Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

I ordered a few items from Mike Bellm today. My Endeavor shoots great but I just wanted to tune it up for good measure so there's no question in my mind. I ordered the 1X Oversized Hinge Pin and the Heavy Duty Lock-up Spring. I was offered the lighter trigger/sear spring and the heavier hammer spring but my trigger pull is perfect and I don't plan to use any other barrels.

I was just wondering how many of the Encore owners here have installed any of the Bellm modifications and did it have a positive affect on your guns performance???

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

Trigger springs absolutely helped my Encores (all gone now). Oversized hinge pin and stiffer recoil lug spring made them feel more solid but I'm not really sure they helped accuracy. Never tried the heavier hammer springs

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

Very similar to the results that UC had. Trigger spring and polishing the sear has made my trigger great. Feels great and is consistant (if you check your trigger pull with a good digital gauge you will find differences with each pull. You must take an average to really see the consistency).

I also added a heavier locking bolt spring but am not sure of the benefit if any.

I think I like the heavy hammer spring but it is a bit difficult to cock the hammer and I can not honestly say it has helped with anything. I have never had a primer not ignite a powder charge....but I also have an Accura that never failed either and I can pull that hammer back with my pinky. :)

I have a 1x oversize hinge pin I use with my .257 Roberts barrel but do not use it with the ML barrel.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

My Encore came with a great trigger. It breaks likeglass at 3.5 pounds.Installed the .001 oversize hinge pin, the latchup springs and the stronger hammer spring. The stronger hammer spring is a must if one has centerfire rifle barrels for the Encore: Otherwise there will probably be misfires.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

That's real interesting. My uncle bought an encore last fall as a muzzleloader and then also got a centerfire barrel for it. Hasn't shot it much, but he DID have a few misfires with the centerfire barrel. We were figuring it might be a bad lot of ammo he was shooting, but now I can suspect something different. A gun with that price tag, and that claims the ability to swap barrels with little effort should NOT be misfiring with any of the barrels in my opinion. I don't know, for all the accolades this gun seems to get it sure does seem to have a good many imperfections. I can't say that I have had similar sets of problems with the other guns from well known manufacturers. A good many cost a good deal less also.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

You make some good points. I love my PH. It's a great shooter but since I shoot MLs more and more and center fires less and less I believe if I had to do it all over...with what I know now...I would go another way.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

It is something different. Took my gun to the range and fired it several times with the muzzleloder barrel. Changed to a .30-06 barrel and a range regular told me: "You will get misfires with that hammer extension on the gun."He was exactly right.

There are headspace problems with too many of the Encore centerfire barrels. At one time I had several centerfire barrels for mine.Three of them had headspace problems. Sold 2 or 3 of those barrels and used their Leupold scopes to upgrade my bolt action guns. Had the.35 Whelen barrel re-chambered for .35 Whelen Improved and that headspace problem went away.

Bingo!!!! As a switch barrel gun the Encore is not worth the price orthe trouble.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

Yeah, I tried to tell my uncle that this gun costs a bit more than it should. I surely wouldn't buy one myself. I guess he got suckered by all the advertisements he sees on TV and elsewhere on it.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

Most people do.

The Encore is a great Muzzleloader. You just got to spend a few bucks and tweak it. The Endeavor is an upgrade for sure with the copied Triumph breech plug. That eliminates the hard cleaning of the firing pin with all the blow back. But you guy's are right, it exspensive right out of the box. The Savage is the same way, it needs some tweaking as well.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

I had him do a trigger job on my rifle, and the job was fantastic. I also use the 1X hinge pin.

The misfires are basically a headspace problem that is only associated to certain types of cases, and it is really a resizing problem that is basically associated to any break action firearms because of "barrel gap". A little bit of sizing die adjustment corrects the problem, and should be done regardless of misfires to attain best accuracy. Tom.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

It is a good bit more than that. The hammer spring is too weak and the addition of a hammer extension very oftenresults inmisfires.I ownnumerous other break action rifles, some cheap and some very expensive: Have never had headspace problems with any of them. IMO: The problems associated with the Encore and centerfire barrels can be attributedto sloppy manufacture.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

I have seen the misfires with several different Encores, and even some Handi's. As soon as the brass is properly sized with the cases that headspace on the shoulder, the problem was solved. I have never seen a misfire with a cartridge that headspaces on the rim. That is a main reason EABCO likes his proprietary Encore cartridges--because they headspace on the rim(according to EABCO). So I have to disagree about sloppy manufacture. I believe it is attributable to the nature of a break action firearm, and the barrel gap. I am not saying that you are wrong about a weak hammer spring. I am only saying that the problem is more attributed to the actual type of case, and sizing, rather than a weaker hammer spring. Or at least that has been my experience.

Have you had misfires with properly sized cases?? Or cases that headspace on the rim??

If you read Bellm's web site he specificaly talks about proper cartridge resizing. Tom.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

i do believe that many of the Encore problems can be traced toshoddy work by TC. Went to the Bellms site very early in my Encore experiment. Decided that it was easier to write it all off than mess withEncore receivers and barrels.

Yes, it is nice for us reloaders to be able to re-load and size cases to a particular Encore barrel. However, this does nothing forthe majority of hunters whouse factory ammo. Been there, done that: One generally ends up with a re-loaded cartridge that fits the Encoregreat and works well in that Encore.But it usually will not fit any of the other rifles of the same caliber that the shooter owns. One good thingcame out of my early obsession with the Encore:When i liqudated the Encore barrels, my bolt action rifles got some good scopes. :D

IMO: The Encore is a pretty good muzzleloader. But it is no better than many othermakes that can be bought at a much cheaper price. The gun isawkward and heavy to carry in the woods and mine usually sits in the safe while i hunt with my cheap CVA guns.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

We were using Winchester factory ammo, there is absolutely NO excuse for a gun in this price range to be misfiring, break-open action or not. I have other shotguns that have interchangeable barrels, why didn't I ever have a misfire with them? T/C's does enough bragging about the ease of interchangeability between barrels so why shouldn't they work as advertised? No aftemarket tweaking should be necessary in my opinion. If they can't deliver a product that works, I surely won't give them high praise.

I very much agree that there are much cheaper guns out there that will work just as good if not better. So what if they don't look as good? And the T/C sure IS a heavier gun! With muzzleloading technology advancing as quickly as it is, I don't want to be spending $500 on a gun that will be old technology in a couple of years. If I buy something cheap, I will have NO worries about getting rid of it and getting something newer in a few years.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

The Encore certainly isn't heavier than a Savage or a Genesis.

RE: Encore owners who have installed a Bellm kit?
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: Steve863
Exactly;)