Since a second Tender is on its way to me I already have carbine visions dancing in my head. you guys that extoll the virtues of the Contender carbine/rifle make it sound very appealing. Besides, gives me something to shop for. A barrel, wood stock and forearm, accessories. I think my first choice would be a .357 carbine barrel if they made such a thing.
I'd almost bet that the 357 carbine barrel is about the most popular one.
I'm tickled that you have another coming and are going to try a carbine. Understand that everything that I say about one is tainted with my personal infatuation with extra light, short and handy guns, which are not as easy to shoot very well, but incredibly portable and handy in close quarters. We're always challenging ourselves - hunting with handguns instead of rifles, using a bow or flintlock instead of a scoped, high powered rifle, why not challenge ourselves with a really, short, light rifle? Some criticize my choice, but that's just the way I see it - it's no different than any other self-imposed challenge and it's a lot more fun toting a 5# rifle than a 10# rifle.
Some guys add five pounds of laminated wood, bipods, HUGE, high-powered scopes - to an action you could lose in your coat pocket! Some guys like that. I prefer to slim them down to 5# or 6# all decked out with whatever sighting device I need, but that's me. Again, remember that anything I say is premised on that predilection.
So, what I was going to share is that there are (obviously) tapered/contoured barrels and so-called "bull" barrels available. I was originally going to have a tapered 16" barrel made for my 357 Mag, but got to thinking; I despise trying to handle a gun which is "balanced" between my hands when carrying at port-arms. Worse is one which is butt-heavy. I guessed my tapered, 16" 357 barrel would make this butt-heavy, even with the cheap, plastic stock, so I went with an 18" "bull" barrel from MGM.
I guessed right. Even with the full-profile barrel and two extra inches thereof, this little bigger still balances right at the front of the trigger guard. I should have gone 20" and it would have handled better. Even my 30/30, with a 24" full-profile barrel and a Redfield 2-7x32 only weighs 6#, so I really should have gotten a longer barrel for the sake of handling. Of course, not everyone's like me and someone else may like their weight distributed differently. I am waiting in limbo for a can to be approved by Big Brother - five months in now, and that will add 8" and a slight bit of weight-forward, so it's all good.
Someone suggested to me that their carbine balanced at the front of the trigger guard too, which makes it a PITA to carry, cradled in one hand. His solution was to put his pinky through the trigger guard to carry it. I tried it and you know what? It balances perfectly for carrying!
DON'T DO THAT! Obviously, we aren't supposed to put our booger hook in the trigger guard until we're ready to fire, but there's MORE. With an original Contender, especially one with a lightly tuned trigger, if you TOUCH that trigger, "cocked" or not, the trigger will UNSET. When you encounter your target (woodchuck, squirrel, deer,...) you will draw the hammer back with your thumb as you shoulder the carbine, but the trigger will not cock - it will fall forward as soon as you let go of it. Might miss your deer, or much worse.
Just give your choice of barrel some thought regarding how you want the thing to handle if you're looking to go light. I have a 20" 357 Max barrel I've never mounted to a frame yet, but the Mag is so much fun and so useful that I shoot that more than everything combined. I think this is why it was so easy for me to get out from under two dozen sets of loading dies and their accompanying rifles and handguns.