I have never shot an Encore with a rifle barrel before. I am interested in gettin a bigger bore down the line. I have always wanted a 45/70, so this may be the platform it is based on. Or else I will splurge and buy a Ruger #1 in 45/70.

Where I am located it is not uncommon, in fact, to shoot deer beyond 300 yards. I do stuff all of my own loads, and have all my hunting guns shooting around .5 MOA, so getting one to shoot shouldn't be too big of a problem.

The trigger on my Encore is pretty darned smooth and not overly heavy, haven't put it on my scale yet, but I bet it is around 4.5lbs, I would like to lighten it up a bit. Are Encores user friendly, or is it a smith job? I haven't done any research on the triggers yet.