New TC encore barrel, or new H&R complete rifle for the same $$, what to do??

[teddy12b]

Every once in a while I'll get online and try to lookup encore rifle barrels in 44mag that I could use in my state for deer hunting.  Today I came across one that after shipping & taxes would be about $350 for a stainless fluted 22" prohunter rifle barrel.  As far as I know that's as good as a barrel gets in an encore so it's now exactly apples to apples comparing it to an H&R, but it's in the ballpark.

On the one hand, I hardly ever get out my encore these days and it would be nice to take deer again with the first gun I ever took a deer with in my life.  I'll never sell the encore, but I never shoot it anymore because I don't enjoy the 209x50 cleaning or the recoil of it's 30-06 barrel so it might put some new life into an old gun if I bought the new encore barrel.  On the other hand, if I can pick up a brand new H&R 44mag for probably less than $250 out the door then it's a fair consideration to weigh that against buying the new TC barrel. 

I'm going under the assumption that both the TC barrel and the H&R are going to be equal in accuracy mostly because the 44mag was never meant to be a long range precision round.  If you know that one is going to be significantly more accurate than the other please let me know, because I will put sentiment aside for an more accurately performing rifle.

Now, without trying to play favorites between TC or H&R because they both make a good gun, I'd just like to know what you all would do. 

[quickdtoo]

You might want to read this old discussion on the merits of both the H&R and TC with the CVA thrown in later. You might get some comments about the H&R 44mag being overbore and requiring cast bullets to shoot well which was true, that ended in late 2006 when Marlin tightened the bore to .429"-.430",  but everything made since are good shooters, including mine. Dunno what twist the TC has, but the H&R is still 1:38" which may figure into what weight bullet you want to shoot.  

I'd go with the H&R rifle, I have 40 of em, sold my only Encore.

Tim

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,74391.msg458331.html#msg458331

[teddy12b]

I'll read that thread, thanks!  I think the encore barrels twist are 1 in 20".  I read that on another forum so it may not be correct.

[Bigeasy]

One consideration is the TC's are generally better made.  Another is the trigger - I have never tried a stock HR with what I would call a good trigger.  Most all need some work to compare with a TC.  Also, if the twist is faster in the TC, that may make a difference if you like heavy bullets.  Accuracy varies to much between individual rifles to make a blanket statement, though my TC Contenders have never failed to impress me.

Larry

[quickdtoo]

TCs are better made as reflected by their much higher cost which makes sense, but IMO for the average hunter, the H&R is a much better buy for my money, my Encore didn't shoot any better than any of my H&Rs, and it did require some work to get it there, much the same as many H&Rs do, forend modification, etc, but nothing that the average DIYer can't do.

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,224714.msg1099238147.html#msg1099238147

H&R's recent triggers run ~3½-5½lbs out of the box, any heavier than that and they'll do a free trigger job, current Remington policy is if it's less than 5½lbs and you want it reduced to ~3½lbs, they charge $20 plus shipping, not a bad deal. H&R trigger jobs aren't hard to do for the DIYer and don't require any special tools, that's well covered in the trigger info in the H&R FAQs, I can do a 3lb trigger in about 30 minutes or so, a first timer will take an hour or two. http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,26264.msg525466.html#msg525466

I did a 2½lb trigger job on my Encore frame which was 7¼lbs when I bought it used, it requires a lighter spring and special spring pliers to replace and was a lot more complex than an H&R frame, I don't know what TC's policy is on trigger jobs.

Tim