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22 LR, only, subsequent handgun developments by Thompson/Center led to a wider range of interchangeable barrels for use with many more cartridges. Originally designed for interchangeable barrels in. Their break-action, single-shot design brought rifle-like accuracy and power in a handgun, which was a new concept at the time. Thompson/Center's success came with the emergence of long range handgun hunting, target shooting, and, especially, metallic silhouette shooting. On January 4, 2007, Thompson/Center was purchased by Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation. Then, in 1970, Thompson/Center created the modern black powder industry, introducing Warren Center's Hawken-styled black powder muzzle-loader rifle.
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Thompson Tool began marketing Center's Contender pistol, the company name was changed to Thompson/Center Arms Company. Although it sold for more than comparable hunting revolvers, the flexibility of being able to shoot multiple calibers by simply changing out the barrel and sights and its higher accuracy soon made it popular with handgun hunters. Thompson Tool Company, and together, they announced Warren Center's Contender pistol in 1967. Thompson Tool Company had been searching for a product to manufacture year-round. In the 1960s, Warren Center developed an unusual break-action, single-shot pistol that later became known as the Contender in his basement workshop. 4 Thompson/Center Arms and the Supreme Court.