I have always loved the contender. I think I have owned and shot close to half of what was available in that firearm.
22lr
22 hornet
.223 Rem 3x
30 carbine
30-30
30-30AI
300 Savage
300 BO
7-30
7 mm I HMSA rimed
6 TCU
6x45 way better than 6 TCU
35 Rem
357 mag
41 mag
44 mag
45 colt
45 auto rim
Sure I missed a few

Have had Gen 1, Gen 2 And Gen 3 frames and then they went and called the Gen 4 a G2

I am sure I missed one in this mix and have had several listed above in the Encore--the big brother

The sad news is I no longer own a contender or Encore.
Just does not spin the wheels any longer.

I do still have 3 XPs and a Striker(a what?)

But in the end if I could choose any contender that I wold say was the best...


Well hands down the bone stock -- not MGM---
Gen 3 frame that was the one with the flip switch hammer 14" 30-30 barrel
Leupold base and 2.5-8 Leupold scope.

That old timer will do it all.

Why was this gun "The [censored]" well it was the first handgun I had that I could consistently hit [censored] a 300 yards with a 125 -150 gr rifle bullet.

That was bad ass for a handgun in 1984 (when?)

200M goat every time