rosewood
Senior Member
I have a pretty good collection of Encores and Contenders with various barrels. I have the .270 15" in the Encore and it is a handful for sure, extremely loud and you need ear pros to hunt with it. I do recommend some lighter bullets in that .308, maybe one of the 125 lite recoil loads?? I really like the 7-30 waters in the Contender but, you don't handload. You might want to go with a 44mag barrel in that Encore frame. That was the first one that I bought and it shoots about 1.25 MOA with the 12" barrel. I tried a 44 mag contender and it was too much recoil, that weight difference makes a difference. The 357 max and or 357 magnum is a real good cartridge in the contender/G2 platform.
Just a note, if you were to buy a 357 max barrel, you can shoot 357 mag and 38 spcl through it. Not necessary to handload.
The Contender was the original TC pistol. It is sized and rated for basically pistol cartridges and lower pressure rifle cartridges. Later, they came out with the Encore which was built to handle rifle cartridges. Then TC came out with the G2 (contender) which looks dang near identical to the Encore to the untrained eye, but it is size and weight of the original Contender. It functions just like the Encore and you can decock it without having to reset the trigger like you have to do with Contender. The G2 and Contender barrels are interchangeable but sometimes require fitting of the locking bolts. The Encore and Contender barrels are NOT interchangeable. The contender has a better trigger than the G2 and I prefer contender at the range and the G2 for woods.
As for using 3 scope rings, I don't think that is necessary on most cartridges and you are probably fine with 2 with the .308. Where I found it necessary was with sharp/heavy recoiling cartridges. I.E. 460 magnum, 454 casull and the like.
Found a seller on ebay that has shoulder holster for the Encore and Contender. The one I use has a single sling that goes across my chest and a flap that covers the grip of the gun.
Not the one I have, but very similar.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/350832889693?epid=1263577596&hash=item51af450f5d:g:PiwAAOSw0HVWFDad
If you were to order a set of Pachmayr grips and foregrip, they have sling swivel studs built in. I prefer just using the holster myself.
Yes, you remove the rear sight to mount a scope base. Remove the elevation screw and flip up the site, (don't lose the spring). Baggies are ideal for storing the site and screws. There are 4 mounting holes on the barrel for the scope base. Several companies make bases from Weaver to Nikon. I prefer the more solid built base over the weavers, they are flat on top instead of having the channel the weavers have. Hard to describe, but there is a noticeable difference in the amount of material. They do tend to cost more.
Rosewood
Just a note, if you were to buy a 357 max barrel, you can shoot 357 mag and 38 spcl through it. Not necessary to handload.
The Contender was the original TC pistol. It is sized and rated for basically pistol cartridges and lower pressure rifle cartridges. Later, they came out with the Encore which was built to handle rifle cartridges. Then TC came out with the G2 (contender) which looks dang near identical to the Encore to the untrained eye, but it is size and weight of the original Contender. It functions just like the Encore and you can decock it without having to reset the trigger like you have to do with Contender. The G2 and Contender barrels are interchangeable but sometimes require fitting of the locking bolts. The Encore and Contender barrels are NOT interchangeable. The contender has a better trigger than the G2 and I prefer contender at the range and the G2 for woods.
As for using 3 scope rings, I don't think that is necessary on most cartridges and you are probably fine with 2 with the .308. Where I found it necessary was with sharp/heavy recoiling cartridges. I.E. 460 magnum, 454 casull and the like.
Found a seller on ebay that has shoulder holster for the Encore and Contender. The one I use has a single sling that goes across my chest and a flap that covers the grip of the gun.
Not the one I have, but very similar.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/350832889693?epid=1263577596&hash=item51af450f5d:g:PiwAAOSw0HVWFDad
If you were to order a set of Pachmayr grips and foregrip, they have sling swivel studs built in. I prefer just using the holster myself.
Yes, you remove the rear sight to mount a scope base. Remove the elevation screw and flip up the site, (don't lose the spring). Baggies are ideal for storing the site and screws. There are 4 mounting holes on the barrel for the scope base. Several companies make bases from Weaver to Nikon. I prefer the more solid built base over the weavers, they are flat on top instead of having the channel the weavers have. Hard to describe, but there is a noticeable difference in the amount of material. They do tend to cost more.
Rosewood
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