New Encore ???
 

I Have always like the Encore but could not justify spending that much . My tradition pursuit pro is a nail driver and a great gun . But after two fun years of hunting with the muzzleloaders and my son getting a Elk and me getting a mule deer this year . I decided that hunting with Muzzleloaders was something that i was going to stick with and i just bought a new Encore S.S in .50 cal . What would you guys suggest as far as powder , bullets and primers to start with ?? Are there any loads that seem to work best with the Encore ??

Thank you very much !!
Robk.

RE: New Encore ???
 

I would try 3 fifty grain pellets and a 250 grain Shockwave. That seems to be the load all them Encore shooters on TV use. If that does not work, drop down to 2 fifty grain pellets and that same shockwave. Good luck with your new rifle.

RE: New Encore ???
 

UtahRob

Congratulations on the new purchase... really hope you like your new gun. Might suggest you switch the 209 primer out for the 25acp conversion... soooo much cleaner.

I shoot an Omega - pretty close to an Encore and really it will shoot anything I put down it - have not tried conicals from it... ( gotta say that so FG will not come back and ask if it will shoot conicals)

Here are my pet loads...

Elk
100 grain T7-2f .458/300 grainNosler Partiton PP bullet in an MMP .457/.458 Orange Sabot. Shooting a 25 acp conversion (worth every dime) replacing the 209 breech plug

Deer
#1 load
100 grain T7-2f .451/260 grain NoslerPartition HP in a MMP HPH-24 sabot (in your new Encore you might need the thinner HPH-3p-EZ load sabot)

This load is expensive because of the Nosler bullet... so my next load lot less money is a poormans nosler a .452/250 grain Bonded Speer Gold Dot.

#2
100 grain T7-2f + Speer Gold Dot in a the HPH-24 Sabot.

Experimenting with the 200 grain 10mm Hornady XTP in a MMP 40/50 cal sabot - shows a lot of promise.

Hey! good luck and good hunting... Use to read your posts and look at those fabulous pictures you posted all the time thought it was here but must have been on another site...

RE: New Encore ???
 

LOL SL'er

RE: New Encore ???
 

Thanks !!!!!
I want to get the .25 breach plug and kit as soon as i get some more $$$$$$$ .

RE: New Encore ???
 

sabotloader are you a Nosler man???? mmmmmm...noslers:D

RE: New Encore ???
 

ReDoT

ya - i guess i am for about 48 years now... sept can not afford them any more...

RE: New Encore ???
 

I have the older Encore, not the pro hunter, w/ 26" barrel. I shoot 110 grains of loose T7 ffg with the T7 primers (they don't seem to reduce the crud as advertised). I was shooting 240 grain XTP's which shot well but for my caribou hunt I went up to the 300 Hornady SST's. Shoots well on paper at 100 and the 2 caribou I shot with the load combo have major complaints right now.......

RE: New Encore ???
 

Finaly got a chance to shoot my Encore .
I decided to try the same load i use in my Tradition pursuit pro , 100 grns loose powder , 300 grain XTp HP and Klean bore primers and two wet and one dry patch between shots . My Encore loves the combo , i was putting the bullets almost in the same hole . And i had NO blow by at all !!!!!!!

RE: New Encore ???
 

It sounds like you have a great shooting load already Rob. Its nice when a rifle tunes in that fast...

RE: New Encore ???
 

I have been very lucky with my last two guns . My Traditions shot every shot in the same hole with this same load , from the very first shot.

My Encore which is very light , defintly kicks way harder than my heavy Pursuit pro .

Not sure if i need the other .25 conversion with the the my Encore is shooting !!!!!

RE: New Encore ???
 

Thanks !!!!!
I want to get the .25 breach plug and kit as soon as i get some more $$$$$$$


What are the benefit's of this conversion and who is making it?

RE: New Encore ???
 

Behold the Encore........ You just spent big bucks on a very well made rifle. The people who designed and built this rifle did an outstanding job. It will last you a lifetime. It, with a little work from you is a MOA rifle out of the box.

I have had mine since the first year they came out. I am no expert shot or gun gurue but I can assure you that there is a lot of hype on extras for the Encore that one needs not waste any money on.

