Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns T/C encore???

Been reading about the t/c encore single shot pistol. Think it would be a cool gun to shoot and hunt with, and my friend and i were thinking of possibly splitting the cost of one.
My question is, what is the recoil like on one of these in, say, 243 or 7mm-08? I am 13 and still new to handguns. Should i look into the 243 and get a new barrel later? Or will i be able to handle the 7mm-08?

Thanks,
-Hayden

Hayden,

Personally I didn't like the Encore too much as a pistol. The Contender was the limit of weight and akward balance I could tolerate. As for the .308 based cartridges, I guess it depends on what you're going to hunt and at what ranges. I have yet to not find a Contender cartridge that wont do the same job an Encore cartridge can do, but with less recoil and a much better balanced gun.

With a 7x30 Waters I have a friend who took a good sized White Tail at just over 200 yards. If you're going to go beyond that, then perhaps the Encore with a 7mm-08 would be better.

There are lots of guys who have taken Buffalo with a Contender in either .444 Marlin or .45-70 at a hundred or more yards.

See if you can handle one before you plunk down. I find the Encore very akward. And although I find the Contender akward, it's a good 100% less akward than the Encore...for me at least.

As for just quality, I've never had any complaint with the Contender or Encore. I had a .22lr Contender Carbine that was just wicked accurate and downright handy to take into the field. Sold it to a friend, he picked up a whole bunch of barrels. He calls it his modern American "German Stalking Rifle". (do a little homework on German Stalking Rifles and you'll see he's not far off).

One nice thing about the Encore, when you do make it into a rifle, it will become the best modern muzzle loader that money can buy. And with a 12ga barrel, it can do turkey quite nicely.

The Encores & Contenders are probably the most versatile hunting platforms in existence if you don't mind one shot at a time.

Kevin,
So you think i would be better to look at the contender? 7-30 or 30-30 sounds like it would be pretty effective, would either of these have outrageous or uncontrollable recoil? Would a shortened barrel to, say, 10 or 12 inches help with the weight/balance? Would the bullet be able to stabalize in a short barrel?

Thanks,
-Hayden

deleted double post

If you decide to go with a Contender, I have a 14" bull 7X30 waters for sale.

WeaselsRus,

This is merely a scheme in the making right now. I wouldn't have money for quite some time now, seeing that I bought a rifle this past summer, and taxidermy this fall.
But, if you could tell me how much i could expect to pay for a setup, that would be awesome!

Thanks,
-Hayden

Hayden,

I would have to agree with Kevin, although the encore in a 7-08, in my opinion, is very manageable, I do not like the encore in a pistol form. they are great as a rifle set up. Although I have never owned a contender everybody I have talked to say the contender is a much smaller frame and is much more comfortable to handle as a pistol. Not to mention the weight. The other cool thing about the contenders is that they made standard barrel's in a lot of the old popular caliber's. The encore's come in popular caliber's but like the 7-30 waters or a good old 30-30's are custom made barrels for the encore. If you decide to go with a rifle set up in a single shot I would recommend the encore. They are very comfortable to shoot, and I like the thumbhole composit stock they offer for them.
Let me warn you though if you get one they are like crack, once you get a barrel you want another one and then another one and so on.
How ever in the contender's there are some that are better to get and other's to stay away from. Having to do with hard to open verses easy open and some of the different safety systems on them.
Another piece of advise that I would offer is to get your self set up over on encoreclassifieds.com. The site is dedicated to the tc encore's and contender's, and there is a lot, a lot of good information over there. Hours of good reading over there.
That's my 2 cents of advice.
Good luck
Birddog

Well I'm just telling you MY experience; but yes I like the Contender better becuase I know that if you place your shots in the right spot, a deer isn't going to know the difference between a 7x30 Waters and a 7mm-08.

I've had a few Contenders, but the two best deer getters were the .30-30 and the 7x30 Waters, with my preference being the 7x30 Waters. Both of mine were 14" and I thought they were downright shootable. I made a shot on a wounded deer at 120 yards with an open sighted Contender in .30-30 offhand that went right into the engine room. So it balanced well enough to do that at least.

The 7x30 Waters has some minor advantages. First it is a slightly "improved" or "AI'd" cartridge in that the sholder is a touch forward and the case is blown out a little to provide a little more room for powder. Next the 7mm bullet gets you slightly better ballistic coefficients and sectional density. As for recoil, either will be noticably less than any of the .308 based cartridges in the Encore.

A 7x30 Waters in a scoped Contender is a good 200 yard hunting handgun (or short rifle). I like the Contender in 7x30 Waters for the following reasons:

1 - It's lighter, and balances better
2 - Recoil is noticably less
3 - It's cheaper (the gun that is)
4 - 7x30 Waters can still be had in factory ammunition, so cases aren't expensive or rare. Yet it's a good cartridge.
5 - Out of a handgun the 7x30 Waters will produce much less muzzle blast than any of the .308 based cartridges.
6 - Less recoil means it's easier on your scopes

So as a hunting handgun, I like the Contender. If you really think you'll convert it to a rifle, then the Encore opens up a lot more possibilities. If I wanted something to do everything, then I'd go with the Encore and just deal with it's piss poor balance as a handgun. But if I were setting up a rifle calibered handgun for hunting, and dedicated to that, I'd choose the Contender. (and personally, I like the old Contenders before the G-2's).

I am 53 and still can't get my hand around the Encore's large handle.

I think everyone is steering you in the right direction with a contender. I have three contender frames and two encore frames and I do not care for the encore as a pistol it is too big and bulky. But if you are going to try and shoot deer over 300 yards then the encore may be the way to go just because you can run bigger cartridges. Under 300 you will be very happy with a contender. As far as contenders the older pre G2 frames are way better than the G2s as far as triggers go.

