We used to write back and forth about Contenders and he loved that barrel. I don't remember his name and lost track of him when the old went under. I must know your friend as there are not too many 9". The novelty wore off after a few years when I realized I never took it hunting and it would take some serious practice to master it for anything other than shooting off the bench. That cinched it for me, I had to have a contender. First and only time I shot that 9" barrel and all my shots were one ragged hole. There was so much snow that day we decided to put the target at 75 yds instead of postholing to the 100 yd line. I forget his load but as I recall it was with a 200+ gr match bullet. My shooting buddy had a 300 whisper contender barrel, back before the design was copied and later called the 300 bo. Compact little package, with the right barrel and load rifle accuracy. I prefer the Packmeyer grips and forearm and 10" barrels. That said I'd still opt towards the G2 frame as with the older frames you risk getting one somebody decided to hotrod and hence stretch. The trouble is with 1000's of the original frames out there, you can't really chamber a barrel in those rounds due to the risk of someone putting a barrel on an old frame. 308 case were running high enough pressures to stretch the frames. It was an interesting move on T/C's part. The G2 is stronger than the original frames. The 221 fireball is a perfect balance of power and accuracy IMHO trumps the 22 hornet and 218 bee, anything larger is a waste of powder in 22 cal.ģ00 blackout will do anything a 30 herret will do, no brass forming, you can make rimmed cases from 360 DW if you prefer rims and factory ammo is available.ģ57 max in a pistol barrel gives a 35 rem rifle a run for the money, recoil isn't that bad. If I were to do it again, I'd go with a 221 fireball, 300 blackout and 357 maximum. Have also fired various JDJ rounds out of friends contenders. Forget all the barrels I had, off the top of my head 22rf, 218 mashburn, 223, 6.5 GR (30-30 necked down with sharp shoulder) 357 mag, 357 max, 357 Herret and I think a 44 mag. You open and close the Encores break-action by simply squeezing the outside bottom of the trigger guard toward the buttstock/grip, after which the action opens and with an extractor you can remove the cartridge.Had one years ago. The Encores trigger mechanism was designed to be stronger, and the break-action was developed to be easier to open. The TC encore was first released in 1983, and uses a slightly different trigger mechanism than it’s original predecessor the Contender. The Encores single-shot, break-action design brought unparalleled accuracy, especially in the hand gun space, which allowed for a pistol to have comparable rifle like accuracy. The Thompson Center Encore’s popularity came with the emergence of long range target shooting and handgun hunting. Perfectly suited to hand down from generation to generation of gun enthusiasts. Truly the TC Encore gun barrel offers you incredible flexibility, and quality that will last you for years and year. And what makes the TC Encore special is that all it takes is to switch out the barrel is to remove two forend screws and the hinge pin, the attached scope or the open sights stay sighted in so there’s no need to reinstall them later when you’re ready to go back. Be it a TC Encore muzzleloader, shotgun, centerfile rifle, pistol barrel, or big bore brush gun, these TC Encore barrels offer superior accuracy and durability. Giving you the flexibility to do whatever your shooting or hunting demands. The TC Encore or Thompson Center Encore barrels offer some of the best, most accurate shooting of any rifle barrel in it’s class.