The one thing that really kills me is the .25 conversion, dude the gun was made to shoot a 209 primer and it does it very well. It also, I know this is shocking to some was made to shoot a standard shot shell 209 primer. You know the $15 per thousand Winchester type. Now again I am not an expert but I have NEVER had a problem with the rifle shooting or cleaning the way it is suppose to with a standard 209 primer.

Next someone is going to tell you the hinge pin is no good and you need to buy an aftermarket one. Well OK you just paid $600+ for a rifle with a lifetime warrantee. If you have a problem with the rifle locking up with the factory pin let me know you will be the first case I ever heard of.

Now just when you think it is safe to shoot your rifle someone will tell you the QLA is screwing up your shots. (At this point you are already shooting MOA but you bite) They tell you you need to cut that portion of the barrel off so the gun is harder to load but more accurate.


Now how about some facts. The gun loves .44 and .45 bullets in the proper sabots in the range of 250 to 300g. T7 loose loads around 110-120g with the same bullets mentioned. Other powders work well in the rifle but remember the twist rate remains the same no matter what you put in it so stabilized rounds are what you are looking for. If you want to shoot the Powerbelts stay in the 300g+ bullet weight range same goes for full bore conicals (375g or bigger)

Enjoy your Encore I do and I hope yours is as trouble free as mine has been. BTW my centerfire barrels work great as well (with the factory pin.)

RE: New Encore ???
 

"The one thing that really kills me is the .25 conversion, dude the gun was made to shoot a 209 primer and it does it very well. It also, I know this is shocking to some was made to shoot a standard shot shell 209 primer. You know the $15 per thousand Winchester type. Now again I am not an expert but I have NEVER had a problem with the rifle shooting or cleaning the way it is suppose to with a standard 209 primer.

Next someone is going to tell you the hinge pin is no good and you need to buy an aftermarket one. Well OK you just paid $600+ for a rifle with a lifetime warrantee. If you have a problem with the rifle locking up with the factory pin let me know you will be the first case I ever heard of.

Now just when you think it is safe to shoot your rifle someone will tell you the QLA is screwing up your shots. (At this point you are already shooting MOA but you bite) They tell you you need to cut that portion of the barrel off so the gun is harder to load but more accurate."

+ 1

Bingo!!! Love my Encore just like it come from the factory. It does have the swivel type extractor.

Had it to the 100 yard range the other day.Everyone else was shooting their high powers in anticipation of deer season. Shot the best groups on the range with my .50 caliber M/L Encore. Other shooters were amazed.

RE: New Encore ???
 

The Encore is a very nice gun. I have owned mine for 3 years and loved it right out of the box. You get to really know a gun after you spend time with it and shoot it at the range several hours. I was happy at first with mine, but wanted more out of it. Sure it shot accurate, and in fact better then most at the range. But I decided to start tweaking. The T/C engineers design guns to be massed produced and they need to do it cheap enough to make it affordable for people that want to buy it.

I felt that with some modifications the Encore could shoot better. ANYONE that says the hinge pin is fine like it is just has NO CLUE. When you open your gun and the barrel just drops open and you can feel side to side slop then you will have issues with consistency and accuracy. The hinge pin that came with my Encore could be pushed out with my bare hands. I solved this problem by machining my own Stainless pin that is over sized. Now when you open the barrel it doesnt "Flop" open... its much smoother and more precise. There are several sources on the internet to get hinge pin replacement and modifications.

The next thing I did to my encore was to switch to the .25 ACP. Why?... because I love tweaking and if there is a better mouse trap then I am going to find it. Like many that HAVE done this conversion will tell you... its very simple and worthwhile. I can shoot all day with very very little residue. There is no comparison between the .25 ACP and the factory installed 209 shot primer that comes with the gun. I have yet to read from anyone that has done this conversion say they wished they didnt. I am sure some are out there... but I have heard nothing but praise from people on this board.

After doing these 2 things to my guy my accuracy was better.

My next step was to send out the trigger and have it modified. When I first shot my Encore I didnt notice anything wrong with the trigger, but over time I could tell that it was just down right stiff and it had a lot of creep which would make me pull shots and shoot fliers. As soon as I pulled the trigger I would know if it was a good shot or not. Even on a bench rest I could feel myself "yanking" shots because of the trigger. So I sent it out to Mike Bellm. My Encore had close to a 5 pound (FIVE) trigger pull. and you could feel the "creep" in the trigger as you pulled to shoot... it was terrible. After sending it out... I now have a trigger that is 2.5 pounds with ZERO creep. wow.... how huge was this?.... I would guess before 1 out of 5 shots was bad because of the trigger... now that has been eliminated. When I say bad, I dont mean horrible... I mean it could be 3/4"-2"+ off more then normal. Overall accuracy is amazing in comparison to before because even the shots I had that were good were still off a little and I see that now.

