Thomson Center single shots

[civilian75]

I strongly considering getting initiated into the Thompson Center single shot rifles/pistols system. So far I have found nothing on T/C systems accuracy. I would appreciate it if you T/C owners share your opinions. Assuming hand loaded or match grade ammo, I would like to know:

1. What system provides the most accurate barrels, Contender or Encore/Hunter?
2. What calibers have greater than 2 MOA?
3. What calibers have between 1 and 2 MOA @ 100yd?
4. What calibers have 0.5 and 1.0 MOA?
5. What calibers have less than 0.5 MOA?

I am mainly interested in rifles, not pistols or muzzle loaders.

 

[Aren't we all]

Only MOA

On the website they only really talk about 1 MOA, which is pretty darn good, you could probably get better groups with handloading, but it all really hinges on the quality of your ammo. It dosen't really matter what caliber, but it would be a good idea to get a caliber with good factory ammo, such as .308 or .30-06, but recoil would probably be pretty heavy.



Marsh

 

[Smith357]

I have not owned an Encore but did have a 2 Contender frames with 8 barrels. one set up as a pistol and the other set up as a rifle.
I had the
10" 22lr match Leupold 4x
10".45/410 vent rib
12" .223 2x7 Burris
12" .357mag open sight
14" .30-30 6x weaver
16" .45-70 open sights
18" Bulberry 22lr match with 40x Tasco
21" .223 with 4x12 Weaver

All were very accurate, the scoped centerfires were easily sub MOA, the Rimfires were unbelivable with RWS R50. The 18" Bullberry won tons of money from from guys with heavy Anschutz target rifles who could not belive a 6lb TC could be that accurate. Selling that TC set is still my biggest regret. When the kids are out of the house I plan on redoing it.

 

[jbkebert]

Really the .308 in th encore platform is a joy to shoot. Recoil is very managable I would say less than a .44 mag. With hand loads I am getting a average of 7/8" 5 rounds groups at 100 yards. Factory ammo the best I have found is a 165 grain custom SST from Hornady custom rifle line of ammo. Average of 1 1/8" groups at 100 yards off a bench. I have a contender in .35 rem while I am getting around 1 5/8" groups at 100 yards it is not nearly as plesant to fire. The contender platform is lighter in weight and sports a 12" barrel instead of a 15". Encores weigh alot more I don't know for sure just how much but it is pretty noticable diffrence. I am not sure why people are so surprised at the range on how accurate my encore is. You are only running one inch shorter barrel than most AR platforms. I have not tested either at a longer range other than shooting a watermelon at 250 yards with the encore. I missed the first shot and followed it up with a good hit with plenty of pink watermelon mist.


The cartridge on the left is the 165 grain SST and the one on the right is 168 grain A-max set to .010 off the lands. Diffrence in accuracy is 1/4 to 3/8" smaller 5 shot groups at 100 yards.

 

[Ed Ames]

Most people say they are pretty good. A few people are very insistent that they are all lousy.

 

[Coltdriver]

You will not see anyone bench rest in competition with one.

But I have several barrels and they are all excellent shooters.

If you want something that will let you play with lots of calibers at half the entry cost of a new dedicated rifle (versus adding a barrel) then they are excellent.

If you like to reload and dial in a combination then they are excellent.

You can get barrels from around $150 used to as much as you want to spend including custom shilen blanks turned in to what you want. The high end barrels are all generally outstanding shooters, no news there.

The best part is that you can try a caliber and if you don't like it you can sell the barrel and get another. There is an active market for barrels and they tend to hold a reasonable level of value, some of them actually go up but that is the exception.

 

[jbkebert]

The rest of the story for the rifle version encore pro-hunter.

.22-250 28" barrel SS fluted average 5 shot group with handloads .695 at 100yards. 55 grain v-max

.270 28" fluted SS barrel 1.18" 5 shot group factory winchester supreme line ballistic silvertip.

.308 28" fluted SS barrel .895 5 shot group 100 yards with 168 gr A-max handloads

.300 win mag 28" SS barrel fluted average .943 5 shot group with 180 interbond handloads, .883 Berger VLD 165 grain

.375 H&H 26" SS barrel I sold the barrel but average group was 1.54" 5 shot group at 100 yards with factory ammo.

209x50 front stuffer .893 average three shot group at 100 yards. using a 250 gr T/C superglid sabot and 777 powder and a win primer.

As a whole yes there are more accurate rifles on the block. In no way have I been dissatisfied with my purchase of this rifle/pistol and additional barrels.

 

[t george]

My 30-30 contender carbine with remington corlock 150's shoot holes tuching at about 90 yards... never shot it any farther than that so donno.

 

[flipajig]

I have a TC encor pro hunter in 30-06 and have shot sub moa at 100yd with factory ammo.the only problem that i have had is the trigger. after a stop at the gunsmith problem taken care of. I now have a TC G-2 contender with a 7-30 waters bullberry barrel, a super 14 in barrel in 44mag. and im wating for my super 14 barrel in 22 long rifle. this one is a match grade barrel. the 7-30 will shoot sub moa as long as i do my part and i have once put 3rds through the same hole. Shooting a pistole is alot different than shooting a rifle and it takes alot of pratice. From what ive read about the TC is that some will really shoot and some wont. so for around 2000.00 I now have 4 different firearms. and they will all shoot (dont know about the 22 yet) providing that i do my part. Ive also done some resurch as far as spending more for a custom barrel over a factory barrel and what ive found out is that it depends on the shooter. There is also a saying that our guns are more accurate than the person shooting them. am i happy with mine you bet i am... my next barrel will be for my encor just need to decide on witch one.another thought is if you decide to go for a pistol you need to start with a pistol frame and not a rifle there is a leagle problem going from a rifle to a pistol but not from a pistol to a rifle.

 

[db_tanker]

you know..."bench-rest" accuracy is a pretty darn stout label to give really ANY rifle or handgun, or in this case a combo really.

But then you can look at where these hand-rifles really shine...shooting rams (the steel ones, not just the live ones runnin' around on a hill-side...)

a few of the best examples that come to mind are the 7mm TC/U and the 357 Herret. Both rounds were tailored to the Contender for knocking down rams at distance...mind you, we are talking about chickens at 50 m, pigs at 100m, turkeys at 150m and rams at 200m. Also, talking heavy steel here...and you have to knock them down. IIRC those are NRA but they might be IHMSA, not sure. I do know IHMSA demands a max 10.75" barrel max and you will see a crazy scope mount made for what is called the Taco Hold.

Some folks took these pistols and found that you could tweak 'em out to the point to where you COULD come close to bench-rest accuracy...but I really don't think they are good for that. You have to mark your brass for the 12 o'clock position so that it loads consistently. you have to mate a frame to a barrel and keep that pair married (goes against the design, IMO). And many times the factory barrels chambers aren't true. Easy to fix if you can rechamber the barrel to the next largest caliber and you know a reputable gun-smith that is proficient with these barrels.

All in all, the Contenders are great little pistols and rifles. Don't make them into what they aren't.

MTCW
D

 

[RangerHAAF]

I owned an Encore in 308 and I wasn't impressed with it's accuracy, so I've moved on to Ruger #1s and H&R Buffalo Gun Classic in 45-70. There is much more recoil but I'm satisfied with their accuracy over the Encore.