Bought my Encore as a muzzleloader. The thing was a total disaster. There was a huge amount of side play in the barrel. The hinge pin was out of round and the thimbles were loose. First day at the range the fiber optic fell out of the front sight. Had to take the darn thing apart to remove the breech plug. Not to worry, the savvy aftermarket guys at TC had the covered with a pricey swing extractor. The bore of my gun was very rought and hard to load. After two or three sessions with a ramrod, patches and jewelers rouge it smoothed out.
The only darn thing good about my gun was the trigger pull. It breaks like glass at 3.5 pounds.
i will spare you the stuff about the five centerfire barrels that i bought for that gun; total disaster.
Bought a stronger hammer spring and the locking springs from Bellms. Bought an oversized hinge pin. The gun is now very accurate but i still have a bad taste of crap in my mouth.
The darn barrel still has more side play than that of my 61 year old Winchester model 37 single barrel shotgun which has no side play. It is a very sad commentary on TC that a 60 year old shot gun fits tighter than their expensive Encore.
IMO: The Encore is a sad joke.