Well you were the inspiration to me to keep an eye out for a Contender carbine. I never imagined finding one like this though.I'd get arrested for stalking!
I've been back to gander at it several time already myself.
The Contender Carbine has become my "ONE GUN," in the form of four complete carbines. Everything they're chambered for is easy to load for, gets along with cast bullets, not too difficult to get and perfectly adequate for any shooting I need to do. My one lone holdout is a CZ527 in 222. Still hard to let go of the Mauser design completely and simply do not intend to go without a 222.
Seeing a smart little tapered octagon 222 like that starts to mess with my head and challenge my convictions. I'd sorted all this out over many years and assembled the perfect, small/manageable personal battery for myself, and @L Ross pulls this one on me.
I'm a little dizzy after looking at that wood, and my forehead is starting to feel warm . . .
I am loathe to put any scope on it that looks out of place. I know there is a Leupold 2x7 Compact around here some place. I also kept the Leupold 2x7 Vari-X II that was on the .300. Either one of those scopes should provide adequate magnification for the 50 to 200 yard shooting I envision using this carbine for. The gun is muzzle light and will never make good off hand shooter.I think I need to inspire MYSELF now! All mine have ugly, black plastic furniture!
SSK sells a full complement of new-made spare parts through their site, as well as Haus of Arms. I can't think of anything else you'd ever need for that one though. It's probably the most perfect setup I've ever seen. Can't see any way to improve on what you have there.shooter.
Choosing a scope for that one would be my biggest challenge today. On my current 222, I've used a B&L Balvar 1.5-6x32, Japanese Sightron 3-9x40 and now an older Leupold Vari-X II, 2-7x32, which has yet to be zeroed. The Sightron was too big and someone else owns it now. The B&L is heavier than the Leupold and not quite as sleek. We'll see how the Leupold works out.
It seems a lot of guys will buy a Contender (or CZ 527) and add several pounds of bulky wood, bipod and a humongous scope and totally miss the opportunity to carry a super svelte, sleek and light shooter. May be harder to shoot well without all the extra weight and bulk, but it's just one more (little) challenge to feel good about overcoming.
