Fate/Zero and the Thompson Center Contender
A week or so ago, I found myself watching Fate/Zero on Netflix. The Thompson Center Contender pistol is featured in the anime and used to great effect by the protagonist, Kiritsugu Emiya. At some point I came to the conclusion that I needed to own the gun. (This later lead to the absolutely whack-ass and possibly self ending idea of SLAP out of a .30 Herrett Contender)
Artistically chasing down tiny details about a firearm used in a movie is something I’m guilty of from time to time. And for no reason other than my own self gratification, I poured trough product listings, advertisements and screencaps to hunt down the exact Contender varient that the Magus Killer used.
8″ octagonal barrel with screen accurate sights
The barrel appears to be an 8″ octagonal model.
The grip is never clearly seen in the anime, as it’s almost always being obscured by Kiritsugu’s hand. Reference documents and sketches show something that’s closest to a walnut grip with finger grooves.
The forend depiction is the least consistent, but from design references and other screen captures, it looks to be checkered walnut forend. It should be noted that the forends used in the octagonal and round barrels are different.
The serrated front sight assembly
The front sight is clearly visible in almost every appearance and is of the early serrated type with multiple slopes.
The rear sight assembly isn’t consistently shown with detail throughout the series, but a still from the final episode shows a intermediate production rear sight with a distinctive “tab” at the top rear of the sight base on both sides.
The frame is a later production “Easy Open” Contender. Note the pivot pin above the trigger.
The hammer is never clearly shown, and neither is the central selector, but judging from the round edge notch on either side of the hammer, it becomes clear that this is a 3rd iteration selectable hammer.
I have no clue why you read this. This post is really only useful if you’re interested in cloning Kiritsugu’s Contender for yourself. Have fun.
About The Author
OperatorMaid
Enhanced interrogation enthusiast, prior service army hooligan, "licensed medical provider" and radio autist. Far from an expert.
I was also looking into the same thing after reading the novels and ran into trouble with the .30-06 barrel. Seems like they only make those for the Encore and I haven’t been able to locate a blued Encore pistol frame receiver. The SKU exists but those haven’t been made for years from what I can tell.
Yep, you’d be correct. The Contender frame can’t handle the chamber pressure from the .30-06 cartridge. As cool as it would be to have a “clone correct” Contender in the same chamber as the screen gun, it’s not possible. My headcannon is that Kiritsugu’s is chambered in a wildcat cartridge based off of a .30-06 parent case. If you wanted a Encore in .30-06, you could certainly do it, but all of the cosmetic features such as the sights, octagonal barrel, frame finish and engraving wont be the same.