Accurate Break Action Rifles

Dr T

Dr T

Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
1,722
Location
Colorado and West Texas
Through the years, I have spent a lot of time making my bolt guns shoot properly and , to date, have not paid much attention to the other action types. Frankly, break action and accurate are rarely used in the same sentence unless the word Contender also appears in the same sentence.

I put together a 30-30 on a TC Contender frame with a 24" EABCO accuracy barrel and, so far, I looks like it has the potential to be a tack driver. It is shooting about 1 MOA with a 1-4x VLPO which is awfully good with my vision. It is also pleasant to shoot.

I have had a TC Encore with various barrels (223, 30-06, 460 S&W) that I have played with a little, but have never tried to tweak. However, so years ago I bought a 6.5x55 SE EABCO accuracy barrel and am finally getting it set up for the Encore. I will be using a Bushnell Elite 10x fixed power scope and am changing the furniture over to the synthetic factory, supposedly recoil absorbing stock an matching forend. (The 460 S&W need all the recoil dampening it can get). I hope to get the Swede to the range in the next week or so.

The question I want to explore is whether the Contender is inherently more accurate than the Encore. The Contender has long had a reputation for accuracy, but I have rarely seen any comments about the accuracy of the Encore.

I am also interested in the options of the accuracy of other Break Action rifles. I have heard occasional comments of good results with the old NEFs but have not seen any real results.

Anyone have any experience to share?
 
In my short time hee on earth I have owned and shot a lot of single shots from a Rolling Block 45-70 (4.5" five shots at 200), Ballard 32-40, a bunch of Contenders, a CVA Scout, some H&Rs and a couple of Handi Rifles (in 221, 22 hornet, 30-30, and 44 mg) plus one Henry single shot 357.
Contender Carbine in 22, 223, 30-30 all are at or close to MOA. Have a NEF 45-70 I'm about to start shooting (just got my moulds together). CVA with 240 jhp and 20.5 2400 gave me 2 3/4 at 100 and a drt deer at 68 lasered yards.
I've never had an Encore but of seven or eight Contenders an a G2 all have been shooters other than an early 44 mag.
Biggest disappointment was a Buffalo Classic. Accuracy wasn't a word to use with it.
If I could have only one single shot rifle I'd pick my contender except I don't ave a legal deer chambering for it.
Henry may get rechambered to 357 max, 350 or 360.
 
I haven't done a ton of shooting with my .223 Encore, but the last time I had it at the range, it printed a 3/8" 3 shot group at 100 yards. I did have to work on the crown first--the barrel, as it came from the factory had rough machining at the muzzle.
 
My 90’s vintage NEF Handi rifle in 30-30 will shoot 1-1/2” @100 yards with factory ammo or handloads.
Mine has the ejector, speeds up the reload a bit, but you have to remember that it’s coming at you every time.
 
I tried a Handi in 7-08 once never could get it to to shoot worth a flip. I tried all of the Handi tricks mentioned on the Handi forum and who knows how many different loads. The trigger was horrible and would not group at all. Sat in my safe for years and I finally got rid of it not to long ago.
 
Dr T said:
Through the years, I have spent a lot of time making my bolt guns shoot properly and , to date, have not paid much attention to the other action types. Frankly, break action and accurate are rarely used in the same sentence unless the word Contender also appears in the same sentence.

I put together a 30-30 on a TC Contender frame with a 24" EABCO accuracy barrel and, so far, I looks like it has the potential to be a tack driver. It is shooting about 1 MOA with a 1-4x VLPO which is awfully good with my vision. It is also pleasant to shoot.

I have had a TC Encore with various barrels (223, 30-06, 460 S&W) that I have played with a little, but have never tried to tweak. However, so years ago I bought a 6.5x55 SE EABCO accuracy barrel and am finally getting it set up for the Encore. I will be using a Bushnell Elite 10x fixed power scope and am changing the furniture over to the synthetic factory, supposedly recoil absorbing stock an matching forend. (The 460 S&W need all the recoil dampening it can get). I hope to get the Swede to the range in the next week or so.

