It’s been a good few years for single-shot nerds. First SSK Industries released their Contender clone, the SSK-50, and now, at long last, Thompson/Center Arms has opened back up and re-released the Encore ProHunter. The world is healing.
Last year, Gregg Ritz, the previous President and CEO of Thompson/Center Arms, re-acquired the company from Smith & Wesson. Since then, he’s set out to re-start one of America’s great firearms brands right back in their Rochester, New Hampshire home. It looks like he’s done just that. The new Thompson/Center Arms Encore ProHunter is the best ever produced.
The re-born Encore ProHunter is backwards compatible with the old Encore barrels. A couple of years ago, I found a blued 7mm-08 Remington Encore rifle barrel in great shape for just $80 in a pawn shop in Wyoming. It works perfectly well with the new Encore ProHunter frame and forend. I’ve also used several different aftermarket and custom grips designed for the previous versions of Encore ProHunter and they all fit just fine.
I should note up front that this particular version of the Pro-Hunter wasn’t bought as a complete gun. That’s because I simply couldn’t find a complete one to purchase. I still can’t. Instead, I called Haus of Arms and bought the complete action, stock set, and barrel…all original, new T/C Arms parts. The only exception is the optics mount, for which none had been delivered. Instead I used an aftermarket “diving board” type mount, which probably costs me some accuracy.
The other not-quite-but-almost-stock item is the stock itself. Haus of Arms offers a variety of adornments to the factory stock, including Cerakoted and laser-engraved designs in various camo and animal patterns. The designs make the otherwise plain synthetic stock a bit more interesting. To be clear, these are Thompson/Center Arms stocks that Haus of arms has lightly modified. I bought one of the versions with deer etched in, but there are others.
The basic stock set is boring. Boring and perfectly functional. The synthetic stock features a wraparound pistol grip with a T/C branded butt cap. Two small screws cover the access to the grip/stock bolt on the frame. A Limbsaver Airtech recoil pad does a good job of cushioning recoil while remaining solid enough to keep the gun from wiggling in the shoulder pocket. The stock design also allows for shims to be easily included to change length of pull, if any are ever offered.
The textured foregrip is similarly constructed, with two sunken but exposed screws attaching it directly to the barrel. Both the stock and the foregrip have sling studs included.
One thing that’s a bit interesting is the forward sling stud is inset and at an angle. This is a mixed bag. The angle makes the use of a bipod challenging, if not impossible. However, it also keeps the sling stud off the shoulder if using it as intended…as a sling stud. It makes for a very comfortable ride on the body, especially if carried the rifle for extended back-country hunts.
The new T/C barrels are outstanding. All stainless, with 5R rifling, the 26-inch .30-06 Springfield barrel I tested proved to be of excellent quality with a genuinely surprising level of precision. Each barrel is threaded with a knurled thread protector. There are no iron sights offered at this time.
As the Encore action is quite strong, I have no qualms about pushing regular maximum pressure loads through this rifle. On a hot summer day in Texas Hill Country, I was able to push a 180gr Nosler Accubond to 2,900fps before any pressure signs presented. That’s just barely under where we would expect to see the same bullet pushed from the .300 Winchester Magnum, plenty for any animal in North America and anything other than the largest of dangerous game in Africa.
Of course, energy delivered means nothing if you can’t get the bullet to where it needs to be. That’s what really impressed me here…the precision this break-open single-shot is capable of.
Shooting at 100 yards off a Caldwell Stinger shooting rest and using an 18X SIG SAUER optic, there was no commercial hunting ammunition tested that scored five-round groups larger than 1.1-inch after about 100 rounds of shooting. I shot 150gr Hornady’s Superformance SST ammo (1.1″), Nosler’s 180gr Accubond Trophy Grade ammo (.8′), and Barnes VOR-TX 180gr TTSX ammunition (.8″), as well as an extremely wide variety of my own reloads, from 125 to 200 grains.
