How accurate can a T/C Encore be with an after market barrel ? Like a Bullberry or E. a Brown?

Likely more accurate than most shooters. A lot will depend upon the barrel, chambering, load, and shooter - same as with any other rifle.

having the trigger worked over and reduced to ~3lbs really helped my encore.

I've got one in 708 with a factory barrel that shoots minute of barn! You'd be lucky to hit the side of a barn with it at 50 yards! I quit buying barrels for it after that and now keep it for friends that think they might want to buy one!

I have seen quite a few at the range with Bullberry's that shoot great! BUT they always had a little more done than just a custom barrel.

I have a couple centerfire barrels for my Encore. On average, I don't think it's as accurate as my bolt guns. My TC Venture is a more accurate rifle. The Encore muzzleloader barrel is not as accurate as my CVA Optima.
If I had to do it over again, I'd pass on the Encore.

I jumped on the Encore train when I moved to Iowa and didn't want to shoot shotguns at deer. I bought a factory .454 Casull barrel and ran cast bullets through it. 1-2 MOA was normal from 50-100 yds and I could consistently bust milk jugs at 200. I switched over the .357 Max a few years later with a little more precision. I currently live in Minnesota and shoot a 17" MGM .260 Rem barrel that I can hold MOA out to 300 yds for deer hunting in the slug zones. I have worked my trigger over and used custom barrels and I'm very pleased, but if I could use a different rifle I wouldn't own an Encore. It's a niche product for me and fills that niche very, very, very well. But I'd much rather use almost any other rifle in my arsenal. I had a 6PPC barrel, TC factory barrel, for several years and shot more than a couple of 10 shot groups in the .3"-.4" at 100 yds.

Just put a 24" MGM .260rem barrel on a Pro Hunter frame. Belm 1x hinge pin and EABCO 3lb trigger job. Used SSTs to get on paper and then switched to Accubonds. Shot 3/8" at 100yds, but I'd only had a few ABs to shoot. Looks promising. I like the little rifle.

Some barrels are very accurate, some not so much. A custom hinge pin to take out the slop helps, as does using once fired brass that's only neck-sized.

I've been told just the opposite; that headspacing is critical for a consistent lockup of the action and that you don't want a "crush-fit" for best accuracy. You instead want brass sized down just below that level, so there is neither excess "rattle" nor "crush". Any truth to this? It would make sense. I will say that I ran some handloads through this new rifle that had been minimally sized for a .260 bolt gun I used to own and these loads did not shoot too well.

ll I know is, after I got a new (Larger) hinge pin and started using fired and minimally-sized brass, my .223 started shooting tiny groups. So maybe I should've said "minimally-sized."

Here's another question--if headspacing is critical, why wouldn't you want a crush fit?

I don't think my sample of one necessarily proves anything, but you could say the same about your sample of one, especially since your handloads had been sized for a different rifle.

I played with them for a while. Had a .308 from Virgin Valley that was super accurate and had a great trigger. Fair accuracy out of several factory barrels, never had one that was a dog.

I really liked carrying one with a turkey barrel. Light and simple for turkey. I liked them for muzzleloading when using non-smokeless because of how easy they were to clean (and they were accurate). For center-fire I much prefer a bolt.

I'm like you, I would have thought a slight crush fit would be best, but read that it does not allow the action to close the same way each time, promoting larger groups. I've read others on forums saying the same thing, that their handloads shot like dogs until they sized them down far enough. Just a theory that's out there.

I will say that I prefer bolt guns, like others here have noted, but I got this one because my wife shoots lefty and with this rifle we can carry just one gun when we hunt together. I do like the balance and short overall length of the rifle. It is as short as my 20" 7mm-08 bolt action and only goes 7.7lbs with the fairly heavy 24" barrel and a 3-9x40 Leupold.

The crush fit in the Encore chamber creates inconsistent tension in the frame - I've chased this tail a fair bit. I ended up getting Mike Bellm's headspace indicator for my Encore and have my dies set to allow just under .001" headspace. Once I had the headspace correct, groups shrunk with each bottleneck barrel I have used. It's the minimum headspace without putting pressure/tension on the frame with the crush fit. Does that make sense?

MY 30-06 is a solid 1.25-1.5" shooter after some tweaking. I put a belm spring in the lug for a stronger lockup and hammer spring and put in a 1x oversize pin. Before that it was a 3" gun. After the same springs on the 45 cal muzzleloader barrel I am shooting about 1.25" 3 shot groups at 100 at nearly 2400 Fps with a max load of bh209 and a 195 gr Barnes. Should do well on our muzzleloader opener tomorrow!

That makes sense, I just didn't see the same with my .223.

I had an Encore in 17MachIV that shot many 5 shot groups in the '3's and an occasional '2'. For me the key was a good forend. I started with a factory forend and had inconsistent stringing. Once I ordered a custom pillar bedded forend all was well.