In contenders I have a 7-30 waters, and 6.8spc both 16.5" barrels so they can be pistols or short rifles. I also have .223, 30-30 and .444 marlin in 14" and a few more barrels they are like crack you keep wanting more. My favorite barrel is the 7-30 waters it has low recoil and does an awesome job on what ever it hits. 7mm also has very good bullet selection and better ballistics than a .308 diameter bullet. My deer barrel is my .444 because where I hunt I am limited to a straight wall cartridge. My longest whitetail kill with the .444 is 319 yards, and yes the bullet is dropping like a rock at that point.

As far as length. I would go 12" or longer. A 30-30 in a 10" is a dud and the 7-30 isn't much better. 10" are nice for a .22lr or .410 barrel but not for a rifle cartridge.

If you are going to shoot deer longer than 300 yards then I would go with and encore in 6.5 creedmoor or .284 win and get a break on it so you can use a rifle scope on it to get more magnification. That's just my opinion.

If you have more questions or want more of my opinions feel free to ask

Thanks

Adam

I'm of the same opinion as most here. I enjoy my Encore in ML, rifle (45-70) and slug configuration. I picked up a 30-30 pistol barrel and find the Encore extremely awkward even with my large mitts.

I picked up a used Contender at a very good price with a 30-30 barrel. The ethos/size are much better.

sawcarver.....if you ever decide to off that 6.8 barrel just say the word.

George

You might find a used frame for $150-250 and a used barrel for $150-200, I've bought a bunch of T/Cs, most I've paid for the complete gun was $350. Pawn shops can be your friend.

Thanks for all the great advice guys.

Like i said, it will probably be a while before i am able to buy anything, but it would be cool to use it next fall.
I think the contender sounds like a better choice for me right now, like the old chamberings and the sound of ligher weight. 7x30 sounds like the best bet so far, and i think i should be able to handle it. 25-35 sounds fun to, remind me to write that down
How much should i expect to pay for a new g2 contender? a used one?
is it easier to shoot with rubber or wood grips?
what magnification would be good for a scope?

Also, what would be the shortest barrel length in 7-30 that would be accurate and provide reasonable velocities?

hrh2k, the Contenders are out of production and G2s are selling pretty high if you can find one. However, the G1 Contenders were made for decades and used ones are plentiful.

I like 12" barrels for my G1, because they balance better for me in the brush, but I mostly use pistol calibers. A rifle cartridge, like a 7-30, will benefit from a 14" barrel.

The real key to handgun hunting, in my opinion, is that you pretty much have to be an expert handgunner to do it successfully (dead critters, few wounded). A handgun is so much harder to shoot accurately than a rifle, and is less powerful than a rifle, so you have to know where the vital areas of the game are and be able to hit them very precisely.

You also have to be a pretty good hunter to be a handgun hunter, because you are going to have to get closer to make the shot than you would with a rifle.

In your place, I would buy a G1 with a .22LR barrel and shoot the rifling out of it. Based on your post, you aren't going to be able to afford enough deer-caliber ammo to get really, really good for a couple of years yet. I don't know what small game you have in MT, but we do a lot of squirrel hunting here in MO, and that is great training for deer hunting. Hunt and plink with the .22 until you're ready for the 7-30 (you'll know when) and have fun.

I have a 12" .22LR match barrel for mine, and it would put them all in one hole if I were a better shot. Great fun.

FyrepowrX is one of our resident T/C experts. You should get acquainted.



7-30 Waters, irons, 21" barrel.


DMc

If you like the .25-35 start scheming right now... Over the next year you want to find yourself a set of .25-35AI reloading dies for cheap. The non-standard dies are pricey but if you watch gunbroker and ebay you can catch a deal. Then find the frame and later get a .25-35 barrel. You can take the plunge and just buy one with the AI chamber or just send your std barrel to me and I'll ream out the chamber for around $50.00 (a bud of mine has the reamer).

Now generally I tell people that if they think they're getting big gains in velocity from an improved chamber, they're fooling themselves. But .25-35 is the one cartridge that will actually net you a very noticeable increase of at least 100fps, if not 200; while maintaining std pressure levels. The other benefit (and the best benefit for other AI chambers) is brass that will basically last forever. The straight wall means almost no (and sometimes absolutely no) back thrust on the cartridge, which means almost no brass stretching.

And you can still fire factory ammo in the AI chamber. .25-35 and .22 Hornet are the two absolute best cartridges to do an improved chamber on.

Just some food for thought.

With. Iron sights that rifle weighs around 5lbs. I'll bet she's a joy to carry in the woods. That's why more often than not, I carry an iron sighted Winchester 94; just carries like nothing else, and never fails to get the job done.

I've always been a fan of the Contender. To date, my favorite chambering was and still is .375 Winchester in the G2 frame. I've had'em in 7X30 and have to admit, it was a nice cartridge. I'd still have that one, but here in the communist state of Illinois, one has to use a straight wall cartridge for handgun...but it can be a damn long straight wall cartridge!

I didn't particularly enjoy the .45-70 Contender barrel I had. It wasn't outrageously difficult to shoot, but it wasn't at all fun either, even with a glove. There just isn't any need in my neck of the woods for the heavy weights...but I love and have .45-70 rifles.

The .375 is difficult to find these days unless you go custom barrels. Too bad as it's just about perfect.

One can shoot the Contender with a 14" barrel like a pistol, but it's not easy. Practice, practice, practice. It really shines when you use a rest like a monopod walking stick or some such aid. Another work around is a sling over the shoulders that you can push the weapon away from your body and it becomes a pretty rigid platform when aiming. These are pretty easy to make with nylon straps.

The Contender was one of the best ideas to come along in the shooting world. Scary accurate, easy to pack and addicting.