hey sonic welcome to the forum, i have an encore in 7mm-08 15" barrel and a fixed 4X leoupold scope, love the gun but wish i had bought a different scope for hunting, i believe a lower powered varible would have been a better choice or a fixed 2X, at the range the 4X is fine but it takes some getting used to in the woods, BTW i had a 30-30 contender with a 14" barrel, it was also a great gun, my dad still keeps it in his truck for coyote medicine