Encore Rifles

[TN deer hunter]

Has anyone else had trouble getting their Encore rifles to shoot? My cousin has one in a .308 an I have one in a .300 win mag and neither of them will shoot better than 3" groups, some ammo groups even larger. These are all with factory ammo.

 

[BigBlue]

T N deer hunter,
I'm sorry to hear that. I had an Encore in .243 a few years back. It could keep factory ammo inside an inch all day long. I can't say for sure what the problem is that your experiencing, but here's a few thoughts that come to mind. Handloading may be your answer, by customizing the load to match the rifle. What size bullets are you using in your factory ammo? Is it possible that they are too heavy for the rifling twist rate? Break action single shots can be finicky guns, you might also want to try to float the barrel. If you put a rubber o-ring around the forearm holdown screw, between the forearm and the barrel, it may help. It may also respond to varying the tension on that screw. I hope your luck changes with that rifle.
Don

 

[longwinters]

TN,

Check out Graybeard Outdoors. There are forums there specifically on the Thompson rifles and pistols. Tons of info from alot of guys that shoot these. Many deal specifically with what you are asking.

Long

 

[designated harvester]

I'm looking to buy an Encore but having trouble finding what I want, Stainless receiver and barrell with walnut or laminated thumbhole stock. Talked to Larry Weishuhn Sunday and he promised to help me get one.
Was talking to a friend of mine who has several Contenders last night and he told me he met a Thompson fan a few days ago who told him he had experienced problems recently with barrell crowns on a couple of Encore barrells. One he had recrowned by a local gunsmith and was happy with the results, the other he returned to Thompson who stated it was fine and returned it without fixing the problem. You might want to check the crown on your gun.
He also stated the trigger on Encores are not adjustable. Not happy to hear that as the trigger on Contenders I have played with really impressed me. Going to ask Weishuhn about that when I talk to him again.
Pancho

 

[dsnook]

Hi Gang....I'm new here, but not new to Encores. While some of them shoot very well out of the box, some do not. I have what was a .308 win that did not. I sent it to Bellm TCs to be rechambered to what is a rimmed & lengthed 308. This cleaned up the chamber and tighted the throat...while doing the same to the groups. It is still finicky, but it did cut group sizes in half. I would do a search on Bellm...they have a fine forum that you can get lots of info on.

The trigger while not "adjustable" is fixable. With new springs and directions from Mike @ Bellm TCs I got my trigger down to 3# from 7#, and it is nice and crisp. It is entirely possible to get it under 1#.

D

 

[Swift516]

Hi,
You might try placing some forend pressure on it. This can be done by inserting a rubber washer at the end when you put it back together. This seems to work on rifles that are shooting in the 3" range... Let me know if it works....

 

[nyspeedtriple]

Well this is my 3rd barrel on this rifle and it's a 300 win mag. I'm currently reloading for it but I've had really tight groups with federal ammo and winchester ammo. It really didn't seem to like the remington ammo and I'm currently using 130 and 165 bullet loads with great success. Even though it's a magnum the 3 shot groups I get at 100 yards are less than an inch and that's only with the starting loads I'm using. The only modification I have installed is a sims recoil pad and a bellm 2 pound trigger spring. The spring was interesting to install since I had my share of inadvertant flight but it really helped out. I also stoned the action with the online instructions from Bellm and that made the trigger even slicker. I also have a muzzleloader barrel which I floated the barrel from the forend by using two washers and with 2 pyrodex pellets and a 245 powerbelt I get cloverleafs at 100 yards. This is an early Encore before the fire at the plant and it started life as a 30/06 pistol. As for my reloads I'm keeping the bullet 20 thousandths shy of the rifling and this barrel has a large free bore but it shoots great even at the listed 3.340 overall length. I just recently used some foaming bore cleaner to get rid of the copper fouling but normally I just use a bore snake for normal cleaning.
Hope this helps answer some questions.
Another options for barrels and Encore stuff is to check out www.eabco.com since their prices on barrels are quite cheap as well as laminated stock sets for $119.00

Scott

 

[huntswithdogs]

I have an Encore with 2 barrels. Both are heavy 26"ers. (1) in 25-06 and the other is a 300 WinMag. Neither barrel showed decent groups untl over 100 rounds ahd been fired thru both. I've used JB paste on both to smoth them out. The 300 will shoot 1" or less with 180 gr RN Speers at 100 yds. The 25-06 is under an inch with 117 gr bullets and a max load of H1000.

If I had it to do over,an Encore would never cross my door again. Now that I've got them I'm making the best out it.


HWD

 

[Blaine]

I have an Encore hand gun (15" barrel) and I was having the same trouble. The first thing I did was put some plastic washers between the barrel and fore grip. Then I changed out the hinge pin to an over-sized version I got at http://www.bellmtcs.com Those 2 things made a BIG difference. Another thing to try is placing your front bag/rest as close to the trigger guard as you can. Now I'm also hand loading for both my 243 & 308 barrels and I'm getting respectable 5 shot groups: .40" @ 50 yds with the 243 and .50" @ 50 yards with the 308. If you check out the link above, there is a forum devoted to T/C's along with a web site with all kinds of good information on T/C's. Mike Bellm has been working on only T/C's for the past 26 years and has heard and seen it all. He is a very good person to talk to and will always respond to your emailed questions. Check it out.

Good luck.....Blaine