Help with new Encore (rifle)

[slammin salmon]

Hey guys...was googling to find out what other guys were doing with their Encores, and ran across this site. Sweet!

So for CHRISTmas last year my wife bought me an Encore frame, RealTree stock, in stainless. Nice wife! So I am starting to set it up for Whitetail season. I've always been a fan of the .270 (I shoot over a 40 acre food plot, and enjoy the flat shot), so I ordered a Bergara .270 stainless barrel to fit onto the frame. I already have a Nikon 3x9x40 scope that I'd figure I would use this year, and I'm trying to figure out which mounts to pair it with. I've read alot of good stuff about the one-peice mounts on the Encore (dednutz, etc), and think that's the direction I want to go in.

Which mounts do you guys use/suggest? I know there are a few brands out there that do one-peice, but they have various heights- low, medium, high, really high, etc....I'm a little confused as to which mount to pick. I currently have the stock hammer on my frame, which I know means I'll need a higher mount. I will likley send the action into Thompson next year to have a swing hammer conversion done on it, but for now, I have to deal with the added height clearance for the scope. If you happen to know the part number of the suggested mounts, that would make my life even easier.

Added question- what rounds (besides hand loads) do you guys find most accurate in the Bergara barrel? I have a crapload of Winchester Supreme, which is what used to shoot the best in my old .270.

Thanks for the help!


Damian

[yooper77]

I have a blued T/C Encore frame with standard hammer; actually everything is stock and unaltered.

I use Leupold dual dovetailed bases and medium rings, for all my rifle barrels.  I thought about getting the swing hammer, but I trained myself to use my setup as is.

I don’t have any Bergara barrels, but I have heard some people like them and some don’t.  I am sure any factory 270 Winchester loads will work fine.

yooper77

[southernutah]

I use Warne  bases and Warne quick detatch rings on most of my barrelsl . Burris dual dovetail base and signiture rings are rock solid. The QD make it easy to remove scope for cleaning and then just put it back. I use the medium height rings. You can get an aluminum hammer extention for just a few dollars but I don't need them on most of the barrels I have. The swing out hammer just seems to be more to go wrong. Midsouth Shooters supply is where I usually order from.

[slammin salmon]

Yooper- guessing your from da UP Eh? Lived in Marquette for 5 years, moved to Wisconsin about three years ago...sure do miss it!

[Keith L]

Yooper- guessing your from da UP Eh? Lived in Marquette for 5 years, moved to Wisconsin about three years ago...sure do miss it!

Ya dere hey!

[yooper77]

Yooper- guessing your from da UP Eh? Lived in Marquette for 5 years, moved to Wisconsin about three years ago...sure do miss it!

Yooper- guessing your from da UP Eh? Lived in Marquette for 5 years, moved to Wisconsin about three years ago...sure do miss it!

Ya dere hey!

Yes, I am a born and raised Yooper and I am living in Marquette.  I love the UP!

yooper77

[Grumulkin]

I use Warne  bases and Warne quick detatch rings on most of my barrelsl. The QD make it easy to remove scope for cleaning and then just put it back.

Except for handguns, I've gone pretty much to Warne bases with Warne QD rings for all my Encore and Contender barrels.  You can remove and reattach the scope with no loss of zero and they're solid even with a 300 Win. Mag. barrel.  It makes packing for travel easy.  One of the best things is, as your Encore/Contender addiction grows and your barrels multiply, you can easily switch scopes between barrels.  If you don't have to have a bunch of scopes for the different barrels, you can have a few really good ones.

As for ring height, it depends on the objective diameter.  On the MidwayUSA web site scope ring listings, there is a link to to a list of recommended ring heights based on objective diameters which is useful even if you don't buy your stuff from them.  On my Encore/Contender barrels I use every thing from low to extra high rings depending on the scope.  I have not had any particular difficulty cocking my Encores/Contenders with scopes attached and none of my frames have swing hammer conversions.

[Hopalong7]

     The one-piece mount doesn't allow any scope adjustment fore & aft for eye relief at all. 

[Tn Jim]

On my 7-08, I use a 1 piece T/C mount and medium height Burris Signature Z rings with a 3X9-40 Nikon Monarch scope. It's been working great for several years now.

[gunrac]

     The one-piece mount doesn't allow any scope adjustment fore & aft for eye relief at all. 

This is not true with all 1 piece mount an ring sets. True, the T/C has no adjustment. The Dednutz gives you all of an 1" either way. A 3x9 is fairly forgiving when it comes to eye relief. If you are of avg. height, either mount should work in most cases. You have a couple differant options going with the Dednutz. It should be your call on what you want. Keep in mind when choosing, if some day you may want to go with a bigger scope.

http://www.dnzproducts.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=42&zenid=cap7qtg59ejht8u3nnmonh2l86

[Hopalong7]

     Yes, I was refering to the TC mount(should have read the OP a little closer).  The TC one piece mount has the lower half of the rings made integral with the base.

[slammin salmon]

I ended up going with the medium-height DNZ xtreme eye relief gamereaper. It have as much play for eye relief as I did on my last rifle using weaver rings.

New issue- so I have all my gear mounted, except for the forearm- I think when I bought the gun the forearm screws were missing from the box. Any idea where I can get replacements??

Also- I dont have a torque wrench- how do I accurately gauge 22 to 25 inch pounds (what DNZ suggests for base and ring screws)?

[slammin salmon]

Just got 'er all put together last night. That's one sweet firearm man- cant wait to go sight it in!

[slammin salmon]

Figured I'd post a follow up. I went out Sunday AM and shot it for the first time. After bore-sighting it, I took my first shot at 50 yards, ended up about 3 inches high. Brought it down and hit orange right away. Here's my paper @ 100 yards. I know it's probably not great compared to you guys shooting at 1000 yards or using 3 foot barrels, but I use my rifle for shooting whitetail, not shooting paper off a bench. I'm pretty happy- both with the scope mounts and the Bergara barrel. I would have moved it out to 200 yards, but my shoulder gave out. The Pro Hunter stock is looking like a good investment.



*EDIT- Forgot to mention- The group in the upper right was the el-cheapo Remington 130 GR. The lower, tighter groups are Federal Premium Vital Shok in 130 GR.

[Capt Gary]

That will work!

Looks like you should be grilling backstrap real soon.

Enjoy your Encore.

[gunrac]

Looks like a shooter. Glad it all worked out for ya.

[Tn Jim]

Before you swap stocks, try putting a Limbsaver recoil pad on it instead. I did just that and it made a world of difference. Just a thought.