The question I want to explore is whether the Contender is inherently more accurate than the Encore. The Contender has long had a reputation for accuracy, but I have rarely seen any comments about the accuracy of the Encore.

I am also interested in the options of the accuracy of other Break Action rifles. I have heard occasional comments of good results with the old NEFs but have not seen any real results.

Anyone have any experience to share?
Click to expand...
I own a pro hunter. Came as a muzzleloader.
Purchased a .308 TC barrel. Never got results like yours. Purchased a 6mm arc barrel from a fancy company. Never got results like yours.
The thumb hole stock is OK.
It's back to being a .50 now and gets results like yours.
Please don't rub it in.
 
My experience with Handi-Rifles and TC Encores is closer to what @JDeere and @Show Me report than the glowing praises others have. Decidedly "meh" for the most part, with occasional moments of brilliance and a lot of "why did that shot go there?"

The Encore at least can be improved a little bit with stiffer locking springs and heavier ignition parts. They're a little under-sprung from the factory IMO, likely in an effort to keep the forces required to operate them reasonable. I had a 20" .45-70 barrel for mine that would put 3 rounds through one hole at 50 yards until the recoil warped the forearm. The 20" .50-caliber muzzleloader barrel would shoot about an inch to inch and a half at 50 yards when using 2 50/50 Triple 7 pellets behind most saboted bullets. It would shoot better with loose powder but also had a habit of throwing the first shot out of the group. The other issue I had with the Encore is they're not great ergonomically. I never did scope mine and given the issues I have getting scopes far enough forward on most other rifles, I suspect the Encore would have bitten me twice and then gotten sold a lot sooner than it did. Also, once scoped your access to the breech and hammer are impaired pretty significantly.

The Handis had the advantage of being economical. Some of them can really shoot while others are a lost cause. The .44 Magnum one my brother had 20+ years ago was generally one of the latter. I don't remember the exact group sizes but they weren't memorable in any good ways. My dad still has one with .30-30 and .357 Magnum barrels that mostly gets used for plinking steel plates with reduced-power loads.

Honestly, there's a reason the death of H&R/New England Firearms and S&W shuttering production of the TC single-shots was largely unnoticed outside of us enthusiasts: the $300 commodity bolt action really is a better mouse trap.
 
Here's how accurate my break open Krieghoff is,

8x57jrs-200-yds-S.jpg


DM
 
Encores, contenders, and handi rifles are all hit and miss. Not because of the action, but because a lot of the factory barrels are lousy. Encores and contenders can both be absolute tack drivers with aftermarket barrels. Some of the factory barrels are really good but some will have badly off center chambers, poorly cut crowns, ect... Match Grade Machine, Bullberry, and EABCO all build exceptional T/C barrels.

My personal favorite break actions are handi rifles but they are a real luck of the draw and the odd are not as good as getting a good shooting encore. I have had sub moa handi rifles and I have also had 3 moa handi rifles. Unfortunately you have to weed through the used market to find a good one.
 
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I have good luck with first generation Contenders. I shot IHMSA handgun silhouette with a 10”’357 Mag barrel (production class) and a 14” Super 14 7mm Int. Rimmed barrel (unlimited class). Both were more than adequate for the task.

After getting away from IHMSA competition, I built a 22 Hornet carbine and a 221 Rem Fireball carbine, both based on the Gen 1 frame. Both give me sub 0.75” or better groups.

Along with special efforts with case sizing, the adjustable trigger in the gen 1 makes a big difference in accuracy.

I have one Encore frame with 6.5x54 MS and a 243 Win barrels. I’ve gotten both barrels to group well after some trigger work. It would do better if it had the Gen 1 Contender adjustments.

