Kinda late to post this....
I have a couple of Contender frames. The 'newer' one was improved (by TC) to be 'easy open'. The oldest one is a pain to open, I don't recall what change TC made to make it easier to open but it sure made a big difference.
My ex-wife used a TC 14" bbl to shoot IHMSA .22 rimfire. She had small hands and just could not open the old one. She had no problem with the newer one.
I bought a bunch of bbls for mine, some unusual cal. 6.5 TCU, .357 Herrett, etc.
The most brutal as far as recoil, is a 14" bbl chambered for .445 Super Mag. I also have a Dan Wesson SS revolver in that caliber, but the TC, even with rubber grips, is not too much fun. Most guys only shoot it once.

Check out my recent posting concerning how "I got kicked of the Internet"...... Good TC story.

ron