Thompson Center/Encore .280 Remington

[4895]

Need to purchase a nice rifle to scope and use at long range for thin-skinned game this season. Looking at a Thompson Center/Encore rifle in .280 Remington. Any thoughts/opinions on this rifle/caliber combination. I cannot find them locally but found a supplier at a great price. Thank you.

 

[Coal Dragger]

Great choice of cartridge, I have a .280 Ackley Improved and it performs very well.

Can't comment in detail on the rifle though, as I have never owned a TC. The ones I have handled have had atrocious stock triggers, and I am not aware of any easy fix for this.

 

[txcookie]

I am a big fan of the encore. Great little rifle.

 

[Kachok]

Never owned an Encore before, but I have heard people say nice things about them, as far as your choice in caliber goes it is a mixed bag, the 280 rem is ballisticly superior to it's close rival the 270win however the difference is very small and given that 270 ammo is cheap and abundant if I were not a handloader I would shy away from the 280 for that reason alone, now as a handloader I prefer the 7mm bore the the .277 because of the superior external ballistics and wider selection of bullets. The deer nor you shoulder would ever notice the difference between those two calibers I promise.

 

[Grumulkin]

1. I haven't found Encore factory triggers "atrocious" but if you don't like your trigger, a 'smith or you can do a trigger job to make it entirely satisfactory.

2. I believe the 280 Remington is a great cartridge but don't think it's significantly better than the 270 Winchester.

 

[jmr40]

I'm not a fan of the Encore rifles personally, but if someone wants one they could do a lot worse.

I've had a few 280's over the years and it is a good round. I no longer own one and don't plan on ever going down that road again. It looks good on paper, but you need to handload to really take advantage of it's capabilities. You buy a 280 because you want a rifle in the 270-30-06 class that is different from what the masses are hunting with, not to gain any real advantge over either round. As long as you understand that you won't be disappointed. With the best bullets and loads a 270, 280, and 30-06 offer near idenical trajectories and performance on game. Of the 3 the 270 looks like the better round if you look at factory ammo ballistics, but both 280 and 30-06 are capable of much more with handloads.

If you want to use a rifle and chambering a little different, without giving up any performance then it is a good choice.

 

[Abel]

I think that the Encore is a bad choice. T/C has had accuracy issues with them for years...or so I have heard. Get a Browning X-Bolt in 280.

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=023B&cid=035&tid=208&bg=x

 

[Kachok]

Or the TC Venture

 

[IndispensableDestiny]

Or a T/C Icon. Mine is wonderful in .308.

 

[H2oPumper]

Ruger is also chambering the 280 again this year. I picked up a holdover all-weather Hawkeye in a 280. My Ruger will touch all three holes. It's a great under rated chambering.

 

[jbkebert]

I love my Encore and have purchased 9 barrels for it and will probably get more. Here is a group fired out of a .270 win barrel using factory ammo. 4 shots at 100 yards off a bench using a carpet covered 2x4 for a front rest.




Sadly I have never been able to get this barrel to group better than 1 1/2- 1 5/8" groups with handloads. I gave up and decided to just shoot factory through it. Heck its a hunting rifle not a target gun. I bought a few boxes of Hornady custom 130 grain SST and shoots pretty good. Average group now is just a hair under a inch at 100 yards and roughly 1 5/8 to 1 3/4" at 200 yards. I have not shot it past 200 yards for accuracy since switching to this ammo. I did however drill a coyote at 256 yards range finder verified after the shot.

 

[Brad5192]

Look this web site over first http://www.bellmtcs.com

 

[4895]

I apologize guys, I meant to say Thompson Center VENTURE rifle. They have them at cheaperthandirt.com for $421.XX. And yes, I would be handloading for it. Probably Nosler Partition or Barnes XXX bullets.

 

[tahoe2]

love the .280, it's a reloaders dream, from 110grn on varmints to 175grn on elk & moose, and everything in between.
Used a Rem 7400 on Wyoming Pronghorns last fall with 130grn handloads, it was just the ticket!

 

[tahoe2]

dug up an old .280 target, the top holes are 130 grn(one high off target), bullseye are 150 grn, and the lower ones are 160 grn,.
Holding same point of aim without adjusting the scope. Target is 6" with 1" bull. Shooting a REM 7400 with 4rd mags.