Not sure where this thread goes, and the title is a little in jest, but I wanted to share a project I've been working on, which is trying to bring the Thompson Contender line of pistols into the 21st century. Why? In a lot of ways, this line of firearms was ahead of their time. Easy to swap barrels, accurate, great trigger, and a single shot action which really shines when you throw a suppressor on it. Of course, the Contender line has been out of production for basically forever and most of the old factory barrels, while totally suitable for hunting, don't necessarily have a lot of the features that shooters are used to today, like fast twist rates or threaded muzzles. I started with a .22LR, got it cut down and threaded, and proceeded to design/3D print about 20 different forearms before I finally got the fit/features right, and had a .22LR forearm that had a side mounted picatinny rail and a built in quiver that held 4 rounds of .22. It was a great, and basically silent, walk around gun, with okay accuracy, and a simplicity that quickly made it my favorite rimfire pistol.
But rimfire has been pretty scarce in my area, and the prices for anything other than bulk pack are basically the same as reloading 9mm. So, I specced out a 9mm contender barrel at MGM, ordered it in 7.5 threaded 1/2x28, and then proceeded to confuse them by asking for front and rear sight holes, and another set of four holes between those to mount a rail. It didn't work out perfectly, if only because their shortest rail basically falls in line with the rear most front sight hold. No problem, I'll soon cut the rail down by one notch. But doing it again I am likely to use 8.2" as the overall barrel length for future pistol caliber builds. I then went back to the drawing board, trying to create a thinner, sleeker Contender forearm that would allow me to carry a few rounds on the forearm, run a light, or mount the pistol on a tripod. And it worked! Anyway, figured there might a few other TC heads in here that got a kick out of this. Next step is getting a version in 6.5 Grendel and showing up at one of Frank's classes and telling him I'm going to ring steel at 1000, unsupported.
But rimfire has been pretty scarce in my area, and the prices for anything other than bulk pack are basically the same as reloading 9mm. So, I specced out a 9mm contender barrel at MGM, ordered it in 7.5 threaded 1/2x28, and then proceeded to confuse them by asking for front and rear sight holes, and another set of four holes between those to mount a rail. It didn't work out perfectly, if only because their shortest rail basically falls in line with the rear most front sight hold. No problem, I'll soon cut the rail down by one notch. But doing it again I am likely to use 8.2" as the overall barrel length for future pistol caliber builds. I then went back to the drawing board, trying to create a thinner, sleeker Contender forearm that would allow me to carry a few rounds on the forearm, run a light, or mount the pistol on a tripod. And it worked! Anyway, figured there might a few other TC heads in here that got a kick out of this. Next step is getting a version in 6.5 Grendel and showing up at one of Frank's classes and telling him I'm going to ring steel at 1000, unsupported.
