Greetings 22hornet. I am new to this board but very experianced with the encore. the problem you are describing is a product of X-amount of allowed slop in the frame to barrel fit to allow interchangeability. If you have a feeler gauge check the gap between the back of the barrel and the breach face. the best fit I have seen on one of these is .015". The worst I have seen is .009". This results in the headspace changing with every differant frame and barrel. If you have a buddy that has an encore shoot your barrel on his frame and see if you get the same results. Encores, to have a cartridge fit them perfectly require .001" clearance between the case head and the breach face when closed. Any more than this will result in a stretched case and the condition you described. If the brass is sized longer than this and contacts the breach face when closed it will preload the frame and cause vertical stringing. The best fix for a chamber cut to deep is to size your brass to fit your chamber. Start with a fired case and use a full length sizing die. Use a feeler gauge in between the shell holder and the bottom of the die with the ram at the top of its travel. Start with .015" and size a case. Insert it into the chamber and close it. If the action doesn't close use the next gauge down one at a time with a fresh piece of brass until the action closes freely. Load a few shells at this length and shoot them. If you acheived the accuracy you were looking for examine the cases and see if the problem still shows up. If it does add .001" to you length and repeat the load and shoot process. You should find a point that gives accuracy and good looking brass. This is time consuming but I sent a encore back three times and still had to do this to get it to shoot and not stretch brass. Good luck. regards,reflex264
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