i love my TC contender!  

i got a .223 barrel a couple years back and was always too busy to bolt it on and shoot it.
i got an 18"  .375 JDJ and if i want to shoot 5.56 i got a few ARs to play with.  the .223 barrel sat in the closet unused.

so on a wild hair i took it to the range to shoot.  first of all this gun is tiny.  16" barrel and a short butt stock.  it looks like a toy gun.

first i sighted in with irons.  i am not the best with irons and the sight radius on this thing is about 12".  first round is touched off and KABOOOM!!!  i get a 35 gal drum sized fireball! and no recoil.  COOL!   the guy next to me looks over and asks what the shit was that?  i had to show him it was not a 300 win mag.  he says the blast feels like an Armalite  .50.  to be honest the owners of the range installed a 45 degree blast wall just in front of the guns so all the blast was directed back at the gun.  if you were not plugged and muffed your ears rang.  so now to accuracy.  with irons at 25 yds it groups 1.5" with either lake city demill or Winchester SXT1.  hey i told you i could not shoot irons.
so i clamped on the aim point Comp M2 and sighted it.
groups shrank to touching.  
ar 50 yds it was the same story.  almost touching to 1" but 3.5" high.  
i didn't want to try it at 100 because i was running out of range time.
i leaned over to talk to the guy on the next bench and the rifle toppled off the rest onto the bench and landed on the M2.  i felt sick.  would i have to resight?  three more rounds confirmed it was still Zeroed.  it's nice to know the gun can take the odd knock and still be on.  how many times have we banged a gun getting out of a truck and wondered if it was still on?  

all in all a fun little gun.  the AR is so fast and you burn thru so much ammo while with this little gun you can savor each round.  it will be going deer hunting this fall with me.  i will post pics this evening.

i've wanted a contender for awhile now....but a couple builds are ahead of it....know a few people who swear by them...have fun with it...later

I had a stainless Contender with 30-30, 44 Mag, 22 LR and 222 Rem barrels. I shtill kick myself for selling the whole shebang at a show. Made great money on the deal, just regretted it later.

I've had 1.5" groups out of my .223 barrel using handloaded 69gr. at 100 yards. Done with a 2-7 power scope on sandbags. They are a hell of an accurate gun.

My Encore Pistol in .243.

I've had several Contenders. My favorite chambering is the .35 Remington.

Contenders kick ass! My 21" 223 carbine barrel shoots into 1"( when I do my part) with boring regularity. SSK 22 LR barrel w/ match chamber is scary accurate. But for real HE-MAN fun, it's tough to beat a 16" 45-70 carbine barrel w/ muzzle break... I tend not to shoot a lot of 45-70. For pistol cals, I have 22, 357, and 44 mag barrels, all 10". The Contender Collectors club made a limited run barrel a few years ago... 6"bull barrel in 45 ACP, no sights w/ scope base. I'd love to find one.