Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Thompson Contender in 35 Remington problems?

I have been thinking about getting a Thompson Contender in 35 Remington, so I sent the following question to:
tca_customerservicetcarms.com
"I have been looking at used models of your 35 Remington both in handgun & rifle format. Various forums indicate problems with both firing and extraction. Please comment on the issues & fixes."
Here is their response:
"Thank you for contacting Thompson Center. We are not aware of this issue so there is no fixes that were done. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us Thank you and Have a Great Day!
Smith&Wesson values its customers and we are happy to have served you today. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance.
Regards, Veronica"

I had a 35 Remington barrel at one time, no issues with firing or extraction . Ensure you are not setting the shoulder back when resizing . I shot 200 gr cast bullets with mine. Bullets were seated just so they kissed the lands ensuring fully formed and headspaced cases to the particular barrel.

I have experienced some fail to fire issues on the first firing on resized .223 cases to 7TCU , solved by seating the cast bullets into the lands and sharply closing the action.

F

I had one that would drop the hammer with no boom about 20% of the time.
It was an early non easy open frame, originally sold in that config, purchased used.
Reportedly they just need new springs.

I went easy open and sold the old frame w new springs (not installed).
Guy that bought it knows how to fix em up. No complaints. Must have solved it.

Got another .35 rem bbl this summer. And just sold it. Zero problems firing or extraction. But I shot factory loads in it.
The issue I had with that gun, is the non easy open gen 1 frame, was originally on a Super 16 .223 with a 4-12X Burris.
(bought it used).
It'd evidently had been sent off for a trigger job and would bump off if closed strongly.
That is a known deal if you want a light trigger.

But closing a reg Contender softly may make for a click and no boom.

I didn't deepen the sear notch. Just pushed the trigger fwd when I closed it so it wouldn't bump off (per another
site's recommendation.

Shot my buck w rifle, handgun a problem this season due to popping tendon while hanging stands.
So sold my .35 rem bbl.
Took the frame to the show today..........nothing worth putting on it, or trading for.

Read about headspace issue on older bbls, reportedly a batch during a certain rifling groove number timeframe.
I've had three Super 14 and one Super 16 in .35 rem...............zero probs extracting any factory load. Had a licensed reloader do some
short .35 rems when our regs changed. He let me test first batch in my TC. I told him to bump em up, they wouldn't stick.
Even when he warmed em up a notch, noticed in recoil...........they came out without a glitch.

Did not chrono.

Went through the back of one shoulder, and out the front of the other, 75 yards, 175# 9 pointer.

I had no problem with my early Super 14 35 Rem. Factory ammo, and then neck sized only after.
Even Bob Milek (sp?) wrote an article on the Contender in 35 Rem saying it might be ‘the better choice’ over the 357 Herrett in the Super 14! I agree.

Thanks for all the feedback. Perhaps problems are not as prevalent as I was led to believe.

If you haven’t already … google how Bellm deals with headspace/ftf.

Barrel makers, T/C included are not infallible, anymore than hand loading loonies. SAAMI spec MAP for the .30-30 is 38 KPSI, and for the .35 Rem is 35 KPSI. Early in my experience with Contenders I had a headspace issue with my .30-30 and T/C fixed it just fine. Then I started load development and tickled the dragons tail in a manner of speaking. I don't know what the threshold is for frame stretch in the Gen 1&2 frames, but it's somewhere a little short of 40 KPSI as best I can tell. I had a couple of loads that were a bit cranky to extract, backed off and called it good. 150 gr spitzers at 2300 fps +/- kills stuff dead enough.

That's a long winded way of saying that if you keep it below max loads you likely will not have a problem.



I had no extraction issues with the factory ammo (170 gr FP), but the 33 grain load of Rx15 with 170 gr Hornady FP was a bit sticky to extract. The 150 gr Sierra spitzer is my go to for the barrel and it pretty much does the job. The 150 NPT works just as well.

No problems with my Super 16 on a G1 frame.

Same here, never had a problem with either a 16" or Super 14 .35 Rem barrel.

when i bought my tc encore pro hunter in 35 whelen before i left the lgs they installed stiffer springs in the hammer maybe due to folks complaining about light hammer strikes and ammo not going boom when trigger pulled. i've not had that issue and i hunt with hornady superformance 200 gr spire point ammo.
Big Ed

Just about all the trouble with the 35 has been from sizing too much. Good advice from this bunch.

LEE collet die will fix that.

Yes

+1

Not even bolt guns are immune. My recently acquired once fired 35 Rem brass is prepped and ready for a round of fireforming with slighly long seated cast bullets and Red Dot powder. Should do just the trick to ensure it's reliable in my chamber.

Thanks, Dinny