In general, I’m not happy with Contender or Encore frames after T/C deleted the trigger adjustment system
 
Take a look at H&R Handi rifles. Long ago before I ever formally learned how to shoot, I was knocking off coyotes with 223 at 150 or so yards with boring repetition going after a neighbor's calfs. They are long out of production as far as I know, but they can still be found.

www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com

H&R Handi-Rifle 308 Winchester Single-Shot Rifle

Grab your H&R Handi-Rifle 308 Winchester Single-Shot Rifle for sale at Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore.
www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com
 
If your goal is bug hole groups at 100 yards, addressing/ experimenting with all of the variables that affect a firearm’s accuracy can make just about any action type/ firearm shoot well. The outcomes are dependent on how much time, money, energy, frustration, etc a person wants to invest. I have an Encore .50 ML that will group an inch at 100 yards after some experimenting with load, powder, bullet weight/ design, cleaning procedure, etc - that result took many sessions at the range - prior to that investment, I was lucky to hit paper at 100. I have a Kimber 84M that shot simply horrible at 100 yards (8”+ groups) until I found the combo that the rifle liked - that took a lot of time. So my view is that if you address the variables ad nauseam, you will be hard pressed to find an action design/ rifle that will not shoot. It is the degree of investment that you are willing to make to get an individual firearm to shoot well.
 
Dr T said:
Through the years, I have spent a lot of time making my bolt guns shoot properly and , to date, have not paid much attention to the other action types. Frankly, break action and accurate are rarely used in the same sentence unless the word Contender also appears in the same sentence.

I put together a 30-30 on a TC Contender frame with a 24" EABCO accuracy barrel and, so far, I looks like it has the potential to be a tack driver. It is shooting about 1 MOA with a 1-4x VLPO which is awfully good with my vision. It is also pleasant to shoot.

I have had a TC Encore with various barrels (223, 30-06, 460 S&W) that I have played with a little, but have never tried to tweak. However, so years ago I bought a 6.5x55 SE EABCO accuracy barrel and am finally getting it set up for the Encore. I will be using a Bushnell Elite 10x fixed power scope and am changing the furniture over to the synthetic factory, supposedly recoil absorbing stock an matching forend. (The 460 S&W need all the recoil dampening it can get). I hope to get the Swede to the range in the next week or so.

The question I want to explore is whether the Contender is inherently more accurate than the Encore. The Contender has long had a reputation for accuracy, but I have rarely seen any comments about the accuracy of the Encore.

I am also interested in the options of the accuracy of other Break Action rifles. I have heard occasional comments of good results with the old NEFs but have not seen any real results.

Anyone have any experience to share?
Click to expand...
I'll give a report on my Henry 45-70 when I have more range time with it.
 
I have owned a Contender with the factory 23" bull barrel that would do a little under .3" 3 shot group at 100 yard before my hands stared to really shake. Let the barrel cool and it would it again in the very same place. I was using a 3 X 9 Leupold scope. I also have the same barrels in Match 22 LR and 17HMR and accuracy is very good with those. I use a thumbhole stock to get a good cheek weld and build a straight fore end to use shooting from a bench rest. It's also had a trigger job. I also have an Encore with two 223 barrels. I have never used the TC barrel but have shot the 28" bull barrel made by the company that became Match Grade Machine. That is a heavy piece of machinery in that configueration but recoil is almost non existant. I have no idea of its twist rate and no luck in figuring it out. I started with my 45 gr. handloads that do so good in my Contender and they weren't impressive. My experiment was brought to a sudden halt by a worn out hip. I will get back to it this summer. It's had a trigger job and just like everything I have ever read about it they don't equal the Contender's. I know no one else that owns an Encore to use as a comparison.

I bought an NEF and spent much more than the rifle originally cost trying to get it to shoot accurately with absolutely no success. An 8" group at 100 yards was the best I ever managed and that was infrequent. Since there is no place for me to paddle a canoe and I've never encountered a rabid animal that I could have used it on as a club it became trade goods.
 
I had a H&R Handi-Rifle years ago. Mine was chambered in .223 and had a 1-9 twist heavy barrel. It was very accurate. I ended up selling it to a friend for his grandson to hunt with.
 
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