Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots T/C Encore vs Contender

What would be the pros/cons of either an encore over a contender or vice versa? I know the contender will shoot both rim fire and center fire cartridges and I think it is only available in lower pressure rounds. Guess I'm just looking for likes and dislikes for either or both.

The Encore is much heavier and therefore stronger. It is chambered in high pressure cartridges as well as shotgun and muzzleloader configurations. The Contender is much lighter and trimmer, and as you said it is chambered for medium or low pressure cartridges. I have a few Contenders with barrels in 7-30 Waters and .30-30AI as well as pistol barrels in .22 Hornet and .30 Herrett. They make a nice package for a walkabout rifle. I personally find the Encore too clunky to be appealing. If I were considering an Encore, I would look at the CVA Apex. The Apex is much more appealing to me.

Got no use for the Encore, but do use a Contender in carbine configuration quite a bit. Light, handy, fine stalking gun any day of the week. 3 barrels, .22 Short, .30 Sneezer and .30-30 Win. They are all MOA or better shooters.

Good info. Really wanting a single shot 223 and I love the 30-30 barrel. I've never seen one in person let alone held one. I had an encore pro hunter for a while but couldn't love it. I've been looking at the contender hard for the 223 and 30-30 mainly but also like the fact it will shoot rimfire. Good to know it fits the bill for what I was looking for: a short light accurate walkabout rifle. Keep observations coming!!

I personally like the Encore for the rounds it chambers, but it is bigger than the Contender. One advantage of any single shot is shorter overall length. My Encore with 26"bbl is about the same length as a 22" bolt gun.

At the beginning, they made .22rf bbls for the Encore.
IIRC the chamber offset so no changes to hammer.

Dunno if anybody doing aftermarket bbls of similar.

I like Contenders, had a few in handgun and rifle form.
Still have two, both "easy open". One is set up as 22 lr rifle, the other is .35 rem handgun.

Short and still not SBR- Super 16 in .35 rem. Cool gun, shot great....just wish it was 18.5"

Had to add weight to forend to help steady it. Worked fine, but I didn't like that short bbl, seeing the muzzle when I had it slung on my shoulder. Odd? Maybe. Still irked me. A little longer bbl and it would have a better look too.

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Get Both you can buy all kinds of calibers...... and configurations right here on the Fire, it only slightly addictive, I do not have a problem !

I like my Encore Pro Hunter. Have 7mm-08 and 45-70 barrels, both 24". Got rid of my bolt guns. The rest are all levers.

Sixpack from www.bellmtcs.com :
Basic Differences
Frame Sizes: Encore is bigger than G2 or Contender,
Barrel diameters where they seat in the frame: Contender/G2 13/16," Encore 1" so they do not interchange, thus,
Scope Bases: Encores have the larger radius on the bottom,
Internal mechanism: Contender has a hammer block, Encore and G2 sears lock the hammer at half cock,
Trigger Mechanisms: Two different types of Contender trigger groups both of which are removeable while Encore and G2 trigger mechanisms are not removeable,
Firing Pins: Encore is center fire only, Contender and G2 have a selector on the hammer to fire either centerfire or rimfire,
Hinge Pin Hole Diameters: Encore is 7/16" (.4375"), and Contender and G2 are 3/8" (.375"),
Internal Frame Mechanism Springs: No Springs in the Contender frame interchange with Encores & G2s,
Forend Screws: Contenders & G2s use No. 10x32, and Encores use No. 8x40 screws,
Hammer Extensions: Two different sizes for Contenders--vintage with the selector lever on top of the hammer is the same size as on Encore and G2,
Dry Firing: Encores and G2s should not be dry fired unless the firing pin bushing is removed and the fall of the hammer cushioned while Contenders can be dry fired continuously with no harm at all to the frame SO LONG AS THE HAMMER IS NOT COCKED (Dry firing simply releases the striker in the trigger group and gives the full effect of the trigger pull, independent of the hammer being cocked. Opening and closing the barrel resets the striker),
Forend Screw Hole Spacing: Hole spacings for handgun barrels is different carbine hole spacings in both Contender/G2 barrels and Encore barrels.
Grips/Buttstocks: Contenders, G2s, and Encores all take different grips, buttstocks, and forends.
The Encore action is almost a pound heavier than a Contender. The G2 Contender has stiffening bars on the side of the frame at the top like a Winchester 94 Big Bore. The original Contender has smooth sides. Much more info at Bellm's website.

