Does Anyone Actually Use an Encore?

I dont know anyone who depends on a magazine to make kills,you all must know some lousy hunters.Either that or shooting a singlre shot rifle instills some kind of holier than thow attitude that I seem to see posted by siongle shot hunters on many forums,as if you are on another level because you choose to use a cheaper,single shot rifle,I do notice that most of them have a shell holder on their stock or belt,guess even with a single shot you carry more than one round into the field?If you were really as efficient as you think you are one round should be all you need.If you carry xtra rounds then you are just hunting with a slow loading repeater that looks like a broom handle.
 
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NONYA

I have to come to the conclusion that your are not a fan of the TC and single shot format. That is OK. But it does seem that the replies to the original question are being answered by people who use them and also hunt ethically as I have no doubt you do with your choice of weapon.
 
Owning and using a single shot for hunting is not the result of a holier than thou attitude, just a simple preference. I own semi-auto and pump shotguns, but use my o/u's for skeet and sporting clays. I build AR's, have them in several calibers, not done either. Cut my teeth on bolt actions, own several from .338 to .17 HMR, nothing wrong with the platform.

This thread started asking if anybody USED an Encore. You are the one that jumped in and cast dispersions on the gun. Seems you got a case of Jim Zumboitis going actually.
 
I had a Ruger No.1 in 25-06.

It was a 26" bbl. & would really put them where you want them.

I was interested in the Encore for it's versatility factor. Different game...use another barrel.

Was just interested to know how you liked them, & how many DO change barrels & keep hunting.

My go-to calling rifle is an AR, but, I've never felt undergunned by using a single shot.

The Handi Rifles are a great concept, but they are just too crude for me. I like a more refined rifle. (No offense intended, just personal choice.)

It may be that the trend has been that more hunters in the East use them. I know the Savage 99 was much the same way. If you were a deer hunter in the Eastern US, you probably had a Savage 99 in 300 Savage....but that was years ago.

With the use of airplanes & driving to hunt out West, I think the gun choices might not be so regional nowadays.
 
I don't use an Encore but I do use a Contender. My brother and his son use Encore muzzleloaders and they each have a rifle barrel as well (.280Rem and .260Rem). I use my single shots for rabbits, grouse, pheasant, raccoon, deer, elk and coyote. I use it in .22RF, .410, .30-30, .45-70 and .223. Used a TCR87 in .30-06 for moose and a 10ga barrel for ducks and pheasant (loaded down).

I got into the Contender carbine for its light weight, reduced length and multiple barrels. It's small, it's handy and I've shot it enough since the early 1980s that reloading is more natural that cycling a bolt action, even though I grew up using a bolt gun. It's the little brother to the Encore, but I like it better. I did think the original Contender stock is slightly better looking than the new one or any of the Encore stocks.

If I need more power than what I get from my Contender, I think I'll buy a Ruger #1 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Sometimes the Contender and Encore are very accurate from the factory and sometimes they're not. Many of those who struggle with accuracy in either platform do so by treating it as a bolt action. They're a different animal, if you treat them right they work!

If you like the Encore/Contender concept then you'll have fun with it. Many people will do better with a bolt gun, and there's nothing wrong with that. NONYA makes some good points in favor of a bolt action - there are circumstances where one is better than a single-shot.

Choosing any single shot over a bolt gun is no different than choosing archery, muzzleloading, handgunning or opting for an AR. They all work, choose what you like and adapt your hunting style to match.

Oh, I'm not from the east. Born and raised in Washington state, living in Utah.
 
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I see them used in .50 ml because we can not use rifles to deer hunt.I use one myself but do not know of anyone who varmit hunts with one actually most guys in this area use shotguns.
 
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Where are all these spray and prey hunters you guys keep refering to?


Most are in Montana and a few in the S-W states... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I don't hunt with single shots anymore ,and i don't see anything wrong with them for hunting big game. With a little practice a single shot canbe reloaded and fired just as fast as a bolt gun, no big deal.. If thats all a guy can afford then use em..
 
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I see them used in .50 ml because we can not use rifles to deer hunt.I use one myself but do not know of anyone who varmit hunts with one actually most guys in this area use shotguns.



Works fine for me. I like having one trigger to learn.

FirstBlood.jpg
 
I have a 50ml and a 45-70 govt barrel. Both shoot really well. All encores do need a trigger job mine breaks at 3 lbs. Here in Indiana you can't use centerfire rifles for deer. I had a 270win pistol barrel with a muzzlebreak I installed to reduce muzzle jump, but now I will have a barrel made with a wildcat handgun round in a rifle barrel. It will be a cartridge that my neighbor came up with. It uses a 243wssm case shortened and necked up to a 35 caliber. He uses a 185 grn tipped bullet. So I will still be using my encore to deer hunt.
 
