page_title: Thompson/Center Arms
section_title: Contender
hierarchical_section_title: Thompson/Center Arms / Break-action pistols / Contender
caption_attribution_description: English: Thompson/Center Contender, configured as a pistol.
context_page_description: Thompson/Center Arms is an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company is best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles and is credited with creating the resurgence of their use in the 1970s.
context_section_description: The Contender, first introduced in 1967, is a break-action, single-shot pistol or rifle with a number of unique features. The first unique feature is the way the barrel is attached to the frame. By removing the fore-end, a large hinge pin is exposed; by pushing this hinge pin out, the barrel can be removed. Since the sights and extractor remain attached to the barrel in the Contender design, the frame itself contains no cartridge-specific features. A barrel of another caliber can be installed and pinned in place, the fore-end replaced, and the pistol is ready to shoot with a different barrel and pre-aligned sights. This allowed easy changes of calibers, sights, and barrel lengths, with only a flat screwdriver being required for change-out.
caption: Contender in 45 Colt/.410 with ventilated rib
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