rhbuilds said:
whats the difference between a standard contender and a G2 frame? i have a contender frame from mid 90's. also i see that the encore is the top dog frame.
The visible difference is there's NO engraving on a G2 (unless it was a special run or custom done). They are easy to distinguish from an old style contender, but they do look similar to an Encore, just smaller. G2's are easily identified by this lack of engraving and that the serial numbers start with the prefix "G". Stainless old style contenders had an "S" prefix, and Armor Alloy had an "A", etc.
The big physical difference with the G2 is that you can cock the hammer, uncock it, and re-cock it without opening. With the old style contenders, if you cocked and then de-cocked the hammer, you'd have to open the action to reset the sear, in order to re-cock the hammer.
G2 and Old style contenders use different grips/buttstocks. The grip angle is slightly different and because of that they are not interchangeable. I have no experience with them, but some report the trigger quality stinks with the G2, whereas my old style contender triggers are superb.
The difference between the G2 and Encore is the size. Encores can handle higher PRESSURE rounds like 243, 7-08, 30-06, even 300 Win Mag. But they can also handle any smaller rounds, 22LR, 223, etc. G2's only handle lower pressure rounds, like the old style contenders.