Took the Encore out of the safe yesterday morning and started a couple of (easy) offseason projects. First was to remove a Bushnell Elite 2x6 off my 7mm-08 barrel that had come on it purchased as a secondhand package and remount a Leupold VX-III 2.5x8 in a set of Warnes. Loc-tite included. Just bought some 120 gr NBT's to start load development for a single-shot whitetail whammy (had been shooting 139/140 grainers this past season)

Then I remounted the Elite on a new-to-me .22-250 barrel purchased off GB, installed on the frame, and put on a new set of Pachmayr furniture bought before Christmas on sale.

So I'm off to the range with less than ideal conditions, but had a friend in town who loves to shoot whenever we get together. Rain was coming in fast, making for windy conditions, but hey, we're out here and won't melt, right?

Performed some quick bore-sighting in the field, adjusted the scope accordingly and stuffed one in the tube. Shooting Hornady factory loads with 40 gr V-Max's at 100 yards. Shot once to get it on paper, once again after adjustments, and shot this group after bringing it down a couple of clicks. Not too shabby for shots #3, 4, and 5! Coyotes beware!



As a relative newbie to the single-shot world (Thanks Gary and Handgun Hunter!), I'm excited about the prospect of tighter groups and more barrels. I can see a trigger job in my near future...