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But I didn't keep the Encore frames or barrels I had for all that long before selling/trading them away. Some of us long time Contender users didn't like the Encore as well as them either, but I did try them out as soon as I could get one. They well knew a lot of their customer base wouldn't accept just the Encore alone without the traditional smaller/lighter version as well, and they had zero interest in bringing the Contender back even though they also knew folks like me would never buy a G2 Contender. As I said, TC had been long committed to do so to go along with the Encore, it's design to tie it to the Encore. Unfortunately I knew the G2 Contender would go into production when it's bugs were worked out enough to be acceptable to the powers at TC way before I actually saw/handled the protype. Someday could be among the collectable 'E' frames as first year anyway.

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IF, your 370X serial number does put the frame well into the supposed 1996 vintage mentioned regardless of when they were actually first sold. IOW, my opinion varies what is truly custom or just semi custom production. Yep, as Walt said TC's so called custom shop (store front open to the public, and a name sake). I'm not up to going over all the Contender versions asked for that would require going to and digging my data out of storage. I just don't know either way for sure personally because I never bothered to do the work to prove it out. Means there certainly could have been some out in end users hands in late 1996. It's serial number made it the 4,78X one made. And I also got three separate factory barrels on the side - a 12' 454 Casull, 15' 223 and 15' 22-250. I got mine as a frame with factory furniture only from the first shipment of 80 of same sent to Fred at Bullberry who had his order for them in with TC from day one. While around 3000 are attributed to 1996 birth dates, that to me anyway is a guess. With the Encores I did have one of the first that was available to an end user - supposedly. Nor do I remember when the first were actually shipped for sale - only that it was a long time after the show as they were still trying to work bugs out of it and most likely had took heed to the negatives offered by friends at the show to also work on. My opinion of it is why I know little about their serial number range - enough said. So we were among the first if not the first on their list to see the G2 proto when it was handed to me literally 'under the table'. TC's booth was our first stop the first morning of the show where we spen about 3 hours with them (and again on other days). I was on their list as was Jim Henry that I went to the show with that year. As many here already know from previous posts Tim Pancurak and Ken French brought the G2 prototype to the 2000 SHOT Show - not to display or show it to the so called public, but to show to specific old friends that were long time high volume users to get their opinions of it. So it didn't get the chance to prove itself. Bright idea on paper (I took a small part in), but not with good QC up front unfortunately due to it being sort of an afterthought with the G2 their top priority then. My last Contender bought new was in 1998, and it was among the first of the last version of the easy opens with the renewable breech block. So the last of the Contenders (they are not G1's) probably trickled out near the end (speculation). TC had been designing and trying to get all the ducks in a row for the G2 pretty much along with the Encores before they came out. There was an official discontinued date, but I don't remember it offhand and most of my data is in storage. The last of the last version easy open Contender's, both blued and stainless, were made in 1999 with the probability a few spilled over into 2000. 'But I'm possitve I got my TC Hawken in 1961 because.' was a favorite. I especially get a kick out of folks who swear on their Mother's grave they have had such and such model since not only long before the model was ever produced, but some before TC was even a twinkle in anybodies eye.

Documenting proof is not an easy task on some of their lines. Alot is still speculated, always will be and like it always has been will continue to be passed on as fact with no documented proof. Mostly by very serious collectors and end users, there are none at TC anymore and many of the old records are gone. New unknowns are still found about TC's models, even though their Contender, Encore and even traditional muzzleloader lines (despite the plant fire) are pretty well documented by a few folks. As for a real TC expert.no one still alive or reachable is. Very knowledgable of some maybe, but not all by any means.