I was at work today and was looking at a encore in .308 and was wondering how the recoil was. I have shot the old contender in .45-70. For those that have shot both, how do they compare?

IMHO, The Contender in 45-70 is a brute! I havent shot the 308, but I have the 7mm-08. It is a pleasure to shoot, I would say it kicks less than my 375 Win. JMHO though...

Friday I shot both cartridge you mention. My Contender 45-70 is a thumper.....a real handful I would even say. The .308W I shot was a Competitor 16". It's a gem...bit of a snap but very manageable.

I was shooting the .45-70 when I was about 12 or so. Funny seeing a 4'9" kid weighing all of 75 lbs. shooting such as massive gun lol. I do know that a week or so later my friend that had the gun loaded some hot and shattered his other friends wrist with it.

I shoot a .308 Encore all the time...and quite well I might add. It is very flexible with light 125 to 165/168 match loads and Balistic tips. Mine shoots MilSorp really well too!

I have a 12 Contender in 45-70 with brake and it is a thumper. I don't set down and shoot over 5 to 10 at a time with it,groups suffer if you do. My brothers Encore in .308 was not fun to shoot groups with either,until he had a brake installed then it wasn't bad. My Striker in .308 is not bad with the brake open or closed ,but it is a center grip style and the recoil is different than a rear grip Encore or contender.

Wow Gerry......don't hurt your elbow patting yourself on the back!! It's too close to deer season for that.

recoil is perceived differently by everyone, but here is what I can add. I've had both 45-70 barrels in the Contender that had brakes and those that didn't as well as 375 JDJ's. I never shot factory rounds out of the Contenders I always used the same loads I used in my BFR and Marlins which are actually not recommended for the Contender. The barrels with brakes weren't too bad but the barrels without were a handfull. In the Encore I have a 458 Win barrel that has a brake and it's not as bad to shoot as the 45-70 without a brake in the Contender was. I've never shot the 308 in an Encore but to me the factory 06 barrel wasn't as bad as a bare bones Contender 45-70 and your gaining a bit more thump, I rechambered that barrel to 300 Win mag and added a brake and it's not as bad as the 06 without a brake. Bottom line though like I said is it's different for everyone, I've know guys that the big bore thumpers didn't bother as much as some of the small bores that have more "snap" in their recoil. I also saw a video of a guy shooting a 458 like mine and it was causing him to step backwards where if I have my shooting glove on I can run 20rounds of the bench no problem. It depends on your own tolerance, physical size can play a role and so can experience with big bores. The best thing to do is see if you can get a chance to shoot some of these guns to see for yourself. If your looking for 308 power levels you might also look at the Contender in a .308X444 since the Contender is a more packable weapon and power levels are very similiar. This cartridge also comes under the 308 Bellm and 309 JDJ but all three are the same cartridge and can be chambered on an old (or new) 30-30 barrel and you don't need any special dies you just use a set of 308 dies. Hope this helps some and didn't just confuse the issue.

I am glad you guys are around you really are a great help.

These guys are great and Rod is AWESOME!!

you are correct sir, and I look forward to what this sight has instore for the future.