Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Encore vs Henry

Illinois will be allowing single wall cartridges, single shot only for deer hunting next year, so i need to get a rifle setup. Looking for opinions on what you would do. Have decided that i think i want to go to the 350 legend. Option #1 buy Henry single shot, approx $500. Option #2 i have an Encore Muzzleloader, i could buy a barrel approx $500, and a new forend which will run between $50 -$150. Option #3 ?? open for suggestions. Thoughts

I’m a fan of the TC single shots. However, Henry is still in business and providing service/parts. Probably can’t go wrong with either choice.

CVA Scout V2

Buds CVA Scout V2

Your Encore’s not one of the fixed-barrel FXs is it?

I like my Henrys a lot, but the Encore barrel is a simpler transaction with no FFL needed, and you can get whatever length and weight your heart desires. Also, once you buy the forend, you’re all set for more barrels.

Still, pick the one you like best.

Match Grade Machine

Build A Custom Barrel
T/C Encore Prohunter Rifle Barrel – 350 Legend
$515.00 – $575.00

I have 2 MGM barrels for my pro hunter. They shoot great, very accurate.




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I just bought a CVA V2 scout in .350 legend for this season. Love that rifle!

Big fan of Match Grade Machine barrels. I have several and really like how they shoot.

I have to ask again because this same question is on my mind. How do you justify the cost of a $500-$600 barrel from MGM when you can buy a new complete Henry rifle for about $150-$200 less if on sale?

Nothing wrong with buying a new rifle. Either the Henry or the CVA V2 scout. Both Good guns. As far as your question.


The same reason some people rebarrel a rifle with a Brux, Bartlien, Krieger, Douglas, Hart, etc. Factory barrels shoot good. But it has been my experience that a custom barrel is more accurate and you have options as far as length, diameter, contour. My MGM barrels shoot better than the barrels they replaced. YMMV.

I looked and looked for a barrel for my TC Contender for this reason. Nothing under $500 that would work for ILL deer season. I picked up a Henry 357 for $450, and then a CVA Scout 44 for $350.
Going to let one of the boys use one and if I'm still laid up come mid Jan season, they can each use one.
I thought about the 350 but I'm set up with everything to load for the others with bunches of bullets, moulds, powders and so on.

I went and looked at a Henry rifle with plans of just buying one of them, even though it is a nice gun i left gun shop thinking it is not near as nice as the encore, thats why i asked this question to get others thoughts. I have been looking at barrels and forends for the encore and it seems like the forends are the hard thing to find. Then after looking on gunbroker at what encores are bringing it makes me wonder if i should sell encore, buy the Henry and put the remainder in my pocket. Good thing Deer season is months away

My experience with one MGM barrel wasn’t very good. The headspace was grossly excessive on my G2, so much so that it would unlock upon firing at times, and accuracy was terrible (no surprise). MGM wanted me to send the entire rifle to them, presumably so they could shim it, which would’ve made it unusable with the .22 barrel I also owned. The well-known Contender specialty shop that sold it to me said that my experience was far from atypical with MGM Contender barrels. Everything else about that barrel seem first-rate, and I was very disappointed. Encores are much simpler to shim when needed, and if my rifle had been one of those, I would have kept it and shimmed it as needed.

Your points about the options with a custom barrel are spot-on, and might well decide the issue for me IF I had an Encore already.

Evidently, Remington is bringing out the .360 Buckhammer. A 30/30 case blown out and utilizing .358 bullets, .195 longer case than the 357 Max, for you straightwall states.

The more, the merrier.

Action?

Exactly what I would get. Much better than the 350 Legend in an encore platform

This is the first I've heard about it.

I just read the article in Guns & Ammo. Looks like it is only going to be in lever action rifles now. Maybe more info will be available after the shot show. The case measures 1.8 long. Shoots a .358 bullet at 2217 fps.

Just rerelease the 375Win.

Google Haus of Arms, Ed's TCs, and E. A. Brown for Encore stuff.

Nothing new. The 35-30/30 has been around for 50 years under various names as a wildcat chambering. I'm sticking with my good old reliable 375 Win.;