I’m 51 years old and been deer hunting my entire life, yesterday for the 1st time ever in my deer hunting career I experienced the dreaded “click” when pulling the trigger on about a 135” 9 point in SE ohio

I have no idea what is going on

.357 maximum that I loaded myself

I don’t know if I have a primer issue, headspace issues or something in my frame

It is now clicking regularly as I shot it again today, but the 2nd attempt goes off.

Please give me some ideas of what to check

I have lost confidence in this rifle

Thank you

I had one that the chamber was too deep but it was in 7mm-08. Having a rimmed cartridge should eliminate that issue. Weak hammer spring or possibly broken firing pin would be my guess.

I ordered a headspace shim kit from bellm today and a tool to check “gap” between frame and barrel when locked together

My other theory is i loaded with Jamison brass instead of my normal Remington brass

Don’t know

Have you checked the firing pin and spring?

I have a TC Encore that I have used for muzzleloading season. I also have a 45-70 gov. barrel for it. I like the gun, however will not use it for ,muzzleloading anymore. The reason is, cause it is hard to clean it inside the break open area and no matter how hard I try , I dont get it all. The TC Impact is much easier to clean. I have had it cleaned by a guns smith twice now . Once I couldnt even get the gun to open, the next time it just would not fire. I have heard they have week springs for the fireing pins too.

Things to check
1- Headspace with that brass. If the rims are too thick, it may affect lockup.
2- locking lugs fully engaged?(check with a felt tip pen). If not, the interlock will partially block the hammer fall. Install heavy lug spring from Bellm
3- Weak hammer spring
4-Make sure the stock bolt is not going into the frame too far(add a washer).
Firing pin free?

Curious, do you have a hammer spur on a pre- pro hunter frame??

Yes I do, I’ve had the same one on for 15 years

Yes it’s a pre-pro hunter frame

I have a headspace guage ordered from bellm and a shim kit

I also ordered a bellm hammer extension because mine is over 15 years old

Bingo...we have a winner.

I guess I don't understand your conclusion. Why do you think that? Is something broken in the frame because of it, or should I just remove it? This is essentially the only rifle I have hunted with for over a decade with no issues until now. I also shoot 500-1000 rounds of .22LR ammo thru it annually to keep me in practice. The only thing that has changed is loading the .357 Max with Jamison brass vs. Remington brass.

I believe it's a head space issue, and I will fix that with shims.

New Brass???? Check your primer pocket depth.

Get the extra power hammer spring from BELLM and check your headspace. Should be less than .005" at most. Two measurements are needed. Gap between frame and barrel plus the recess from the face of barrel to the face of brass case. Headspace can be fixed if that is the problem. You will need a set of feeler gages to close on the barrel and frame for the first measurement. The butt end of a dial caliper can be used to see how far your brass is sitting below the barrel face. Add these two measurements together to get the total headspace.

I have everything on the way from Bellm:

feeler gauge
51# hammer spring
shim kit
dial gauge

If I understand it only misfires with the NEW brass and fires fine with what you have been using for years?? Everything else is the same??

It was a firing pin spring

Lesson learned on my part. I was dry firing the rifle. Now I know that is a NO NO.

My frame is now completely rebuilt with a Bellm kit, including changing out the hammer spur with a Bellm one. Everything is working fine now. thank you to everyone that made suggestions.

$2 firing pin spring cost me a nice SE Ohio 3 1/2 year old buck

Sorry that happened to you. I hunted with my Encore frame for three more years after the hammer spur broke off due to a hammer extension. I even took my largest WT to date with it in that condition. I have some really expensive custom rifles. But, I prefer my Encore with its 280 custom SSK barrel. Hunted a lot with that gun.

I'm the same way, I sold off a Blaser R93 and multiple barrels, because I like hunting with the Encore better. Call me nuts

I’d say you are a discriminating, discerning gun owner with an appreciation for simplicity.