Shooting Encore .44 Mag in 12 inch barrel

[mikemayberry]

I have always been a reasonably good pistol shot and have built a SS .44 Mag Encore with a SS 12" barrel, wooden grip and forend, and 2X6 Bushnell Elite 2600 scope.

Am learning to shoot it off rest and it is quite different than anything I have shot.  Not really grouping when any little mistake occurs but does group well if I really concentrate and don't jerk or pull.

Guess I'm just gonna have to learn to shoot it. . . and want to do so!

So my question is, how do you guys rest it, hold it and shoot it with consistency?  Once I get it truly zeroed in, how do you hold it in the field when I don't have a bag to shoot off of?  I intend to hunt deer, hogs and coyotes with it and really want to learn to shoot it well enough to do so.  Don't want to go down the wrong trail and learn 1000 rounds later there was an easier way.

Thanks.

Mike

[Bullseye]

Shooting off a rest does not seem much different than any other gun to me.  I use a bag under the forearm and always just hold the grip.  When I hunt with the 10" or 14" barrels for deer, I do not use a rest.  My practice is to be able to hit the vitals out to 50 yards offhand.  Where I hunt longer than a 50 yard shot is very rare.

If you are not, try shooting with the scope at 2x until you get used to it.  On big calibers I usually shoot better with a 2x scope for some reason.

[crawfish]

Shooting an Encore or Contender is not conducive to good accuracy simple because of the procedure itself. Having to the dismount the gun to reload, disturb the sight picture, remount the gun, reestablish the sight picture in not the way to shoot one hole groups. Even with all that going on T/C guns are known for their shooting ability. I currently own four Contender frames and 14 barrel sets. They all shoot very well, some better than others but taken as a group they are MOA guns some sub-MOA others MOA+.5. A flat forend is much better than a rounded for shooting paper or long range targets as would be expected. I use three different bench setups, a Stinger rest (out of production now) bags for the front and the MTM pistol rest. They all work well with the Stinger being the best. I always carry something to act as a rest while hunting. Stoney Point sticks or a Leki pole with the gun rest attached. They weigh less than 4oz each so carrying them doesn’t take much but they sure add stability to shooting under field conditions.

[KYODE]

from the bench.....i use homemade bags made from old blue jean legs. cut em to length, and fill with a finely ground plastic that i get where i work. sand..... corn cob media....rice, are other options.
i place 2 under the forearm, and one at the grip. i grip with a 2 hand hold, while kinnda resting my hands on the rear bag to keep from digging in with the grip during recoil. trigger squeeze is very important. just keep applying more, and more pressure till she goes BOOM.....as a surprise. all the while...keeping the cross hairs on target, of course. :wink:

in hunting situations....i take along homemade cross shooting stix, made from fiberglass tent poles.
my preferred field use, if ranges will be shorter, is using a sling(attached at grip and forearm) to pack the handgun. the sling is just dandy to droop over your left elbow....apply outward pressure to steady up and pull off an offhand shot. all my TC handguns are 14"-15" barrels, and this works great for me. i'm amazed at how steady it really is. at least as steady as any offhand rifle. :shock: