Well I discovered tonight that old style Contender with the 10" .41 Mag. barrel I got recently has a wiggle in the fit between the barrel and frame while closed. At first I thought it was a loose grip, but determined its definately the fit between barrel/frame.
Now heres the strange thing...if I put the .41 barrel on my other old style frame and close it, there is zero wiggle, fits rock solid and opens up fine.
Now an even stranger thing...my .35 Rem and .375 Win barrel fit rock solid while closed with no wiggle on the frame the .41 originally came on. They both open up fine also. What the heck?
The .41 Mag barrel has the solid locking lug (not split) and the barrel lug does not have the small step on the bottom of it like the newer barrels.
I even tried switching the pivot pins between the frames with no difference...the .41 still wiggled on its original frame. Makes no sense...the other two barrels fit/function just fine on the .41's frame, and the .41 fits/functions fine on the other old style frame.

It is possible that the .41 barrel and the frame it came with have worn enough in the bolt/lock area that they have a wiggle, whereas when you interchange with the others that worn area may be bridged by the newer steel and not wiggle.

In any event it is an easy fix. Just use whatever configuration works.

I guess it could be possible...I will have to get the mics and calipers out and do some measuring on that frame to see if anything stands out.
I agree its an easy fix...just never experienced this before. I though for a minute there I had found the fabled "stretched frame" I have heard/read about, but like stated above...different barrels do not have the loose fit on that frame.
By the way, I decided to keep the .41 Mag barrel after seeing how it shoots the heavy, wide, flat nosed bullets. One ragged hole with open sights from a solid rest @ 25 yards. Guess Im gonna have to learn to cast bullets for it now and find some dies.

It's either the locking latch or hinge pin hole. The first is obvious just replace the latch the second requires an oversize hinge pin. There could be other things at work with the other barrels that are holding them tight. The other barrel to frame clearances may be tighter on the other barrels but I would look at the latch and then with the barrel in the open position see if there is any side to side movement.

By locking latch, Im assuming you mean the locking lug? I will check the hinge pin hole tomight when I get home from work with my calipers.

As for side to side movement while the barrels are open...I have never seen a Contender that DIDNT have side to side play when the barrel was open.

Took some quick measurements...

Both hinge pins measure .374
Both hinge pin holes in frames .375
Hinge pin holes in all three barrel lugs .376

yes I'm talking about the locking lug. If you look sometimes you can see pin movement when you move the barrel side to side and if the pin fits properly then there isn't going to be any movement but it is common for there to be play in factory parts. The tolerances are definitely out by looking at your measurements but it's hard to get a good measurement with calipers. With barrel locked you can see if it seems to be moving more toward the breech or at the pivot point.

I think I mis-typed the measurement on the barrel lug holes...will double check that later. Have to go to parent/teacher conferences this evening. Thanks for the help guys.

If it worries or bothers you, keep them on the frames that keep them tight and dont overthink the rest of it. JMHO, but that is what I have done.

Not really worried or bothered by it at all, TCTex...more curious than anything cause its something I have never ran into with the Contenders before in all my years of owning them.
The fact remains that I have two really nice old style frames and three very accurate barrels. This I am happy with.

Just for the heck of it, I got my mic out and miced the hinge pins...both are .374...also found a highly polished pin at work today that reads .3747 on my micrometer, it will not fit through the hinge pin holes on either frame...nor will it fit through any of the barrel lugs. That tells me my caliper readings on the holes were incorrect, and an over size pin would probably be a waste of money.
As Wapitirod stated, it is sometimes difficult to get an accurate reading on a hole with calipers. As stated...this whole thing was more of a curiosity to me than anything, I may try some split lugs on the .41 Mag barrel later if I find some, just for giggles to see if anything changes. As long as they ae shooting like they have been I see no reason to fix 'em if they aint broke.

Sounds good to me!!

Let us know what you find, always curious to find out what's going on and sometimes it ends up not being the common issue.

I sure will. Right now I am inclined just to use the .41 on my other frame. I really keep wanting to mount that 2x Weaver scope on it that I have on the .35 Rem barrel, but Im gettin close to Deer season and I dont know if I would have the chance to get out and zero the scope for the .41 Mag.
Right now the .35 Rem is zeroed and is going to be my back-up barrel for the .375 Winchester. I need more scopes and more time dangit...lol.

May want to measure between the gap with feeler gauges with the action closed, measure between the frame and barrel face{muzzle end).