T/C Contender $?

[buddy48]

Okay. Another what's it worth. T/C Contender with centerfire/rimfire selector, a 10" .223 barrel (on frame) and a 14" .44 mag. barrel. Assorted grips etc with the original grip/forearm and a nice Pachmayr grip/forearm. I'm thinking of selling it and buying a .308 bolt action rifle.



So whatcha think?

 

[JWarren]

Is that a Contender Carbine serialized frame?

 

[buddy48]

Well, I don't know. What would the serial number sequence be for it to be considered a carbine?

 

[JWarren]

I am not sure, but it is illegal to attach that butt stock if it is not.

If I were you, I would find out before selling or at least do something with the stock.

 

[buddy48]

A buddy of mine gave me the butt stock thinking it would fit my Encore, but it doesn't. I figure if I sold the Contender I would include the butt stock. Not illegal to own it, just dont have it on the frame with a pistol barrel. Then its considered an SBR.

 

[JWarren]

t

A buddy of mine gave me the butt stock thinking it would fit my Encore, but it doesn't. I figure if I sold the Contender I would include the butt stock. Not illegal to own it, just dont have it on the frame with a pistol barrel. Then its considered an SBR.

Correct...

In my post, I saw that I had not completed my thought so I went back and edited it. I was going to say that it was illegal to have it on the gun...not that it was illegal to have it.

At any rate, I would not let it go with the Contender.

 

[tom ga hunter]

frame $150..44bbl $150,223bbl $120, carbine butt stock $75, pistol grips & forends $25 each.

 

[buddy48]

So $550 would be a more than fair price then huh.

 

[GunnSmokeer]

two points

I also have a T/C Contender that I never use, and was wondering about the value of.

Second point: If that shoulder stock fits that pistol, and if you don't have a RIFLE that uses that stock, only your T/C pistol, and if you don't have a 16" or longer RIFLE BARREL to go with that SHOULDER STOCK, it's illegal already. Illegal to possess, even without the stock actually installed on the gun.

It's called "constructive possession" of a short-barreled rifle (SBR) per BATF's interpretation of the NFA.

Don't take my word for it. Look it up.

I'd get rid of the stock now, by itself, and then come back here later and sell your HANDGUN with only handgun accessories and parts for it.

 

[GunnSmokeer]

Or....

OR take that 14" barrel chambered in .44 magnum and have a gunsmith weld-on a 2" or longer muzzle break or flash hider or something. If it's welded all around, steel-on-steel, or if it's blind-hole pinned with the pin hole welded over afterward, BATF will let the muzzle accessory count as "barrel length" to add up to 16" or more.

Then this 16-inch "rifle" barrel in .44 magnum could still be used on the pistol, or if you install the carbine stock and the long barrel at the same time, it's legal as a temporary rifle conversion.

Here's a steel .45 caliber muzzle break that looks long enough to me (no length specifications are given). Sells for $50. http://www.hyattgunstore.com/masterpiece-arms-.45-acp-muzzle-brake.html

 

[buddy48]

Constructive posession huh...well I learned something new. Never heard of that before. What makes it interesting is that I could take just about anything and make a butt stock to fit a pistol. I understand the intent but it is really lame. Of course most of the things the Government comes up with are lame. Oh well, guess I got a buttstock and Contender for sale separately then huh.

 

[HandgunHTR]

Gents, the information you are giving in regards to this Contender are incorrect.

T/C Contenders can be converted from rifles to pistols and back again without any issues, as can Encores.

As long as you do not assemble the gun with the carbine buttstock and a barrel less than 16", you are fine.

If you don't believe me, please read the Supreme Court ruling on the T/C Contender as well as BATFE Ruling 2011-4 for yourself. These are actual interpretations of the law by the Supreme Court and the Acting Director of the ATF, not an opinion by someone on an internet forum.

 

[GunnSmokeer]

read it again

Handgun HTR, are you saying that you can freely swap out stocks and barrels so long as that the finished configuration is always either of rifle dimensions or handgun dimensions? I say that's wrong. And ATF's ruling 2011-4 and the old T/C versus BATF case from the U.S. Supreme Court don't fully support you, IF you are speaking of a gun that was originally a rifle.

(I PLEAD IGNORANCE: Was any "Contender" ever factory-made and shipped from the factory or a distributor in a rifle configuration? Or were they all either "pistols" or "pistols sold with a conversion kit"? If so, then I agree they can be modded up or down, so long as the short barrel is never on when the shoulder stock is on, and so long as you still own and possess a rifle-length barrel if you have the butt stock.)



