I took my wife on safari last year and she had an awesome time, but complained the our rifle didn't fit her very well. We tried a bunch of different rifles at the DSC and she decided that she wanted an Encore because it fit her better and was better balanced for her due to the shorter overall length. Well, I decided to have Fred at Bullberry build her an Encore based on her dimensions, especially hand size. He did an awesome job and my wife got her rifle just the way she wanted it, right down to the maple stock. She now loves going to the range usually shoots between 25 and 40 rounds. She even asked me to teach her how to reload...

Anyway, here's a picture from Saturday.

Fit is very important ! That maple will change now with exposure to light as many woods do. It will get a very nice honey tone !

Very nice rifle in a lovely caliber. What length barrel?

The barrel is 22". I had my reservations about the length, but it turned out very nice and extremely well balanced.

In the Encore platform, the 22" bbl length should be a great and well balanced overall length. Bullberry barrels are well known for quality and accuracy.
Well done!

Aside from the Barrel length and stock, looks like you set hers up much the same as I did mine (same scope, base, rings). Did you put front sights on it, or is it set up exclusively for scope use?

Troy

No iron sights. She really loves it and enjoys shooting it...

How did you get Bullberry to make a barrel in 9.3x74R? I don't see that chambering listed on their site.

Did you have to buy the reamer and the barrel blank?

KB

I got the reamer from Troy and the barrel from Lilja...

"Fit" of a firearm is often not considered but is a requsite for reliable "bullet placement".

It is nice that you could supply your wife with a rifle that fits and is comfortable.....from the picture, bullet placement seems not to be a problem.

Even more impressive is the fact that I picked a middle of the road load for her to get used to shooting the gun. I haven't even begun load development, but I can tell you that the first load I tried shoots 1.5" groups when I'm pulling the trigger. I'm really looking forward to the actual load development...

The really good news is that she shot that group at 100 yards...not bad for her first big bore outing...

I also have a 9.3x74R Bullberry barrel on the Encore frame, and like it very much. My barrel is Douglas, stainless and 24". The chamber is very close to minimum but not tight, and the throat is long enough so that I can seat the Barnes TSX 286 gr way out there. AS I remember I was able to get enough IMR 4350 in the case to give good velocity, with the bullet seated right on top of the powder with a little compression. This is the cartridge which led me to discove that W760 and H414 is basically the same powder.

At the time I had mine made, Fred said that he had not previously chambered in this cartridge, and told me he would do it but I would have to buy the reamer, and the barrel blank, because his supplier, Wilson, didn't make a 9.3mm barrel, and the cartridge wasn't popular enough to warrant his investment in the reamer.

I sold my reamer to someone, but I can't remember his name. If your reamer is a Manson, it's probably made three chambers so far.

KB

It is a Manson reamer that I bought from Troy Hibbits...

I think I had put that together a while back when you posted something about a 9.3x74 and maybe a 7x65...at least I thought I made that connection.

I'm glad that reamer is being put to good use, instead of sitting in my storage cabin where the 7x65R reamer is. I think the Encore is a natural for the 9.3x74R cartridge. When I got mine, I figured out quickly why it survived all these years, and I found load development easy.

I wish I had done a 8x57R too. There are several metric rimmed cartridges that would be interestig in the Encore. Now that I see that it's relatively easy to re-sell a good reamer, maybe that opens up the possibility of just doing it - having interesting chamberings in a varity not normally offered.

Although not metric, the 450/400 is at or near the top of the list.

KB