Hello all I am riverman- well riverman3220 here as somebody already had the handle riverman. I have been a shooter of mostly hanguns for 30 plus years and finally got my new Encore in stainless with a 15" barrel in .308. with a Nikon Monarch 2.5-8x scope. I ordered the brass,bullets and dies from Midway and they are on the way.
I like the Encore and it shoots well right out of the box with factory ammo . One thing I do not like is the way the forend screws directly to the barrel. My Contenders all have a little screw "plate" that dovetails into the bottom of the barrel and I prefer that. The forend on the encore is not Rhynite like the contenders and makes putting a sling swivel stud on it out of the question. I do not want a barrel band as I figure it's ok on the .22 match barrels but not so good on the .308. Does anyone make a rhynite( or rhynite -like) fore end with a sling stud ? I like the soft pistol grip that comes with the gun and would like a forend that matches the grip a little better than wood tho I know eventually I will get wood grips and forend for it along with more barrels no doubt.
I would also appreciate any loading data for the 15" barrel as the Hornady and most other manuals all have info for 22" barrels. I plan on shooting the Hornady 155 grn A-max as that as what I ordered not really knowing what shoots best in this gun. I am sure I will shoot other weights and makes as I find what shoots best. Thanks- riverman3220

Riverman3220-You have several options, the best of which is to contact either Bullberry (bullberry.com) or Dave Van Horn in Gilbert, AZ. You can have dovetails cut into the barrel if you'd like or go with the hanger bar system. Or, you could even order a nice forend that is pillar-reinforced. The forend on my Encore 6.5x55 rifle from Van Horn does screw into the barrel, but I get consistent 1.5" groups at 300 yards with hunting ammo.

With the awful factory synthetic forend from TC, vertical stringing and inconsistent grouping plagued every bench session.

Sierra's manual offers an entire section of single shot pistol reloading data and would be a worthwhile investment.

Thank you for the leads! I found Van Horn's website and will contact them and bullberry about the forend. I only hope I can come close to 1-1/2" @ 3oo yds! with my .308. This is my frist foray into rifle caliber pistols and I already am looking at a .204 Ruger barrel. Sounds like first off I need to repalace that T/C forend. I have to order the Sierra book from Sinclair and read the section on single shot pistol reloading. Thanks again!

Welcome to the TC world riverman...check out the Steve Stratton hanger bar system...I prefer it over the others. I have a 15" Factory 308 barrel and like to use the factory rynite carbine forend on it for hunting...
Nolser #5 has 15" barrel data in the back.
Also check out:
Spec. Pistols
for some good TC discussions.