I liberated an Encore rifle from the local gun shop to convert it to a pistol. The deal was too good to pass up. Now the question is what pistol cartridge to get. I am leaning heavily to the plain 308. I already have a Contender in 45-70, 30-30, 7x30 Waters, 375JDJ, and 30 Herrett. I hunt deer and hogs in Louisiana and Mississippi. All my shots are less than 200 yards.

Ain't nothing wrong with a .308 Winchester.

I have SEVERAL rifles and 2 specialty pistols so chambered.

Honestly, and this is just my personal desires talking, I'd want a 6.5 Creedmoor. I'm just really interested in that cartridge, and I think it would be great for a 200 yard maximum Encore pistol. That said, you absolutely could not go wrong with a 308, either. That seems like a really popular Encore chambering here, and with good reason.

If I was to have an Encore pistol set up for 200 yards and in I'd probably go with the 460 S&W, with a 10" barrel + brake. The 308 is nice but you'd want at least a 15" tube and I'd like to keep it more compact.

I've been happy with my 15" .308 barrel. It shoots under MOA with 165 gr BTs and Alliant Reloader 15. I just never wind up taking it hunting though.

I have an Encore SSK 260 Rem 15" and it is a sweet shooter with the Nosler 125 gr. My .270 Encore 15" in the Barnes 130gr. is a bad boy on hogs, too.

I like my 308 and 7-08. Both are one shot stoppers on deer and hogs. I'd go with a 15 inch barrel with any bottleneck cartridge.

These 2 are my favorites!

Nothing wrong with the 308, but I would also take a look at the 338 Federal. It would make for a dandy thumper in an Encore for deer/hogs.

Nothing wrong with the .308. I prefer the 30-06. I have a friend with a .308 and out of the 15" tube I can get him by 200fps. Mine is a legit 1/2 minute gun. If I had to go buy a new one tomorrow I would have to think about a 7-08.

7-08 is the BOMB!!

Very manageable recoil and puts a hurtin' on whatever it hits.

I think I would like an 7-08 also but no funds for that now.

A few years back I had SSK set up a 7x57 Ackley improved 15? BBL with arrester brake. It?s mild to shoot you can spots hits thought the scope. My pet load is the Sierra 120 Pro-Hunter @ 2900fs. I have had no problem putting rounds inside a paper plate at 300 yards off simple steady styx, while all deer taken have been under 100 yards. This is a great whitetail thumper!
Good luck with your choice
B?

I love my .338 federal. Insanely accurate and easy to load for and shoot. I'm shooting the 160 grain Barnes ttsx at 2700 fps and it is a hammer.

I had a 7mm-08 and couldn't warm up to it. Nice caliber, but not for me.

308 is another good one, and you will always be able to find ammo for it. So many choices out there...

Anybody in southern Missouri looking for a 7-08 I seen one at a gun show in Mountain Grove MO this morning. It was stainless 15in 7-08 encore looked new he said he old shot it about 15 times. He was asking $600 but I bet it could of been had for less. If I wouldn't have just bought a new encore and g2 contender I would of bought it myself. He also had a nice 7.5in Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag that had a Simmons scope on it. There was actually a few really nice hunting pistols there.

Here is my newest Encore GIVEN to me by a good friend

I shot a crop damage deer in June almost at the far tree line

This is the damage done-6" exit
It is a 6.5/.284 with a Burris 3-12X BPlex and 143 gr. Hornady ELD-X. The distance: 581 yards!!
I consider the ELD-X as a poor bullet. It's too fragile. It's accurate. I think I saw a smoke trail behind the bullet. Does Hornady speak with a forked tongue. The rest of mine will be used on groundhogs. Think what would happen to a elk quartering away? Bye!bye!

Burger by ballistics.......

Great shot!

If you want to take advantage of the Primitive Weapons Seasons in Louisiana and Mississippi, your Encore will need to be at least .35 Caliber. That narrows the field a bit, with .35 Whelen and 45/70 Govt. being among the leading candidates among factory barrels. If you are going custom, the .358 or .375 JDJ will be hard to beat.

I went to the LGS with all intentions of buying a .308. It wasn't in stock but the 7-08 was and came hoe with me.

Not a regret in the world.

Is it legal to make an Encore rifle into a pistol? I always understood you could go from pistol to rifle and back, but if it were sold as a rifle it could not be converted to a pistol legally. I don't know, just asking.

We've discussed this before, and I think the answer is they're all pistol frames and are sold as such, regardless of which configuration it was made into.

Edit: I took this question directly to Smith & Wesson last year, so I went back through my email inbox to find it. This was their reply, shortened: "... left as a rifle in 209x50 rifle configuration, but they both will be considered pistols per the ATF since they can become pistols."

Yup, they are legal. I printed out the page that has the legalities on it from the feds. I'll find it in my file and post it on here. Figured it was a good thing to keep around.

Just a peace of mind thing for me to have it on file.

There is still a lot of gray area there so I will not be one to convert a rifle into a pistol. I don't think a person has ever been convicted for doing such, even before the recent "clarification" by the ATF but there are plenty of pistols around so I will not test the waters. As I read the "clarification" it indicated to me that a T/C can be converted to a rifle and back as long as it started as a pistol. Not gonna argue about it, just stating my opinion.

Thank you for the replies. I've considered an Encore rifle purchase, but stopped because I wanted an pistol and did not want to run into legal complications.

I bought a new weather shield receiver rifle stock set and a Contender stainless receiver pistol stock set this summer and both of mine where just registered as receivers. It didn't say a thing about which stocks come with them.

I think you'll be fine unless you put a sub-16" barrel on a frame with a rifle stock.

This is a matter of interpretation and all the research just confuses it even more. Go Mike Bellim page they have some very interesting facts. in the end I have two frames they are handguns and were purchased that way I will buy another frame that will be dedicated to the rifle task. Switching back and forth may get you into trouble and the water is muddy enough who would leave the choice to a ill informed beauracracy or liberal judge or prosecutor?

I've got a 12" .223 barrel I could be talked into selling if your interested.

All spoken of are excellent choices, especially if you are loading your own. I shoot a 13" MGM 358 winchester w a 2" brake
pushing a 200 gr Hornady FTX just a bit over 2000 fps chronographed very pleasant to shoot
I was able to take a nice antelope at 110 yds this year so far with it here in Montana

Easy 1 hand stuff recoil is comparable to 357 mag 4". my 13 and 14 year olds shoot it. Im loading faster burning powders to accommodate the shorter barrel but even w factory rifle that size case is very managable.

good luck in your pursuit of the hh addiction

I hunt in Louisiana also. Have a encode in 7-08 and love it. Took a buck last year at 124 yards and it wewent 30 yards and piled up. I'm loading the 120 Barnes tax. At 100 yards I'm getting 3 shot groups that are .50.

Darn spell check,it's the Barnes tipped tripple shock bullets. Very accurate.