keith as one of the godfathers of handgun hunting. The first Contenders went out the door in 1967.
Thompson Tool Company it became Thompson/Center Arms, with the primary goal to produce and market Warren Center's single-shot pistol. Maybe Warren Center maybe Ken Thompson and his team, including Bob Gustafson, who would succeed him as president. How difficult the sales job and who did the selling is not known. He had a concept for a very different single-shot pistol, years in development from his basement shop. He had a great reputation, but it turned out that his thinking was way out of the box for the traditional American firearms industry. Center was a gun guy, a private custom gunmaker who had also worked for Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson (H&R). In 1965, veteran (and genius) firearms engineer Warren Center joined the company, by then relocated to Rochester, New Hampshire. Ken Thompson and his management team felt they needed their own branded product. The company was not a firearms manufacturer, but they were making parts for several gun companies. Thompson Tool Company Inc., with slow but steady growth over the next two decades. Thompson started a machine shop in his garage in Long Island, New York. If there's a more versatile platform, I simply don't know what it might be.īeginnings In 1945, Kenneth W. It's still faithful to Warren Center's design and is still offered in a myriad of variations with almost innumerable interchangeable barrels. During the past half-century, this firearm has progressed from Contender to Encore to G2 Contender. Let's start with a riddle: What commercial firearm can be a handgun, a carbine, a full-up long rifle €¦ or a shotgun? And what commercial firearm can be a muzzleloader, centerfire or rimfire €¦ and easily changed to one of several dozen cartridges? I submit there is just one, the Thompson/Center (T/C) Contender.
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