Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Encore pro hunter

Has anyone had a tc encore that would shoot good consistently. I have tried a few but get frustrated with them and send them down the road. I like the guns so I kept trying them. Any success stories out there?

I have a TC Encore with Pro Hunter 28" fluted SS barrel and a 45/70 Pro Hunter Khatadin carbine fluted SS barrel.
It is walnut stocked with a Limb Saver buttpad and iron sights.
Was thinking of scoping it but it gets the job done and then some - more accurate than I can shoot anyway.
Load development helped zero with the ranges I hunt

I have several Match Grade Machine barrels for my Encores and they all shoot extremely well.

I had a 280 and 6.5x55 custom shop barrel that shot good. I have a 6.5x55 AI, 260 Rem. and a 358 winchester now that are MGM barrels and they shoot really good. I also had a 26 inch heavy barrel in 30-06 that shot good.

I found a Pro Hunter pistol for sale.
The bbl is blued w a stainless comp, .454 Casull,
Has TC writing on it,
I dunno if the bbl has been modified or was factory offering.
Thinking about getting it for the frame, make into something else.

Love mine, 25-06 !

It's as accurate as the guy behind it.

If I make one into rifle I'd like a stock that isn't thick at wrist.
Might have to go synth.
Dunno if anybody makes such in aftermarket.
Barrel? .22 " .300 Savage I'm thinkin'
Make this my nasty weather rifle.

the only one that I had that diden't shoot good was a 260 Remington barrel.. its gone.

Everyone I have owned shot well. I like their simplicity

I've had a BUNCH of them. Of those many barrels, there were two that didn't shoot well. I sent one back and it was fixed by T/C & then shot fine. The other one I sold to someone who was OK with "minute of deer."

For rifles, the usual performance is in the 0.6 to 0.75 MOA range and that includes a 300 Winchester Magnum with the Pro Hunter barrel. I've had 3 scoped handgun barrels (one by Match Grade Machine) that would put 3 into about 1.5 inches at 200 yards. The Match Grade Machine barrel was in 375 H&H Magnum.

Yea, I really like them.

I have one with a TC custom shop.26” .25-06 AI barrel...shoots well enough...killed a caribou at 400 yards and a few deer, none of them particularly long shots. I have a .50 inline ml barrel for it also, shoots as well as any ml I’ve seen. Also a 24” 3” 12 ga turkey barrel which puts them down pretty well but is somewhat unpleasant to shoot, probably weighing about 5or 6 pounds.

I have had a 223, 243, and 204 in an encore. All shot sub moa without issues.

The OP mentioned Encore's shooting consistently (or Contender's for that matter). Due to the design of the Encore/Contender action to reload the rifle it must be removed from the sandbags and/or forend rest to reload. Getting it back on the rest consistently is one factor in shooting consistently.

Another factor is how you close the action. I have a 20 BR built by Virgin Valley CG that will shoot five shot groups as small as 3/8 of an inch. The same rifle with the same load also can be made to shoot groups that are three inches tall and 3/8 wide simply by closing the action in a non-consistent manner. If I "snap" the action closed I get the 3/8 inch groups. If I simply just close it and not paying attention at the force applied to close the action; I can produce the three inch tall group.

Bottom line, it takes (at least for me) a lot more attention to detail to shoot great groups with the T/C's than with a good bolt gun.

Hope this helps the OP.

I've had 2 out of about 25 that wouldn't shoot, one was a 26" pro hunter and the other was a custom MGM that I sent back to MGM. Most of the rest were 24" older barrels. I have a 20 ga fully rifled thats killed deer at 140 yards exactly where it was pointed. My favorite is an 18" Katahdin in 444 that creates cloverleafs at 50 yards.
I've had a few forends that had to be sanded from warping and one needs o rings between the barrel and forend.
I've not had a lot of experience with the newer ones since S&W took over but have no reason to think they would have tampered with what has worked for so long.
Good luck but be careful, if your first one is a shooter it can be addicting.

Have hunted since 1991 with Thompson single shots. Have had a 6.5 JDJ, 270 JDJ, 280 JDJ, 30-06 JDJ, 35-06 JDJ, 7 WBY & 300 WBY. All shot/shoot under MOA. Have taken animals many times with each of them in either rifle or handgun format.

My 35 whelen is a good shooter.