Disclaimer: Everything in this article is my (Chris Rhodes) personal and professional opinion. Modifying your firearm may void your warranty. If you choose to modify your firearm you are doing so at your own risk.
There is a lot of misinformation out there on what actually needs done to the TC Contender G2 and Encore platform to perform well in the field. Here we have broken it down to what we KNOW consistently works. The key thing here is……drum roll….it doesn’t take much….and it doesn’t take a bunch of money or parts.
The Contender G2 and Encore are a very versatile hunting tool for the handgun hunter. You have the ability to easily change calibers for different hunting situations. I often look at handgun hunting like a game of golf. You can play the entire course with a 2 iron but it sure is easier with a selection of clubs for each shot.
Here we are going to break down our process from box to field:
Here is how our new in the box TC Contender arrived. It came from the factory with a 22 LR barrel. We then ordered a 7-30 Waters factory TC barrel to go with it. All of our parts arrived in a timely manor and in good condition.
Check out the walnut on this factory gun! Thats nice….don’t mind the packing oil spots, that cleaned right off.
Now into the meat and potatoes on what needs to be addressed on the G2/Encore platform for accurate field/hunting shooting. The following are the areas that need inspected and/or addressed on the G2/Encore to achieve this goal.
- All packing grease/oil needs to be cleaned and removed. Pivot points should be re lubed with a quality gun oil. Only a light coating (single drop) is needed on these points.
- Inspect the crown. The crown should be centered and have a smooth transition from the bore to the outside edge. Ensure there are not any dings/dents in this area.
- Inspect the chamber. In the past TC has not been known for the best chamber work. The newer generations of G2/Encore seem to have addressed this well. if anything in the chamber does not look smooth it should be sent back to TC.
- Forearm contact/bedding. We will address this in a moment in detail.
- Trigger work. We will address this in a moment in detail.
- Sights 🙂
If you notice in the above list nothing addresses a hinge pin. The hinge pin is something that for some reason many think they need to change out. Were going to discuss hole locating and manufacturing processes to explain this.
The barrel, barrel lug, and frame are manufactured in separate processes. They are also not manufactured with the intent that any one of those three parts are designated to end up together. Edge finding and center finding are probably some of the more difficult basic machining operations and where holding a machining tolerance becomes more difficult.
You have three holes that we are trying to line up perfectly. Both sides of the frame and the barrel lug. The desired goal is to have all three holes line up perfectly so a hinge pin can slip fit (.001 under hole diameter). The only way we are going to end up with a perfect fit is if the frame holes and lug hole is machined at the same time in one pass. This means the barrel would have to be fit to the frame then the hole made. This obviously doesn’t happen for a system that is designed to have the barrels swapped around. We have to allow a tolerance (play) so that they will fit together.
A common tactic to “tighten” this fit is to put a larger hinge pin in. This is not a good idea for a couple reasons. One the hinge pin needs to slide in smoothly. If it does not and requires force to get it in place you are actually removing metal from the surface of the frame and/or barrel lug as you force it in. Two, by doing so you will cause the frame and/or barrel lug to wear off center and enlarge the hole(s) over time.
The above discussion on hinge pins is basic machining knowledge. This is for whatever reason a hotly debated topic in the TC world. The machining knowledge can be taken as fact and is fact. The TC system is not exempt from physics. I do not wish to debate this topic. Its stated above in fact and would be supported by any machinist, machinist instructor, machinist handbook, and so forth. Period.
The TC forearms are very pressure sensitive and there is no way to free float them like we would with a modern bolt action rifle. So we have to look at some other methods to address this. What we want to do is achieve repeatable pressure on the forearm. As they come from the factory depending on where you rest the forearm it changes the pressure against the barrel and changes the harmonics which cause accuracy to suffer. To address this we have two methods.
Full length glass bedding and pillar bedding.
For a DIY at home method without any machinery full length glass bedding is the easiest option. This is a simple process that will yield great results. The only down side is the forearm will be for just that particular barrel when complete. You can purchase a small bedding kit from various online suppliers and follow the included instructions. Take your time and follow the directions word for word and you will have a great forearm when you are done.
Pillar bedding is the better option if you want to swap the forearm between barrels. There are forearms available from aftermarket makers with pillars already installed. If you chose to make them you will need aluminum round stock of 1/2″ material, a lathe, drill press, and resin to glue them into the forearm. First enough wood will need removed so that the forearm will clear on the sides of the barrel. Aluminum pillars will need made to act as spacers around the screws to allow the forearm to clear the barrel and only contact the barrel where the screws attach.
Both methods will yield the same results in the field. The pillars take a lot more time and equipment to properly produce but you do have the option to purchase a completed stock from an aftermarket company.
The trigger is the next thing that needs adjusted. The triggers come from the factory with a lawyer safe pull of 5 plus pounds. For accurate field shooting I want a single action pull to be under two pounds. With the way the world is and liability I can not go over the exact process used but I can tell you we use all factory parts. We charge $55 for a G2 or Encore trigger job. There are also other companies out there that offer them.
Sights! This is the great thing about a TC. They come with great iron sights and I have always been a iron sight shooter. If you dig around enough you will see videos and pictures of me stacking up vermin and game animals with iron sights on tradition handguns at 100 yards and beyond. The TC comes with a nice rear target type sight and a standard front blade which work great in the field. We will discuss scopes and mounting down the road but under the rear sight it is already drilled and tapped for a base.
In upcoming write ups we will go over field shooting and hunting with the TC G2 project. Here are some teaser pics!
Left to right:
200 yards with he 7-30 and fire forming loads, Before and after fire forming brass, bench shooting, field shooting on steel to 300 yards.