Why I like the Encore
 

This post goes along with my prior post on a disappointing day at the range. For the first time, I loaded a bullet with no powder. I knew I had done it but snapped a cap on it just to be sure. Sure enough, no bang. :bash:

With the Knight, you have to tear the gun apart to get the breach plug out to push the bullet through. With the Encore, you just have to break it open, turn the breach plug 90 degrees to pull it out and then push the bullet through.

I still like the Knight but I am really falling in love with the Encore.

ADVWannabee

[QUOTEWith the Knight, you have to tear the gun apart to get the breach plug out to push the bullet through. ][/QUOTE]

Or, you could put a bullet pulling jag on the end of your ram/range rod screw it into the bullet and pull the bullet...

But, the QR breech plug is really nice.

And then I have really been fortunate if you have a goog sealing sabot and breech - Pop in a Fed 209A and shoot it out.

or don't dry hole them.. :biggrin: of course that does not count when I do it. And lately it seems I have done a few dry holes and expect to do a few more in the future.

I have no rifle with the fancy speed breech. And I have to admit, they have my attention. All of mine are the old, break out the tools and take it out. But that's all right too. Gives me something to do and the barrel time to cool off.

I have to screw out the breech plug on my Encore old type but still easy . But like Dave i have a few old style guns.

I have done that on a lead conical in my old sidehammer gun, but have not tried it on a sabotted, jacketed bullet with a plastic tip. I guess it still works?

I did snap a cap on it, but it was the 777 cap that is not as powerful as the regular shotgun primers. I don't know if it moved the bullet or not, but it didn't move it much if it did.

ADVWannabee

It does - I know - especially on a normal saboted lead bullet. Most often you will pull the bullet right out of the sabot - then have to go back and get the sabot... a bullet with a tip or spire point it is lot harder but can be done - but it is a lot easier to remove the speed breech...

Not that I have ever 'dry holed' yeh right! - but the one good use I find for the Fed 209A's or CCI-209M is just for that. They both produce enough gas pressure that they will work most of the time - but not always. I always try take a few with me to the range or even hunting if I screw up and get a damp load...

With a saboted bullet, I have also pulled the bullet with a pulling jag, then shot the sabot out with a primer (had trouble getting the jag to screw into the sabot). Worked for me.

i've loaded a saboted bullet without powder a few times. i remove the breechplug, push the sabot forward a little (if required) and add about ten grains of powder. Then the projectile is seated hard on the powder, the breechplug replaced, and the gun is capped and fired. Makes it easy.

It takes me less than 60 seconds to take the bolt out of my MK-85 or my Knight LRH. Yes less than 60 seconds. I would hate to think that I did not have 60 seconds at the range when I made the mistake of not putting powder in a rifle??

A speed breech is nice. But I think you are totally over playing it by saying you have to "tear the whole gun apart".

I have owned several Knight rifles, and several TC MZ's, including a few Encore MZ"s(and I really like my TC CF's). I will put my Knight's up against the Encore for accuracy every day. And I prefer an accurate rifle over a rifle that saves me 60 seconds. Especially for the ridiculous price TC is selling the Pro hunter for. I can put together a custom Encore for less than the price of a Pro Hunter. So it better have at least one or two good features.

A good friend of mine owns a gun shop. He has lost count of the number of TC Encore MZ barrels he has had to send back to TC for accuracy problems. But you sure can save 60 seconds on taking out the breech plug!! WHOOOOPPIEEEEEE. Tom.

How do you adjust the trigger pull in that Encore????

Not sure why the hostility here. I have both a Knight Revolution and a TC Encore Pro Hunter. I am seting up the Encore for my wife to start hunting with me. Next year I may add a .243 barrel for her and maybe another year a .223 for varmints for me.

I really like both guns and they both have their plusses and minuses. For one, TC is still in business, can't say for sure about Knight. But beyond that, the TC requires an attachment to the rod to load which will make it slow to reload in the field. It does have the power rod/T-handle which is nice. The Knight rod can load the gun with no attachments. The TC, as mentioned previously, can break open and pull the breach in a few seconds. With the Knight, I have to take off the forestock, unscrew a bolt that holds the barrel on and then unscrew the breach plug. Then do it all in reverse to reassemble. Not a 60 second operation.

But like I said, I like them both and am hoping to take a deer with each this year as well as help my wife get her first deer.

Why do you take the stock off the Knight to remove the breach plug??? I just remove the bolt, grab my 3/8 rachet with an extension and 7/16 six point socket and unscrew the breach plug...Takes maybe a minute and a half...

I have not seen any including my that comes close to the 1/2 groups I get when I am shooting my Endeavor . As a rule the Triumph comes closest. Quite often the shooter does not get what the gun is capable out of it. I have seen people that can not get below 2 inches with a varmint rifle that shoots a 1/4 inch group in the right hands.

I did and did not find it a problem; I disassmble the gun carefully the first time so I understood how it worked the stoned the mating parts changed the tension on the trigger spring and reassmble took between 10 and 15 minutes.

No hostility here what so ever. Just pointing out that when you say "tearing the whole gun apart" that you are mis-stating what has to be done. Pretty simple. Am I wrong?? (NO). Tom.

I have never seen a MZ that would shoot a 5-shot 1/2" group at 100 yards. But then I have never seen one that would shoot a 3-shot 1/2" group either. You need to back that up a liitle bit. Just stating it does not fit the bill.

Now am I saying that you might have got lucky and shot one 1/2" 3 shot group at 100 yards?? NO. I would not doubt you there at all. But I am willing to bet that you CAN NOT constantly shoot 1/2" gropus at 100 yards---"day in and day out" with a stock factory MZ of any sort. Be it TC or Knight.

I just do not believe it. So I am throwing the BS flag on that one. Tom.

Yes you are, did you not read the description I gave of tearing open the Knight to get to the breach plug? You take off the forestock, the barrel and then the plug. The only thing left is the trigger assembly and it is the easiest as it doesn't require tools and drops out in seconds. So yes, you do tear the whole gun down. Have you ever taken down a Revolution or are you just talking about stuff you have never done yourself? I am calling the BS flag on this one.

I own several Knights, but I have never owned a Revolution. So if I am mistaken about that then I am wrong here. And I apologize for that.

My only defense is that no where in your original post did you state that it was a Revolution. And they are different from my other Knight rifles.

I am willing to admit when I am wrong. And obviously I am wrong here. So again, please accept my apology. Tom.

While I didn't say which Knight I had in this post, I did reference my prior post about a disappointig day at the range where I did state it was a Revolution. Even without that though, if someone is talking about their own gun, I tend to believe what they say unless I know otherwise. In either case, your apology is accepted and I apologize likewise. I am here to better myself as a hunter and a blackpowder shooter and wish to learn all I can from others and do not wish to get into arguments.