I am in the same situation right now. I am trying to decide whether I should buy another barrel for my Encore-or the Tikka Light rifle. I am wanting another 223 Remington(truck gun-actually Kawasaki Mule gun) with a suppressor for Ground Hog hunting. I am leaning toward the Encore barrel.
I have owned and have been shooting Contender's and Encore's for 30 years. No "pin wear" yet. IMO this pin wear thing is a bit overblown. BigCountry has a great solution for that one if it is a problem. I did try the Bellm size#2 pin in my current Encore. I did this to tighten it up just a bit. I think being a little tighter might give a slight accuracy improvement. But I do not know that for sure.
I would not let the so called "pin problem" cause you any concern. IMO this problem is overblown. Tom.
