Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Thompson encore

What’s your thoughts on the Thompson encore? Worth keeping or move them on?

Love my Pro Hunter in 25-06, it's perfect for our deer season conditions !

Definitely a keeper! I've had one or more for over 25 years. It has been my muzzleloader of choice for that entire time and I have used a variety of rimfire and centerfire barrels. The factory stock is a good fit for me but aftermarket stocks are available. The cartridge choices are unlimited and the barrel length and contour options allow a user to get exactly the preferred balance point. You can customize the rifle one step at a time.

The Encore is quite adequate for a single shot, plus it can give you a change to a muzzle loader or a change to different cartridges, at will, depending on the hunt. It is a very versatile platform, especially for backpack hunters.

This has been a pretty good antelope rifle for me. 25-06

Love mine. It's not going anywhere.

I have two of them, one is a 7-08 , purchased an mgm barrel for it, the other is a standard 30-06, the 7-08 mgm barreled one is a 1/2” gun while the 06 holds about an inch with 150 partitions. Took many deer with the 06 one.

Got mine around 17 years ago, when I decided I needed a muzzle loader (.50 in-line.) while I was at it, I decided I should have a specialized turkey gun, so ordered a 24 inch camo turkey barrel with turkey choke and rifle sights. Hadn’t had a quarter bore in some time either, so why not a 26” .25-06 AI barrel, stainless? By the time I had the three barrels and scopes for the ml and .25-06 AI barrel, my muzzle loader cost me $2200. I can’t complain. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it and it’s worked well for me.

Love my Stainless Encore, non-Pro Hunter. No plans to get rid of it although prices have skyrocketed lately. Fantastic muzzle-loader platform, or anything else for that matter.

i have 2 Encores and 3 MGM rifle barrels (20 Vartarg, 444 Marlin and 500 Linebaugh) and a muzzleloader barrel. i going to stay with it.

Keep it mine is a keeper EABCO 26” stainless 260.

Liked my encore and contender but decided to sell once i streamlined my cartridge selection and the barrels became a bit too pricey for my taste. Resale was good though!

Guess I'll be the Nay Sayer. I got on the Encore wagon years ago. I think at one time I had 5-6 barrels. Granted the muzzle loader barrel is top notch, very accurate. But some of the other barrels not so much. What turned me off the most was customer service. I had a 25-06 heavy barrel that would not shoot. Average groups 2-3 inchs at 100yds with a bunch of different factory and hand loads. I called T/C and talked to several different people only to end up talking to the same guy who I talked with first. I sent the barrel in, they sent it back saying it was in spec. Loaded all my stuff up and sold it at a gun show for a pretty stiff loss. I do have a Contender now and it shoots pretty good. No more Encores unless I can get it cheap enough to make a buck or two off it but I do like the Contender platform.

I guess one doesn't have to worry about customer service these days as T/C is no longer.

Gotta muzzle loader and everything required for a handgun except a barrel. Looking forward to it once it’s together.

Started serious hunting in 98 and that with an Encore. I had two SSK Industries barrels, 7 Wby & 300 Wby. Still use the 7 Wby today. The gun is quite capable of hunter bench-rest accuracy. Have taken many, many animals with those two barrels.

My barrels have all shot very well. .50 MZL, 22-250, and a .444 Marlin. I have considered getting a .308 or 7mm-08 built around 20” for a can but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. It would make a very handy blind or climber setup . A 25-06 would be cool too but 24-26”.

I'm more of a Contender fan, but I do have an Encore with a .25-06 rifle barrel...I hate to admit I've had the rifle a couple of years and still haven't shot it.

I have two them, one is my favorite turkey gun. The other is set up as a muzzle loader. You can get a rifle barrels, fromt MGM, they make an excellent barrel.

Bought my first TC Encore 50 Cal in 2001. Followed with a 270 barrel. Both are very accurate.

Jumped on the Encore wagon after shooting a buddies and watching him switch from a 50 cal muzzy to 375 H&H in 2 mins. There was a time where I had killed more deer with the 50 cal barrel than any other gun I owned. Now have a blued frame to go along with my stainless, I bought the encore with the intention of going the wildcat route with 257 Ackley and 280 ackley cheaper than going full custom gun route. After 15 years finally ordered a 6.5 PRC barrel they all shoot if I do my part.

I’ve owned multiple Encores for well over 20 years and killed A BUNCH of stuff with them. I got my son and daughter set up with their own Encores, and they’ve killed a bunch of stuff with them.
I had an elderly member of a local hunting message board I’m on reach out to me in October and ask if I would take his Encore 6.5x55 pistol and kill a deer with it. He shot it competitively in long range matches when he was younger but never killed anything with it, and he’s not able to hunt anymore himself. Of course, I did it, and now I’ve put together my own Encore pistol and am dabbling in handgun hunting.

I can’t tell the OP what’s best for him as to keeping or selling his Encore, but I’ll say that it’s a seller’s market on Encore stuff. If you want to sell it, it’s worth a lot more as “parts” than it is as a whole gun.