New to me 7mm-08 Encore Barrel

[MNSportsman]

I picked up a used 7mm-08 Encore barrel at my local gun shop today. I've always wanted a 7-08 and the price was too good to pass up. I have the Encore in 50 Cal. muzzleloader so this is the first additional barrel I've purchased. It is a 24" blued barrel and I mounted a Burris 3x9 scope on it. I'm going to start out with some Accubonds and see how they shoot. Any tips or suggestions on ammo to try or additional Encore information/tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Hem]

Sounds like a great acquisition.
Let us know how it functions at the range.
I love my .50 cal Encore , but don't own any other barrels.

 

[EKYHunter]

I picked up a used 7mm-08 Encore barrel at my local gun shop today. I've always wanted a 7-08 and the price was too good to pass up. I have the Encore in 50 Cal. muzzleloader so this is the first additional barrel I've purchased. It is a 24" blued barrel and I mounted a Burris 3x9 scope on it. I'm going to start out with some Accubonds and see how they shoot. Any tips or suggestions on ammo to try or additional Encore information/tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Congrats on the barrel. I’m an Encore owner myself and love the platform. I’ve got a .300 Win and a .308 barrel for rifles and also have the .50 cal muzzleloader barrel. I’ve used the two rifle barrels for elk and deer. I’ve got a 20 gauge barrel that I use for turkey hunting and squirrel hunting. I’ve had a trigger job done and that really helped. There are some easy mods that will help with accuracy in the rifles. Get one of the hinge pins that has the Allen screw. It’s called a locker pin and it helps tighten up any play between the frame and the barrel. You will have to remove some material from the “ears” of the rifle forearm but that’s no big deal. Heavier hammer springs and barrel locking springs help also. Eabco.com is a good website for almost all things Encore and other rifles.

 

[EKYHunter]

Also check out some of the YouTube videos posted by Match Grade Machine. They make Encore and Contender barrels and know their stuff.

 

[thomas89]

I don’t mean to bust your bubble, I picked up an encore in 7mm08 and could never get it to shoot straight. Talking 3-5” at 100 yards. All sorts of different ammo, all sorts of tinkering with optics, barrel tuning, etc. thing just never shot well. Quick google search and if memory serves that was one barrel (don’t remember the reason, twist maybe?) that just was REALLY finicky. Found a 25-06 to replace that barrel and it’s been lights out. Good luck, let us know!

 

[EKYHunter]

I don’t mean to bust your bubble, I picked up an encore in 7mm08 and could never get it to shoot straight. Talking 3-5” at 100 yards. All sorts of different ammo, all sorts of tinkering with optics, barrel tuning, etc. thing just never shot well. Quick google search and if memory serves that was one barrel (don’t remember the reason, twist maybe?) that just was REALLY finicky. Found a 25-06 to replace that barrel and it’s been lights out. Good luck, let us know!

Some frame/barrel combos have head space issues that can really be frustrating.

 

[turbobrick]

I think the Encore is an awesome way to play with different calibers and have a great muzzleloader around too. I'm down to just the ML and a barrel in .260 Remington now, and I'm thinking of selling the .260 to fund another project, but every time I pick it up I just want to take it out shooting. The Pro frame and furniture just feel right to me. 7-08 is too close to 260 for me to have one, but mine shoots great.

 

[MNSportsman]

I am going to try to shoot it this week and I will post my results. I'm crossing my fingers it's a shooter.

 

[EKYHunter]

I think the Encore is an awesome way to play with different calibers and have a great muzzleloader around too. I'm down to just the ML and a barrel in .260 Remington now, and I'm thinking of selling the .260 to fund another project, but every time I pick it up I just want to take it out shooting. The Pro frame and furniture just feel right to me. 7-08 is too close to 260 for me to have one, but mine shoots great.

Done any mods to yours?

 

[stillkickin]

I picked up an Encore recently also in 7mm-08. I had it at the range and it shot 1-1/2 to 2 inches with factory core lokts but I couldn’t get it zeroed to 200 yards as I ran out of elevation. My sources say a lot of Encores need shimming to shoot longer distances but I’m still researching.

I am also going to send trigger away and get the barrel pin fix.

So far it’s a fun System to mess around with.

 

[turbobrick]

Done any mods to yours?

No, both my frames are Pro Hunters and the triggers are plenty good. I had my .260 threaded and shoot it suppressed, but its still full length. I'm thinking about getting a special .22 barrel that is unrifled so I can use it with snake shot.

 

[MNSportsman]

I had a chance to go out and shoot the 7mm08 Encore today. I didn't have a lot of time or ammo but after a couple shots to get it close I shot a 3 shot group with Hornady American White tail 139 grain interlocks at 100 yards. The group was about 2 inches or so. I adjusted my scope after the first group and shot again with the same ammo and the group size increased to about 3 inches. I adjusted once again to try to be about 1.5 - 2 inches high at 100 yards and also switched ammo because I ran out of the Hornady. I switched to Federal Premium with 140 grain Nosler Ballistic tip and the 3 shot group was about 2.5 inches. See photo for reference.

This was just a quick shoot, nothing serious. I didn't let the barrel cool much between shots. I'm assuming that would help. I think I can tighten these groups up significantly with the right load. I will play around with that next summer.

 

[thomas89]

My twitch is coming back. This is eerily reminiscent of the shananigans that darn thing gave me. Hope I’m wrong!

 

[misser]

there was a time when the encore's manufacturing was doing a cheap trick to cut the chambers .it worked on paper not so much in reality. mine does like 120 pills & biggame

 

[Redman]

I had a 22-250 heavy Encore barrel that wouldn't group and got rid of it. My 7mm Rem Mag is a shooter. On the pistol platform I have a .308 and 22-250 and they are very accurate in fact the .308 pistol barrel will out shoot some rifles.

 

[misser]

I had a 22-250 heavy Encore barrel that wouldn't group and got rid of it. My 7mm Rem Mag is a shooter. On the pistol platform I have a .308 and 22-250 and they are very accurate in fact the .308 pistol barrel will out shoot some rifles.

i to have had my share of bad encore barrels . bad ones got sent back to TC . i do wish they would of come with 5/8x24 threaded muzzles

 

[Boarmaster]

I have an Encore. pistol barrels in 7mm08, 45 long colt/410, 44 mag. And 204 in a rifle platform. I did have a 270 rifle barrel but I sold it to my cousins son. Fun toy.
I thinking on using the 7mm08 pistol to shoot a doe in Alabama next year. I got a few spots were my shots would be less than 70 yards out of a blind If I can get consistently accurate on a bi-pod I might give it a go.

 

[blacksheep]

I have a Rochester Encore barrel in 7mm-08. It shoots 3/4 -1 MOA all day long. I love this caliber. It's a deer slayer with anything from 139-150gr bullets. It is a perfect mountain gun. It is a good 8" shorter that a normal sized bolt action rifle and it weighs about 6 1/2 lbs. I'm a little hesitant to shoot an elk with it, but people do it all the time. You have to make a good shot and be able to reload fast. I'd probably use a heavier bullet like a 150gr E-LDX for elk.

blacksheep

 

[blacksheep]

I have a 7mm-08 and its a real shooter. It is a deer slayer. Great round. I have shot encores for 20 years or so. I'm a fan and they have never let me down. I have never had a barrel that would not shoot. Most of the were at least MOA or better. I have several barrels and I am always looking for barrels. These are the barrel that I have:

7mm-08
243
7mm mag
300 win mag
20g slug
22-250

blacksheep