My Ugly Encore

[Skylerbone]

I normally prefer the consternation of working on my own firearms rather than sending them off to the smith but my backlog of to-do items has lengthened considerably of late which forced my hand.

Since inheriting this white elephant that is the T/C Encore I’ve learned to appreciate what it does well, mainly shoot straight, while finding a few dislikes along the way. One was the trigger; not the pull weight but the angle to the stock. I’ve always felt the wrist angle was off leading to the shooter pulling at an upward angle on the trigger which moves straight to the rear.

While browsing new barrels I came across a new stock option from Choate that adapts the Encore via carbine receiver extension to a standard AR stock. Ugly as sin but I recognized the opportunity it presented and as I was sending the rifle out to swap a brake I figured why not!

Choate is not the first name I think of when it comes to quality and they did not fail to disappoint on details. When EA Brown returned my rifle I set about swapping stocks to see if anything good had come of my efforts. And, despite a few irksome choices by Choate the answer was yes.

To their credit it worked and fit but what I didn’t realize was that the extension was a commercial diameter as was the cheap included M4 style stock. Ugh. One more round of online shopping got me a milspec tube and stock combo that I can live with and I think I may just retire my old Knight muzzleloader permanently.

Begrudgingly I applaud Choate as well as other manufacturers for their innovations and I hope this market segment continues to grow. It isn’t the perfect product by any stretch but it got the rifle closer to where I wanted it to be.



Fresh back from Brown with a new brake on the .300 Win Mag barrel, some trigger work, and an order placed for a 22” .350 Legend barrel.


While I liked the Brockman brake quite a bit, being radially ported was less than ideal for prone and that new JP just looks good.


Yes it’s hideous but functional.


Wearing an Adaptive Tactical EX stock in gray because black was $12 more.


I think my shoulder will thank me for not waffle stomping it with a plastic butt plate.


Added a new scope while I was at it after pinning the muzzleloader barrel back on.

 

[DocRock]

I'm not going to lie, friend. It's not pretty.

But that isn't what it's there for, right? And here's to it shooting well.

As to Choate, take heart, you are in good company!

Look at the vile stock in the rifle used to most recently set the IBS UK record 1,000 yard group

https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/scottish-benchrest-shooter/

 

[BigBL87]

Choate really does make a good value stock, but they aren't perfect. That's what my Savage 10 FCP sits in. I had to do some experimenting and dremmeling with my stock to get it to drop in properly. My issue was something kept getting in the way of the bolt release. The action area looks terrible because of my experimenting to find the right spot to remove material, but hey, nobody sees that anyway!

Anyway, looks like a very functional build, which is what ultimately matters!

 

[someguy2800]

I can confirm that waffle pattern butt plate would have been no fun. I have an A2 buttstock on my 358 yeti with that same waffle pattern on it and leaves an impression of those little peaks in my shoulder if I shoot it without a jacket on.

 

[Skylerbone]

Some days I wish I were a machinist! I’d be over the moon if someone designed a pistol grip that articulated like Battle Arms Development’s ATG. You’d think with all of the dedicated T/C fan base that more would be done to customize the stock beyond walnut or plastic. Functionality is always ahead of looks on my priority list but man are they mutually exclusive in this case.

 

[Steve S.]

I would not call it “ugly”; I would call it stranded on a desert island with an ugly, obese female - in thirty short days, she will be beautiful.