Done some trading and came away with this beauty and $100 cash in my pocket.

All original as far as I can tell.... .41 Mag Old Style Contender w/ 10" barrel. Has the crossbolt safety and screw head firing pin selector. Serial # 152*** made sometime in the last half of 1979. Very slight bluing wear on the frame, walnut in really good shape for its age. Bore is immaculate, one-piece locking lug.
Looks really good for its age, just need to clean it up a little bit. No rust anywhere...sweet!

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Old school! Nice.

thats a nice contender.

Very nice, congratulations!

I think you did well my young padawan learner

looks like junk let me take it off your hands!!! Just being nice you know, trying to help out a fellow shooter.....haha...great looking gun and even better deal. happy for you dude...

How easily, or not, does it open? It doesn't look to be converted but it is hard to tell from the pic.

To top off a great deal the .41 mag is a sweet cartridge.

Nice score.

It opens suprising easily...but like you, I dont believe its had the easy open conversion. Not as easy as my other old style frame, but its in no way difficult to open. Im not real wild about the 10" barrels for the Contender, but I couldnt pass it up, especially when I seen it. Will go check it and see...

Well the frame has NOT had the easy open conversion done to it, the pivot pin is under the forend and below the hinge pin. Suprised it opens as easy as it does.
Out of curiosity...I put my .35 Rem barrel on it and it opens just a hair harder, but not much. The .375 Win. barrel is an altogether different story though. It fits but locks up solid after you shut it. i had to drop the trigger assembly out of the frame and pry the locking lugs foward to get the barrel out of the frame. Maybe a little stoning on the lugs will make a difference in this. More to come.

Just another reason to buy another frame ;-)

I like your style of thinkin s4s4u...and your question led me on a learning experience tonight. As long as I have been shooting Contenders, I have never had to take the frame apart until tonight. It wasnt near as bad as I thought it would be and Im glad I now know how to do it.
The stoning worked like a charm...couldnt even really call it a stoning, more of a polishing with 1500 grit wet/dry paper on the top of the locking lugs and the shoulder. The .375 barrel now locks up tight, but pops back open just fine...albeit a little stiff. I think I would rather have one open just a tad harder than just fall open though.
Was thinking of trading the .41 barrel for somekind of stiff kicking 14" barrel, but Im not real sure. Might see what the .41 Mag will do first, be a shame not to at least try it out.

God I love Contender pistols.

I made the mistake of trading a barrel before I shot it. It has haunted my dreams ever since. Warm that pup up first. It just happened to be a 41 mag as well.

LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE!!!! Don't do it!!!

It was a good day when God gave man the Contender.

Well its a beautiful chilly day here in East-Central Indiana...A perfect day to go fire up the Contenders.

Main priority is to double check to make sure the .375 Win. barrel is fine tuned and ready to go for opening morning of Firearms season on the 12th of Nov.
Then I am gonna fire up that new .41 Mag. to see what it will do. Contemplating taking the 2x Weaver Classic off the .35 Rem barrel and put it on the .41 Mag...but I hate to take a scope off of a barrel thats already sighted in. May just see what it will do with the iron sights first and determine if it has the accuracy potential to warrant a scope. Range report to follow tonight.

I've had a 10" Contender in .41 mag. since mid 1979 and it still shoots great. A stiff load of W296 and a 210 Hornady will put three shots into an 1" or so at 100yds. all day if I do my part. It wears a 2x6 Bushnell scope and I've taken my biggest handgun buck with it so far. It's a great caliber. I sent mine to T/C and had the easy-open conversion done when they first offered it years ago. Try it..

Shortgun

Well the range session went pretty good, the .375 Win. barrel is dead on at 100 yards. Im undecided on the .41 Mag barrel so far...175 gr. Winchester Silvertips gave terrible results. The group looked more like a shotgun pattern at 25 yards. Very ugly.
There were 5 cast bullet reloads that came with the Contender, but I dont know what weight the bullets are or the type/charge of powder. I shot 3 of them into one ragged hole at 25 yards with open sights from a rest. Im saving 2 of them to try to determine the bullet weight later...very stiff loads too.