These are 2 .17 Remingtons. The top one is an Encore, the bottom one is a G2. I had to go to T/C because nobody is making a sporter weight .17 Rem in left hand.
The bottom one has a Bulberry 16 1/4" barrel on it, as it was intended as a walkabout calling rifle.

poleandrifle007.jpg


poleandrifle006.jpg
 
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This is the target I used to sight my .25 in. After I got it dialed in, I produced a 5 shot group of .88", the last one pulled cause I choked on shooting and honest one hole group. The first four shots were .412". Not too bad for a cheap ol' broom handle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif


Fiveshotgroup.jpg
 
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I had to go to T/C because nobody is making a sporter weight .17 Rem in left hand.
The bottom one has a Bulberry 16 1/4" barrel on it, as it was intended as a walkabout calling rifle.


poleandrifle006.jpg




I know nothing about TC's but I certainly don't see anything wrong with them. The left hand issue is something that most of us never have to deal with, so that's a very good point.
I shoot three 17cal's and have to ask what kind of velocity you give up with the short barrel? It's a handy looking little rig but in my mind, the velocity is what makes the 17rem tick. No flame,,, just curious???
Thanks
 
I haven't chrono'ed the two, so I don't statistically know. I look at it three ways: first, since I live in the South, that short barrel makes handling somewhat easier; second, since I hunt wooded areas for the most part, the wee beasties are gonna be up close to start with, so I'm not too worried about residual velocity at, say, 300 yds; third, when a cartridge starts out around 4000 f.p.s., even if my loss if fairly significant, at the ranges I'm shooting it is still very potent.

And if you think that dinky li'l 16 1/4" barrel is bad, I'm kicking around getting another G2 and using it in the pistol configuration in either .17 Rem or .17 Fireball with a 12 or 14" barrel, since my retarded state doesn't allow centerfire rifles during small-game season. So you can expect that the velocity in that configuration would be even less.

If I can ever get around to chrono'ing them I'll let you know what the numbers are. But I'll say this: that G2 is sure a quick and handy pointer!
 
I have had some from 223 to 45/70 and never had any problems what so ever with one ,the action is very sound and strong just like any single shot it does have it have the follow shop problems as far as speed goes but then the people that went west first seem to handle the handicap of follow up shot ok using the old smoke poles and it was more than a sport then. But then again I'am from the midweast so what do I know.
 
I dont have a problem with single shot hunters,I have a problem with single shot hunters who look down their nose at anyone who chooses to use anything else and tells tales of spray and prey hunters who relly on magazines to make a kill,generalizeing these people as the only ones who "need" a bolt gun to get the job done.The only problem I have with the rifle itself is how ugly I find them IMO.Some of these replys were posed in this manner,as if all of us hunters who carry a rifle with extra ammo n the mag NEED it,as if we were competent hunters we would also carry a single shot,arogance stinks.
 
I have a .50 ML pro hunter and love it I shot a ruger #1 in 25-06 for years hunted deer and antelope and never felt worried about 1 shot. Wear a wrist band with a few rounds and you can reload quite fast.
 
I had one for a few years then let it go. It was alright, but for whatever reason the gun just didn't grow on me. It shot pretty good actually but just wasn't for me. Funny though, as I do like the handgun version.
 
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I dont have a problem with single shot hunters,I have a problem with single shot hunters who look down their nose at anyone who chooses to use anything else and tells tales of spray and prey hunters who relly on magazines to make a kill,generalizeing these people as the only ones who "need" a bolt gun to get the job done.The only problem I have with the rifle itself is how ugly I find them IMO.Some of these replys were posed in this manner,as if all of us hunters who carry a rifle with extra ammo n the mag NEED it,as if we were competent hunters we would also carry a single shot,arogance stinks.



If you will check the chronology of this thread, yours was the first derogatory response, the first reply to a question,

"Go over to GBO there are guys spending $1000 to make them shoot on par with a $350 700 adl and then freak out when you ask them why...I have never seen one in the field,anywhere,must be an eastern thing."

No one who spoke on behalf of the platform "looked down their nose" at any other type of weapon. You intimated that a quick follow up shot was required of a real hunter, and when those who use the gun responded that if a multiple shots were needed, that is was readily available, you got defensive and insulting. Your second post,

"I like the ability to have a quick follow up shot,regardless of how confident you may be it could make the difference between lost game and dead game.Having a single shot doesnt make you a better hunter,just unprepared for the eventaulity of needing a quick backup.Nobody who carries a rifle with a magazine plans on needing that second shot,we ALL do what we can to make all kills one shot kills,we dont depend on it,but we have it when we need it,any hunter whos says he has never neede that second shot is either very inexperienced or FOS."

So I guess if one is from East of the Mississippi we are somehow less intelligent in gun matters, less able to place a killing shot and you are some paragon of knowledge?

Not one person who spoke in support of the Encore said that anyone who used anything else was less of a hunter, rather was defending the system against your tirade of one upmanship.

There was a whole bunch of guys who used single shots to settle the West, all of them from the East, taking on everything from bunnies to grizzlys with single shots, and they did O.K.
 


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