I am thinking of buying a barrel in .17 Rem. for my Encore. This is to be in 26" heavy configuration. Does anyone have any experience with this combination? The only use will be for woodchucks out to 300 yards. If you have any feedback, I would be most appreciative. What about loads?
Thank you all

I can`t give you any info on the Encore in 17 Rem but I can tell you about my Contender Carbine in 17 Rem that shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards with factory Remington ammo.Mine has a 21 inch barrel on it and is the most accurate Rifle I have ever seen or owned.The 17 Rem also does a great job on Coyotes and Fox.I have taken two of each with this caliber with less fur damage than my 222 and the 222 does not mess the fur up that much.I hope to get an Encore in 17 Rem so when you get it and shoot it let us all know how it is.Good luck with the 17 Remington they are a blast to shoot.

My wife and I own 2 Encores with extra barrels. I have a 17 Rem. heavy barrel 24� long. It shoots �� groups at 100 yards which is good enough for shooting coyotes over a calling stand. It�s a fun rifle to shoot, I enjoy shooting it at the silhouette range. It makes a cute ringing sound when that 25-grain bullet hits the target at 200 meters almost at the same time you finish pulling the trigger. They are fast little suckers. I�m reloading mine right at 4000 fps. I�ve had it fly over the chronograph as fast as 4356 fps. 4K fps is a little rough on the barrel but what the heck. If you feel the need for speed the 17 will do it. If you reload it at the top end of maximum the barrel heats up fast. After the third shot (1 shot every 30-45 seconds) the pressures and speeds climbs pretty quickly. I have seen as much as a 100-fps jump with shot number 4 and another 100-fps jump with shot 5. Timing the shots 1 minute to 1 � minutes goes a long way in keeping the pressure down.

As far as reloading goes, I�ve have only used IMR 4320 and Hornady 25 gr. HPs with the bullet backed away .015� from the rifling. It does what I want it to do so I haven�t tried anything else.