The last thing I have done to my Encore was to have the barrel machined. I had the QLA (Quick Load Accurizer) at the end of the barrel machined off. When the barrel is machined and rifled the QLA is done in a completely different step and for some reason they dont align the QLA and the rifling. Why?... who knows. With the QLA being cut off center with the centerline of the bore, it can allow gasses to slip around one side or another of the bullet or sabot and cause bullet upset, hence unacceptable accuracy. I had David White of D&T Gunworks do this machining and recrowning of my barrel. He will also drill and retap your ramrod so it doesnt extend too far. The QLA on my barrel was only about 1/2" so it isnt a lot shorter. I also had David modify my scope base...why?... because when shooting 150gr (mag loads), and if you do it often... your base WILL come loose with the 4 factory screws. They will become stripped out also, so making the base a 6 screw base eliminates that problem.

There are guys... yes even in this posting that say NONE of this stuff is needed... and they are RIGHT. None of it is. But if you are like me and want to make a good thing better then you will try doing some of these things. I am 100% confident that I can shoot 5 shots at 100 yards tighter then ANYONE with a stock Encore. In fact I will go 1 step farther and say my Encore will out shoot 99.9% of ALL muzzeloaders out there. Yeah thats Bold talk... but I feel I can back it up.

Once you get all the kinks worked out and find a load and a bullet that shoot out of your gun... you can feel confident also. Bullet in a Bullet?.... oh yeah.

Now if I could just get my Renegade to shoot 1/2 as good as my Encore I would be happy with that. But I am working on that too!

RE: New Encore ???
 

Good presentation MOEncore. Besides, tweaking is just plane fun.

RE: New Encore ???
 

Did my own trigger job with the aid of Bellm's download and spring.Floated the forearm as much as possible by relieving barrel and action contact (washers in the screw holes and sandpaper). Had a local gunsmith cutthe QLA and recrown, also shortened the ramrod to match - didn't like his 11º target crown, too much of an abrupt step so I did my own crown with a 99 cent grinding ball :). Replaced the factory hinge pin first with a Bellm and then with one from an assortment of pins I had a local machinist whip out. Added a Bellm hammer extension - and now my originally priced $530 Encore shoots great, has a great trigger, and is for sale. I've used the Leupold QR base and rings without issue on mine - uses only the factory holes so I would guess that problem hasn't stricken my rifle.

I THOROUGHLY clean that Encore after every range/hunting session - including cleaning the firing pin assembly and action internals. Tried a couple of Hornet plugs and didn't like messing with the brass - didn'treduce the small amount ofblowback at ALL. A properly done .25ACP plug would surely be a different animal.

By comparison, my Whites have been boring. They've required no modifications at all (except I tweaked the triggers where most would have been perfectly happy with factory setting) and shoot better than I can. I fabricate my own scope protectors so the open actions aren't a problem. Pity they aren't made now - but I do know of a couple of people selling Super91s and one Model 98 (all in new condition). :)

RE: New Encore ???
 

Well see what I mean... "and now my originally priced $530 Encore shoots great, has a great trigger, and is for sale. I've used the Leupold QR base and rings without issue on mine - uses only the factory holes so I would guess that problem hasn't stricken my rifle.
"

I have had mine for well forever and I would never dream of selling it. I havn't done jack squat except for shooting the thing either. I paid $440 because I bought the upgraded wood +P that's how long ago I bought mine. That is only $120 more than I paid for my Scout in the very early 90's. BTW I will never get rid of that gun either. It is a fantastic shooter as well.

I have had two problems with my Encore. 1- when I first bought it the butt stock screw was loose causing me to chase rounds for almost a year before I found the problem and 2- I am not sure if anyone remembers this thread but I had bugs build a nest in the barrel this last summer. All my T/C scope mounts were made by Weaver back when they actually made them, they have not been any problem at all.

