Encore Q’s

I have a TC Encore Muzzleloader. I’m thinking about getting a rifle barrel for it. For those of you who have used the Encore rifle barrels, how do they shoot? Accurate?

It sounds like the Encore, Pro Hunter and Endeavor barrels and parts are all interchangeable. Correct?

[edit… Looks like there are some differences between Encore and Pro Hunter barrels (price, length, etc…) Any real difference in preformance? Are they really interchangeable between models, or am I mistaken??]

Sooooooo… When changing from a muzzleloader barrel/stock, will I need to buy a new stock to fit a rifle barrel?

Any other info that might help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Mike

I have a 22-250 barrel on mine. Groups tighter then any other gun I have. I have the pro hunter.

I had an Encore muzzleloader… very accurate rifle w/ 90 gr. of Triple 7 and the 250 gr. Shockwaves. I also purchased an extra barrel for it in .204 Ruger/ heavy contour. In my experience the barrel seemed tempermental. It would change point of impact and was inconsistent. After doing a lot of research on how to get more accuracy out of it, I ended up trading it for a heavy barreled Savage .204. I have heard of others having better results, this just happened to be my experience. If you do pick up a rifle barrel you may need to pick up a different forend to fit the new barrel. It all depends on the contour of the barrel. Good luck with your quest…

I have the pro hunter 50 cal. and bought a 30-06 pro hunter barrel for it, yes you do need another fore arm.
as for it shooting straight, I reload and it took a few tries to get it to shoot accurate, now I can cover 3 shot groups with a quarter at 100 yards.
Last year was the first year I used it with the rifle and shot a 7 pt. 8pt. and a doe

Check out Match Grade Machine. You can get a semi-custom barrel for just a little more than a factory one.
Yes you need a new forearm. Do not buy the quick release model. I had to cut mine off after the cheap plastic screws stripped out.

Thanks for the reply’s, guys… One more question. I did end up getting the TC 7mm rem mag barrel. It the “Pro Hunter” version, which means it is a 28″ barrel. From the sounds of it, most all of the Encore / Pro Hunter parts are interchangeable. The Cabelas guy picked out a forend for me, and said it should work. When the forend came in the mail (Cabelas didn’t stock the barrel, so I just mail oredered the forend too), the packaging says forend is for 24 and 26″ barrels. The Pro Hunter barrel is 28 inches. I assume there shouldn’t be a problem with it – the screw holes all match up just fine, although I haven’t actually mounted it quite yet….. Or is there an issue that I’m not thinking about? Do I need to get the Pro Hunter specific forend if I bought the Pro Hunter 28 inch barrel?

Thanks for the help!

Mike

One more update…. I just contacted TC. After about a 4 minute hold, I talked to someone who seemed not entirely thrilled about her job. I think she understood my question, but she kept answering me in short fragmented sentences followed by prolonged silences. Just a little akward, and I never really totally understood her answers.

Anyway, it sounds like she thinks the stock that I bought for my heavy 28″ barrel (which states on the package that it is for 24-26″ barrels) will work just fine for my Encore/new Pro Hunter barrel. She did say that I would need longer screws for the heavier barrel, and she would send those out to me ASAP.

So…. Sort of an odd customer service experience from TC (could have been worse, I could have been dealing with Lowrance!!), but it sounds like they will be sending me the correct (hopefully) screws to match up my forend and barrel. (I assume she understood my question?) So I guess I got good customer service, even though it was a little strange and she made me feel like I was interrupting her day.

Anyway, does this sound about right for others who have used these same setups? The need for longer screws makes sense with a heavier barrel I suppose….. Funny they wouldn’t send those with the barrel??

Thanks again for the input.