Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Encore oversized hinge pin?

I'm having trouble with the groups out of my 25-06 Encore. On most all of my 5 shot groups I will have a flier or two about 2.5"-3.5" away from the rest of the group. Besides the fliers this gun does around .75" with a number of handloads. I'm starting to think slop in the hinge pin might be a culprit. Do the oversized pins actually help and if so which brand? Any help is appreciated. Brett

I had trouble with a 24 in TC .25-06 bbl for the Encore as well. I found that it shot best with 100 gr BT, but had the flier problem like yours. I thought forend issues first so changed them and watched closely to make sure the forend was positioned on the bag in the same position. My problem with the bbl was it never would get under 1.5-2.0 inches. I rechambered it to a .25-.300 win mag and it shoots just over an inch with almost anything. After that, a friend was having similar issues with his .25-06, also 24 in TC bbl. He cured his by necking down .270 win cases to a very hard "crush" fit to relieve possible head space issues and it did very well.
I would start by looking at the forend, then the hinge pin as a relatively cheap and easy thing to change out, but keep in mind it may be more than either of those can fix easily. That said, TC has great customer service so you can always send it in and they will send you a new one.

ED

I doubt slop in the hinge pin is to blame for your fliers but, as EyeDr noted, it's a cheap thing to try. You can get them from Mike Bellm. I use them but can't say they've made a huge difference in accuracy. My Encore 25/06 easily does less than 0.5 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards and it's not rare to get get groups in the 0.25 inch range or better. My best 3 shot group so far measured about 0.15 inches from center to center.

Other things to check if you haven't already done so, is to make sure your scope base/rings are still tight. A scope malfunction can also cause fliers. I had a 30/06 barrel with a flier problem. I sent it back to T/C. T/C recrowned the barrel and it now consistently does 1 MOA or better.

I had a multi-million dollar encore, did the Bellm pins, washer trick under the forearm, complained to the point I was sent a new barrel, and after everything, a friend told me to seat my bullets to the point when you snap it shut, the bullet touches the lands. That is the tricky part, I had to keep readjusting my die, untill the smoked bullet showed a mark. Make sure you use a dummy round for this. It turned my 2" encore into a 1/2" encore. My rifle was also a 25-06, and seemed to shoot the 120 sierra's the best. Good luck.

Hunter5325,

Is your flyer the 3rd or 4th shot???

Doc

I don't reload anymore; and to be quite honest I would have sold my Encore a couple of years back if it weren't for a Mike Bellm oversized pin and a trigger job.

Qtip
Soli Deo Gloria!

I think that TC had a problem with the .25-06 barrels, mine would not shoot under about 2" with anything! I have heard several other complaints about them.

Bob

Yesterday I took Nilwod's advise and seated 100gr NBT's touching the lands. Groups weren't great at 1.5" but it seemed to fix the flier problem. I will now try a few different powders and see how it does. Thanks again for all the replies. Brett

Doc Encore - the fliers have not been in any pattern at all, they are anywhere from the 1st to the last in 5 shot groups.

Hunter,

My 25-06 T/C Pro Hunter barrel will shoot 3 shots touching with the Hornady 120 gr. HP and 54.0 of H-4831SC and the bullets kissing the lands of course.

I free-floted the forend and used marine-tex to build up some forend pressure.

Doc

if you use a oversized pin can you use the standard holes in the barrels or do they have to be fitted..

I ordered a hinge pin "kit" from Mike Bellm. You get a 1x and a 2x; the 1x being the smaller of the two. I just tapped in the 1x and all the barrel wobble was gone. The pin fit only slightly tighter; hardly noticable. You don't have to do any reaming. Avoid that like the plague. Just use them as they come. Mike would explain in the instructions.

Qtip
Soli Deo Gloria!

Sitting here doing my morning check, I was just thinking I remember my Encore barrel having a 1-9-1/2" twist, and that is why I went to 120gr bullets. I usually shoot 100 gr bullets in the 25. I'm almost sure. Now my encore was an older one, but you may want to check your twist rate. Don

I strongly suggest going to Mike Bellm's website and reading all of his postings on the Encore. The man is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject of T/Cs and has literally seen it all. http://www.bellmtcs.com .

Consider doing a trigger job too. You can do it yourself with a little help.

Good hunting,
Elk

I have a 26" heavy barrel 25-06 that shoots 1/2" groups with factory Remington 100gr. This a 3 shot group at 100 yards. Going to try Federal Fusion 120gr ammo next. Haven't reloaded for this caliber yet. Is every body with the accuracy problem shooting a 24" barrel ?

Ken

Go to Mike Bellm's site and read every article there on making the Encore/G2/Contender shoot: understanding headspace, hinge pins, springs, do-it-yourself trigger jobs, and the evils perpetrated on us by the T/C factory. Start there and eliminate the variables. THEN go shoot your groups.
Good luck,
Elk