Fate/Zero and the Thompson Center Contender

The author’s TC Contender pistol

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.

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 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.

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