I used two boxes of that 180gr Accubond ammunition to sight-in the gun and get some data out to 500 yards on my home range. After that, I went to The Ranch TX Shooting Club and dialed in on an IPSC-sized steel silhouette at 1,000 yards.
After a short trigger pull and a long wait, I heard the quiet “gong” of the round striking the target, a first-round go. I screwed up the wind on the second call, striking right next to the target, but I was back on for the third. Not bad at all for a break-action single-shot rifle with commercial hunting ammunition.
As an aside, the barrel twist rates are faster than some of the older barrels you might have been more familiar with. I’m sure that’s in response to the modern practice of heavy-for-caliber projectiles and bullets with higher ballistic coefficients. For instance, the factory .243 Win barrel has a 1:8 twist rate, allowing it to stabilize 103 to 110gr bullets more common with other modern 6mm short-action chamberings. This .30-06 Springfield barrel has a 1:10 twist.
Most of the barrels are longer than you’d expect. Although traditional magnum chambered barrels are often 26 inches on older rifles, you’ll note that all of these barrels, regardless of caliber, are 26 inches. Because the T/C Encore Pro Hunter receiver is so short, a 26″ barrel on this gun ends up with a similar overall length to that of a 24-inch barrel on a short-action bolt gun.
The factory trigger on these guns is better than any Encore previously produced. Using a Lyman digital trigger scale, this trigger averaged 3lbs, 11.4oz over five pulls, right out of the box. It has a bit of slack and grit right at the front, followed by a very clean break. If you’d like to make that even smoother and lighter, there are plenty of aftermarket kits and services available.
The factory hammer sits entirely below the line of the frame, making getting to it with a gloved hand fairly easy. Still, if you have a wide bell at the rear of your scope, or just really big thumbs, you might have bit of a clearance issue, Have no fear, the factory hammer can be mounted forward, left, or right, depending on shooter preference.
As expected, this gun ran perfectly, regardless of ammunition. As the .30-06 Springfield is the queen of all calibers (being the most versatile chambering ever made) I loaded up everything from 125gr varmint rounds to 200gr moose killers in this gun. Of course, it fired them all just fine. I’ve got over 300 rounds through the gun so far, almost all fired suppressed, without an issue. I haven’t cleaned it yet.
Although the T/C Encore was first released back in 1998, the upgraded Pro Hunter version was on the shelves in 2005. Actual store prices varied depending on the models, but you’d expect to spend around $800 on a new one. That means that, given inflation, the new T/C Encore Pro Hunter at $995 (estimated online retail price) is relatively less expensive than the original models. Quite the bang for your buck.
I’ve got to say a big thanks to Gregg Ritz. Thompson/Center Arms is a brand that just had to be brought back, and woe to anyone that would have foisted a sub-par gun on rabid T/C fans…such as the author. Instead, Mr. Ritz has given us exactly what we’d hoped for at a price we can afford.
I’ve hunted almost exclusively with new T/C guns (pistols and rifle) this last year, both in the US and in Africa. They have all performed spectacularly. Be on the lookout for stories on those hunts later.
Specifications: Thompson/Center Arms Encore Pro-Hunter Centerfire Rifle
Caliber: .30-06 Springfield reviewed (others available)
Action: Single-shot, break-open design
Safety: Automatic hammer block with bolt interlock
Barrel: Interchangeable, button rifled, brush honed chamber, match grade crown
Stock/Forend: Over molded composite
Weight: 7 pounds (with factory barrel as reviewed)
Overall Length: 38½ inches (with 26-inch barrel)
Length of Pull: 14 inches (as reviewed)
Price: Frame and stock set-$550, barrel – $390
That there is a handsome rifle. I bought one of the SSK-50 frames not long after you reported on them a couple years back, before TC came back on the scene. And here I thought my original 1980 Contender frame had a glass-rod trigger!
It’s good to see this platform, and TC in general, be revitalized.
Those SSK-50 frames need zero work. They are ideal out of the box.