Thoughts on Thomp Cen Encore?

[Typetwelve]

Here's the rub, I want a lever action rifle in 460 S&W...but I can't justify the price of a Big Horn Armory.

So...being that I want a rifle for shooting the round, a Thompson Center Encore came to mind. It's not my first choice...but that ability to swap barrels seems really awesome. Looking online, I've read some mixed reviews here/there.

With that said, here's what I'm looking at:

https://www.eabco.net/TC-Encore-Pro-Hunter-Stainless-Rifle-Frame--Bare-or-with-Stocks_p_14775.html

I was contemplating getting their trigger job done. The Pro Hunter stock looks solid, but I'd like to hear thoughts on that as well.

As for the barrel, this one seems solid:

https://matchgrademachine.com/produ...6-twist-integral-brake-heavy-factory-contour/

I know it's going to be a while until most of these things are available, so I have plenty of time. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[eastbank]

i have a ruger #1 in .460 S&W, not cheap but solid as a tank.

 

[Typetwelve]

That's an interesting option, but by the looks of it, Ruger doesn't offer it in 460 S&W anymore? The barrel options on the Encore are a big selling point as well...

 

[WestKentucky]

The encore is not as refined as the older contenders are from what I gather, but they can be made very nice with a little bit of trigger work. Swapping barrels is easy, which means swapping calibers is easy, so you get an awesome trigger and stock set and then you just keep it rolling with new barrels in a variety of calibers. So it’s easy and it’s awesome so it quickly becomes a sickness. I have a contender and am looking at an encore just for a few rifle rounds that the contender can’t handle. A few barrels later you will wonder what happened.

 

[doubleh]

Might I suggest going to hausofarms.com and looking around. His prices are better and includes free shipping. He has the same problem with being out of stock at this time also. If you have any question Marty is very helpful and knowlegable. I have had a few e-mail conversations with him this past year concerning Contenders and he has been quick to respond.

By the way, after doing some research on the subject a while back I found the trigger job to be fairly simple and something just about anyone can do themselves unless they are totally inept at working with mechanical devises.

I think the Encore would be great for what you want to do and there is that extra barrel thing. I'm not much of a fan of changing a firearm around for different calibers except when it's a contender or encore. You get to keep the same stock configuration and trigger plus the switch takes very little time. Two screws and a pin, out and back in, and you are ready to go.

 

[BigBlue 94]

The Contender/Encore game is a deep dark rabbit hole.... Once you get one, the urge for more and more barrels takes over. I have a G1 contender with 10 or 11 barrels. 22, Hornet, Fireball, and the triple deuce, all the way up to 357 Herrett and 44 Mag. They are a lot of fun.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

The MGM gang was very good to me with the two Encore carbine barrels I ordered (.22 K Hornet and a custom .357-necked- to-.308). Both are tackdrivers.


I like the functionality of the Encore/Contender switch barrel concept, but in practice once barrels get mounted they tend to stay there. You start out thinking you'll have extra barrels, but there's a good chance you'll just end up with entire extra firearms.

BTW, if you ever exchange a carbine buttstock with a pistol grip, do yourself a favor and use the opportunity drill a hole (use a Forstner-type bit) through the TC logo on the grip's plastic baseplate so that you can remove the stock screw directly next time. Having to also remove and replace those stupid little factory baseplate screws to take the grip/stock off is silly.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I have probably had a dozen frames and who knows how many barrels

if you want a platform to spend hundreds on to just shoot “acceptable” groups then the Encore is for you.

I had a 460 20” barrel when they first came out. Recoil was amazingly bad. Like break scope rings bad! 500grain 45/70 has NOTHING on factory 460 loads in a sub 7lb gun.

 

[WestKentucky]

I had a 460 20” barrel when they first came out. Recoil was amazingly bad. Like break scope rings bad! 500grain 45/70 has NOTHING on factory 460 loads in a sub 7lb gun.

That is a point that is worth mentioning and has been discussed on here repeatedly. There is an odd twist to recoil with contenders, and I blame the geometry of the high bore axis and low grip on the pistols. No matter what the actual cause is, the recoil breakdown is that centerfire bottleneck rounds are tame, and big straightwalls feel somewhere in the neighborhood of being kicked by a rodeo bull. In a pistol, mild 44mags are my limit, and I can shoot a 500s&w revolver much easier. I have shot 7-30 waters, 30-30 ( both contender) 270, 308 (both encore) and they are no comparison at all to a full house 44 mag, 444 marlin, or 45-70. I no longer own big bore straights in a contender pistol and will not own one again. In an encore I wouldn’t even consider the rifle straight walls.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I like my Contenders well. Have never owned an Encore as they are rather chunky/heavy and I didn't have a need to shoot the hotter rounds which it allowed me to do, or at least not in that design.

I would look for the Ruger #1, there will be some out there.

 

[db_tanker]

Contenders can run fairly decent cartridges, Encores can run some scary stuff. I've had the "pleasure" to shoot a 460 Weatherby 15".

Brisk...yes...brisk recoil comes to mind.

Muzzletamers and brakes are very important to think about. I have one on my 16" 45-70 Contender. I don't on my 14" 35 Remington and 14" 44 Mag. That being said the two 14" pistols are awesome walking guns. I also have a 16" 223 and 20" custom shop 17 HMR that are both awesomely accurate.

BigBlue 94 called it...its a damn rabbit hole...a fun one to be sure...but once you get ONE...it will procreate into many.