I just purchased my first encore frame today. I found a custom bullberry barrel for a contender that I am going to buy if it will fit my frame. Will it fit on my encore? Thanks

No.

Encore for Encore, Contender for Contender (except for Armorloy unless modified), G2 for G2 or Contender (except for the .45x209). Bullberry does make Encore barrels.

Encore, Contender, and G2s are all different animals. The barrels are not interchangeable.

[ 04-07-2003, 00:11: Message edited by: MickinColo ]

dmac, To answer YOUR Question...No. The contender barrle will not fit your Encore frame. You must purchase Encore Barrles.

Mick, barrels originally made for contender frames will fit the G2 frame.
Dave

G-2 and the conteder ARE the same being able to interchange. The Encore does NOT interchange with the contender/G-2
TC says all G-2 barrels will fit the contender and visa Versa
fireball

Fireball,
That is correct. The only exception is the new muzzleloader bbls for the G2 will not fit the Contender, which is what Hobie was pointing out. The reason is because of the debris produced from ignition getting into the frame components of the Contender. Got this from the factory itself.

FWIW,

Barent,
That was the reason I got for the difference in the bbl between the Contender and G2. I thought it might have been a pressure issue for the muzzleloader application being G2 specific, but the guy said no and sited the debris. I am assuming now that he must be referring to 209 primer not sealing well enough to prevent some additional blowback. I don't know, just passing on what I was actually told.

FWIW,

Dave & Hobie, I don�t know what I was thinking, I applied the problem of the muzzleloader barrel to all the contender barrels. Thanks for the straightening out.

Nothing unsafe about it. Remember, muzzle loaders are all open at the cap end, it's the nature of the beast. Some are designed to seal better than others, but none are completely sealed 100% of the time. Leakage can and will occur; all the manufacturer can do is design a system to seal as best as possible while still allowing the arm to be classified as a ML. The Savage ML is an example of when the sealing is taken a bit too far, the ATFE does not recognize this weapon as a ML, but rather as a firearm. In my 700 ML, caps are dirty but not too bad, musket caps are filthy, and 209s are the best of all, but still there is some leakage. As to the Encore or Contender I cannot say, but expect some leakage and while a cleaning pain in the butt, there is nothing usafe about it.

BigBore,

If the fouling is that slight, why limit the barrel's use? Is the G2 so much more resistant to fouling than the Contender? How? Why? It seems a contradiction to me. Pressure might be a good reason to limit the use of the barrel, fouling does not seem to be unless there is some other unstated problem. What, if any, is the unstated problem?

True, it is unlikely to have a catastrophic failure (?) in the G2 but it shouldn't stress the frame in the same way a cartridge would as the pressure is held by the breechplug forward of and not in contact with the breech.

If there is a problem like that, the barrel is unsafe for me because I do not understand it and will not accept the risk (even if the risk is only to my pocketbook).

BTW, I've been shooting ML guns for 30+ years, including flintlocks and various in-lines. If you can explain this to me please do so.

In the Contender, or G2, there will be not as much backthrust per se on the receiver face, as you mentioned, at least not like that of a cartridge gun, but that is the only thing I can think of that would prohibit it's use on the Contender. The recoil forces from the barrel will be transferred to the frame at both the hinge pin and at the back end of the barrel, unless the barrel does not make any contact with the breech face at all. Then, it would be the hinge pin that takes all the recoil forces. Compared to the G2, the Contender's sidewalls are much thinner from what I have read so since the hinge pin is taking a large portion of the recoil stresses, it would be my guess that the thinner sidewalls of the Contender might, and I mean MIGHT, be subject to damage from prolonged use. As to the fouling, I really cannot make an intelligent answer as I have not seen the G2. I do know the Contender's frame, and the Encore's, is quite wide open when you look down into it and any fouling is sure to get into the works and be a real problem trying to keep it clean and rust free. Because the Encore is just as wide open as the Contender, keeping the guts clean must not be the problem either, so TC must have a pretty good sealing system worked out to keep the gunk out of the trigger mechansim. I have yet to see a ML that did not have some blowback so to keep it out of the trigger mechansim, TC must have the primer/cap area sealed off pretty well.
You know, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that it is the thinness of the Contender's sidewalls that would be the problem when using heavy ML loads since the hinge pin is most likely taking the stress with a ML barrel. The recoil load on the thin sidewalls of the Contender may enlarge the hinge pin holes over time.

As to the fouling in the 209x50 Encore. There was enough fouling in my frame to start causing misfires with the centerfire barrels. A talk with someone at T/C and I got it cleaned up and straightened out. All you have to do is remove the allen screw above the firing pin and the breech face comes out. Clean the spring and firing pin, paying attention to which way the spring was facing when it came out reassemble and you are back in business. I do after each range session with the ML barrel. Sean

Big Bore,

I get the point on the frame. How then is the .45-70 (essentially the same thing ballistically) ok?

Sean,

Thanks for the info on blow back fouling on the Encore. Will the G2 have the same sort of removable breech face?

******

This is just really interesting to me. Aside from the firearms angle, how a corporate decision is reached and it's validity is also interesting.