P.S. I agree that once you temporarily turn your pistol into a rifle, you can return it to the way it was later. BATF didn't think you could for many years after the T/C case. But now they are using more common sense. It's not really a "rifle" if you just temporarily made it one by making your pistol longer on both ends.

Here's a link to ATF rule 2011-4
http://www.atf.gov/files/regulations-rulings/rulings/atf-rulings/atf-ruling-2011-4.pdf

 

[Win1917]

Gents, the information you are giving in regards to this Contender are incorrect.

T/C Contenders can be converted from rifles to pistols and back again without any issues, as can Encores.

As long as you do not assemble the gun with the carbine buttstock and a barrel less than 16", you are fine.

+1

frame $150

Where are you buying easy open frames for $150 these days? I have gotten deals like that before but far and few between.

 

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

Gents, the information you are giving in regards to this Contender are incorrect.

T/C Contenders can be converted from rifles to pistols and back again without any issues, as can Encores.

As long as you do not assemble the gun with the carbine buttstock and a barrel less than 16", you are fine.

If you don't believe me, please read the Supreme Court ruling on the T/C Contender as well as BATFE Ruling 2011-4 for yourself. These are actual interpretations of the law by the Supreme Court and the Acting Director of the ATF, not an opinion by someone on an internet forum.

Is this facts or what?

 

[Lilly001]

The Encore and Contender have been the subject of much confusion over the years.
The problem is that BATFE can't make up its mind. And TC stirs the pot by asking for official letters of determination.
Last I read, and it is in constant flux, you could change back and forth between rifle and pistol as long as the frame was NEVER assembled in an illegal configuration. (Shot barrel rifle)
But the truth is BATFE would be pressed to determine how my second hand TC was originally configured.
Heck, I purchased all of mine second hand as frames only. So I don't even know.

 

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

The simple truth is rather complicated.

 

[rosewood]

My understanding is if the frame left the factory as a pistol, then you can swap from Pistol to Rifle and back. If it left the factory as a Rifle, you can only have it in a rifle configuration. Now how you determine how it was sold may be impossible. I think TC had a fire several years ago where they lost all the older records, so no way to prove it one way or the other how it left the factory for the Contender frames I don't think. As for newer stuff, it is probably available. If you bought it from a FFL, I would hang my hat on what they put on the ATF form.

If it is in a legal configuration, who is going to ask you to prove how it left the factory? Only time I might see this coming up is if you have the ATF after you anyway and they are looking for something else to charge you with. Most LEOs around don't even know what a contender is. Most folks don't know you can swap it from pistol to rifle either.

Rosewood

 

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

Explain to me how this fits in.

“Therefore, so long as a parts kit or collection of parts is not used to make a firearm regulated under the NFA (e.g., a short-barreled rifle or “any other weapon” as defined by 26 U.S.C. 5845(e)), no NFA firearm is made when the “same parts” are assembled or re- assembled in a configuration not regulated under the NFA (e.g., a pistol, or a rifle with a barrel of 16 inches or more in length). Merely assembling and disassembling such a rifle does not result in the making of a new weapon; rather, it is the same rifle in a knockdown condition (i.e., complete as to all component parts). Likewise, because it is the same weapon when reconfigured as a pistol, no “weapon made from a rifle” subject to the NFA has been made.”

 

[GunnSmokeer]

The U.S. Supreme Court case involved a carbine conversion KIT that featured BOTH a shoulder stock AND a rifle-length barrel (16" or greater).
That's NOT WHAT THE O.P. ASKED ABOUT HERE.

He doesn't have any 16" barrel for this pistol. He's got multiple pistol-length barrels for his pistol, and he has a shoulder stock for it. I say that's illegal right now, even without putting that stock on the gun with one of those pistol barrels on the front end. Right now (well, back in 2013) he was in constructive possession of an SBR per longstanding BATF interpretation of the NFA, and ATF has never changed its mind about that (at least not as of 2013, the last time I gave this issue any thought).

Pistol + shoulder stock + no rifle barrel for that gun + only pistol-length barrels = SBR. "Constructive possession" applies if all the components are together in one place under your control, even if you have not taken the last step of assembling them.

I've never had a federal firearms law case with a real paying client, but I am an attorney and I've read the laws and ATF's regs and determination letters many times over the years.