The only rifle I have that can out shoot my Encore is my old Savage 110LC in .308. Then again that rifle will outshoot almost anything at any range I go to. I did just scope my $109 Omega and me and my shooting partner were hitting nothing but black after only 5 rounds after bore sighting.

BTW I took the scope mount, rings and all off the .308 barrel I have for my Encore. Fit no problem on the Omega.

RE: New Encore ???
 

I got the hinge pin kit before in got my Encore and instaled it before ever shot it. Not so sure i need the .25 breach plug convertion with the way its shooting, there is no blow by at all . The Klean bore primmers worked great with my Tradition pursuit pro and are doing the same with my Encore. I used the variflame primer kit with my Traditions and the blow by was horible , so i went back to using the Klean bore primers. We also tried the triple7 primers and the blow by was horible in both my Traditions and my sons CVA optima .

RE: New Encore ???
 

Think that i will just keep on hunting with my awful nearly stock Encore. In the year that ihave owned it, it has killed3 deer and 8 hogswith the one i got last evening. It is capable of sub-1 inch groups at 100 yards.

RE: New Encore ???
 

Re-reading my posts they sound kind of snobby which I did not mean to do. My posts were aimed at the people that claim without doing the mods the gun is less than what it is. They were not intended for anyone on this site just the general comments I have read in the past.

It also reflects my personnal experience with the rifle.

RE: New Encore ???
 

I would never advise anyone to do the things I did unless their Encore was suffering from similar woes. That whole progression of events was anything but a quick decision to do all those things. It was a painful education in what had to be done to get that one particular Encore to be the shooter it should have been out of the box.

Would have muchpreferred it had behaved like another 209x.45 I owned... that one had all blued metal, a nicely done bore and QLA and very good trigger from the start. It was an excellent shooter and the fellow I sold it to is extremely happy with the rifle. Another Encore in blue - a 209x.50, also had no such issues as my stainless model.

Some people buy car model X and never have a serious problem while others by the same model X and have nothing but problems. I believe TC went through a period of VERY poor QC on their stainless muzzleloader barrelsand I happened to get one of those pitiful specimens. The trigger was horrible, you could actually hear some crunching going on when the hammer was cocked and a return to the factory repaired that issue before the rifle was ever fired. The trigger was still too heavy for my tastes so I used Bellms' accessories to get it like I wanted. The replacement barrel from TC was much better done and might have well shot decently if I had left the QLA, but prior experience has soured me and I wanted it OFF.

So yeah, I think you came across a bit strong in that prior post and I'm glad you recognized same. You sorta have to drive one of those Monday hangover assembled brand X cars to know what the other guy has experienced. It was a learning experience though and the end result was really worthwhile. If I don't find a buyer for that Encore, it sure won't hurt my feelings as it is now a FINE rifle - just took a few trips to the mechanic to get it that way.

RE: New Encore ???
 

Bargara Sells a quick and easy fix for the encore QLA problem ;)

Runs about $180 for a new barrel.

RE: New Encore ???
 

fg, iz u Spanish? ;)

RE: New Encore ???
 

I have both a 50 cal and a 45 cal barrel for my Encore. In the 50 I shoot 2 pyrodex pellets with 295 gr powerbelt hp. In the 45 I shoot three pellets with a 200 gr dead center bullet.

RE: New Encore ???
 

Your right !!

I also like to tweak things, its fun !!!!!!!!
I did add some shims to the rears stock, it kept loosening up and had side to side movement even when tightened . Ordered the .25 breach plug ( for the fun of it )and i think they look cool .
Sanded down the front forarm and removed all plastic near the barrel . The only place the forarm is touching is were the bolts are . I ordered a new scope to replace the red dot and looking at getting the laminated Grey stock .

RE: New Encore ???
 

MOEncore

I was not going to get in here because I do not shoot a Encore - I do shoot a Omega - I shoot it a lot - maybe to much - but because of that the 25 acp is a jewel... it is so much cleaner - no blowback at all - scope does not get sooted up... MLKeith first mentioned the 25 acp years ago and until I jumped into a Omega I thought he was nuts - but he was totally right....

RE: New Encore ???
 

Omega or Encore it's all good to me !!
I always injoy you thoughts and advise !!

RE: New Encore ???
 

My Encore is shooting pretty well , but a get an occasional flier and i would like to see if the .25 acp will help keep all my shots tight.