I prefer old Contenders. Had G2's and Encore's briefly and let them go. Personally I find any of the awkward as carbines / rifles and let them go even faster.

The upside of the contender is it's a compact package and since it's been around for so long there is a huge market of used barrels out there. The downside is that due to the design of the frame you are limited in what backthrust the action can handle. It's important to understand the issue is backthrust as you can use the .223 and associated rounds that have a .378" casehead and operate them at full pressure. But when you increase the diameter of the cartridge, you have to reduce pressure. You can't use any of the rounds that use a .473" casehead and operate them at 65 kpsi (you can in the encore) but there are wildcats that run similar rounds at pressure that the contender can handle.

The encore can handle most any chambering you want to use, but it's a bulkier package.

Personally I prefer the compactness of the contender and can live with the pressure limitations of the frame. I had an encore but sold it before even firing it as I just didn't care for the bulkiness.

I have the original Contender the out the box trigger of which is much better than the Encore. I also bought it at the time when Fox Ridge Outfitters (Thompson/Center's custom shop) was still in business so got one of their very nice walnut thumbhole stocks for it. I don't like the composite stocks that are available for the Contenders but am happy with the ones for the Encore.

If all you want to shoot are smaller head size cartridges like the 223 Remington, 204 Ruger and rimfire cartridges, the Contender would probably be the best choice. If you wish to shoot more potent cartridges, the Encore would be the best choice. Also, I fail to see why a pound or two extra weight in an Encore should eliminate it from the running but each to his own.

I'm not sure why Thompson/Center put that stupid little divot on the front of the Pro Hunter forends; it makes the use of a bipod problematic. I also think the 28 inch Pro Hunter barrels are a bit of overkill (though I have one very accurate one). The barrels I like the best for the Encore are the 24 inch tapered ones.

Encores and from what I understand, G2 Contenders, benefit a lot from a trigger job. Don't believe all the hoopla about headspace problem; I've had probably 2 or 3 dozen barrels with no headspace problems.

Also, if you ever want to use the gun as a shotgun or muzzle loader, go with the Encore. If you intend to use either the Encore or Contender as a pistol, it's important to buy it and assemble it first as a pistol.

What Grumulkin said!

A recent review of a Contender .30/30 said the trigger pull was really heavy.

EABCO will sell you a new frame with the trigger already tweaked. If I were in the market, that's what I'd go with. A little more up front, but would save time, trouble, and money in the long run.

EABCO did the trigger job on my prohunter. Very nice now.

I use a regular Encore fore end with my 24" barrels. No problem. Gun is light enough to carry all day in the mountains.

wish the custom shop was still open, but S&W killed that when they bought TC. They used to do an "easy open" conversion, but no one else does it any more, that I have found.

I have an old Contender frame and a new-ish .30-30 carbine barrel, and it is very fine. Just damn hard to open Guess I could send it to Bullberry's and ask them to re-fit the barrel so it opens easier. Or else find a newer frame.

I have a Bishop thumbhole carbine stock. Bishop of course is long out of business. Those are the best feeling stocks I have found - perhaps someday I'll get someone to duplicate mine and start up a new supply

If you have a frame with a trigger job and have to send it in for warranty service, it will be returned with new parts and sans trigger job (at least that's the way it was when T/C wasn't Smith & Wesson). I got tired of paying eighty some dollars for a trigger job and bought Mike Bellm's spring kit and now do my own trigger jobs.

Regarding the "recent review of a Contender .30/30;" I would presume it was a G2 and thus has a trigger similar to the Encore. The original Contenders had a much nicer trigger that you really shouldn't have to do anything to.

Yup, it's a new one. Apparently they were largely unavailable for a bit. The pull on the reviewed example ran about 7lbs, which would make offhand shooting pretty tough with such a light rifle.

I always had a hankering for a one of the rifles, but now have a couple of falling blocks that scratch my SS itch pretty well. A stainless .22 would be handy, with maybe a .357 barrel on the side.

Trying to resist urge......

Are the contender pistols as good as the carbines? They look interesting