Has anyone here used it? What were your experiences like?

I had one for years. It was an original 15" Encore barrel chambered in 270 Winchester. Eventually I had it rechambered in 270 JDJ. THe 270 Win pushed 130's to 2800 fps. THe JDJ rechambering boosted velocity of the 130's to 2950 fps without redline powder charges. I took several Whitetails out to 200 yards with it before I sold it.

As far as Encore pistol barrels go it was my favorite. It was a joy to shoot. It was accurate to < 1 moa @ 100 yards. Easy to control, fun to shoot & accurate. I had a Leupold 4x M8 mounted on an SSK TSOB scope base with 4 vertical Millet split rings.

Grips were factory walnut. It never hurt or caused any pain. Had no muzzle brake. I shot it from the bench and found that allowing the gun to simply rise & roll up in recoil was the best shooting method. Of course, doing so led the other guys at the range to remark about the "amazing" recoil it had. I knew it only just looked that way. When shooting from the blind a simple sand bag draped over the window frame steadied the gun well as I pushed the trigger guard hard into the bag prior to firing. Doing so left plenty of recoil room in the 8" window.

My daughter loved that gun. It was a nice carry package and a very trustworthy tool.

That is exactly what I was looking for. Do you mind sharing your loads? The wife gave me some cash for Christmas to get a barrel for my Encore. Right now the top 2 candidates are the .308 & the .270.

Two excellent choices. Of course I would add to at least consider the 280 Remington, my personal favorite.

270 Win 130 gr bullets:
58 gr RL 22
58 gr IMR 4831
54 gr W760

All of these produced < 1 moa at 2800 fps with Nosler Partitions


I load tested the 308, 30-06, 30-06 JDJ & even the 300 Win Mag in a 15" format. I don't recall chronograph use on any except the 300 Win Mag. I got 2800 with 165's with it but the recoil was not worth it. It wasn't violent but it was there. Of those the 308 was the most fun to shoot & the most accurate.


If I had it to do over again and given those two choices I'd go with the 308 without hesitation. It is easy to load for, fun to shoot, accurate & I just have a propensity for short cartridges.

I am having to watch the budget pretty close and the 2 that are available that I can afford and appeal to me are the .270 & 308.

Reloader,
I am fairly new to shooting the .308 in the encore mostly factory now but ready to reload,do you have any good loads for the .308 that you would like to pass on.
Thank you in advance.
Dave

I had the 15 inch 7mm-08 Encore barrel and for deer it is hard to beat . Recoil was nothing in this chambering.

6.5 Grendel not a bad choice but may need a custom bbl. I would prefer the lighter recoil myself. Just all depends on recoil tolerance. Can't imagine much difference in a 270 or 7/08 in recoil or performance in a handgun. Latter perhaps a little more efficient.

Ammo/component availability/preference would dictate choice. A 260 is also a good one.

I used 6mm TCU in a rifle, and 7mm TCU and 6.5 TCU in rifle cartridges, in the TC Contender handgun. 10 and 14"

What will you hunt? Deer or elk also? Range?

My favorite load was 150 BT's & either:
45 gr RL 15
46 gr 4064