SwampCollie

As Josh wrote... it often takes a little bit of work and tinkering to get good accuracy and consistancy out of them.

Couldn't agree more with what HEAD wrote either... the thing I like about mine is that it handles so well. Very simple and very safe for a new shooter as well.

ajstrider

I hadn't heard of that rubber washer trick, I might try that on mine. I have a 26" barrelled .308. I dearly love it, it seems like a long barrel but due to there being no action, it is about the same overall length of a 22" barrel or 20" barrel on bolt actions. This makes it very handy to carry. I am not the most accurate shooter in the world, but it does everything I need it to do. I also put one of those pro hunter butt stocks on mine, it sure does reduce the felt recoil a lot. I was thinking about purchasing a pro hunter barrel for mine but I wasn't sure if that would increase the accuracy of it very much. I watch a lot of the hunting shows and stuff and most of the Realtree team hunts with an Encore for rifle and muzzleloader hunts. I don't intend to ever get rid of mine and I don't really see it ever breaking on me, not much to go wrong with it.

a10acfan1

What exactly is the trick to floating the barrel with teflon / rubber washers or o-rings? Do you use more than one? I assume that you use one at each forearm screw.

falcon

Went out and bought an Encore with a muzzleloader barrel. Bought five center fire rifle barrels with quality scopes for that gun: What an awful decision. Despite an oversized hinge pin and the stronger locker springs, that gun still had side play with all the barrels, some were worse than others.

Sold four of those barrels at a loss and used the scopes to upgrade some of my bolt action guns. The .35 Whelen barrel did not have as much side to side play as the other barrels so i had it re-chambered for .35 Whelen Improved and kept it.

What with all the spiffy CNC machine tools, it is a sad commentary on TC manufacturing methods and their quality control that they are unable to eliminate that side to side play in their guns.

i have a Winchester model 37 "Steelbilt" shotgun that was made in the early 50s. There is absolutely no side to side play in the barrel of that gun. Guess that companies and their employees must have taken some pride in their work back then.

shooter1966

Absoloutly love mine! Have a .300 win mag, 20ga slug, 12ga Vent rib and a .50 cal ML barrels for it. It points great and is easy to carry.

Thinking of getting another frame and a wood stock so i can cut it down for the boy!

shooter

SWThomas

It really depends on what you'll use it for and what you expect out of it. If you just want it for a muzzleloader, it's one of the best out there IMO. I have an Encore Endeavor and LOVE IT! The only aftermarket part I've applied to it is a Bellm oversized hinge pin and it's dead accurate! If you're wanting it as a centerfire rifle, it's kind of hit/miss. Some people have gotten some great ones right out of the box. Some people have had to invest extra money in hinge pins and headspace kits to make them function properly.

IMO, if you're looking for strictly a centerfire rifle, go with a centerfire rifle. If you want a great muzzleloader, the Encore is a great investment.

Camosteel

Why do people feel it's okay to have to tinker with a new high priced rifle? If I pay that kind of money for a gun it better operate correctly right out of the box or it's going back from wherever it came from. Hinge pins, O rings, forearm work? On a brand new gun? If you like to tinker you can buy 3 H&R single shot rifles for the price of one of a T/C and tinker till your hearts content. Sorry guys, I know everyone is different but I just don't see the logic.

shooter1966

Camosteel it is quite common to "tinker" with all rifles...bedding barrels, trigger work, muzzle breaks etc. For 99% of the shooters out there an out of the box TC is just fine. IMO I think what some folks see as accuracy issues can be the incorrect choice of ammo or just plain a bad day shooting and the gun gets blamed.

bigbulls

I agree with bigcountry though I haven't fallen for the gimmick.

For the life of me I can not figure out why one would pay $600 or more for a poorly made, cast receiver, single shot rifle.

Those rifles should cost about $300 tops. Of course if they only cost $300 they wouldn't be able to pay the salaries of the masses of celebrity hunters that they employ.

Camosteel

Trying to make a MOA rifle into a sub MOA rifle is one thing, but having to tinker with a rifle that expensive to get it to shoot better than 2" seems crazy. To each his own, I'm just baffled by how many people do this with these guns.