In 1967 an exotic looking handgun called the Thompson/Center Contender hit the market, causing a ripple more than a splash. That modest beginning had little indication of the influence this handgun would have on the world.
The break-action, switch-barrel, single-shot handgun was capable of handling powerful cartridges and was used to hunt every game animal on earth. It became so dominant in International Handgun Metallic Silhouette competition that they created its own category just to make it fair for the rest of the handguns. It also launched a dynasty.
The Contender couldn’t handle modern, high-pressure cartridges, so in 1997 the bigger, tougher Encore handgun was introduced. It also was a break-action single-shot that allowed multiple barrels to be used, so switching cartridges was easy. My first Encore handgun was in .30-06, and it put a lot of meat in the freezer.
Over the years, the Encore family grew to include handguns, rifles, carbines, muzzleloaders and shotguns. In 2005 the New Hampshire-based Thompson/Center Arms company was sold to the president and longtime employee, Greg Ritz. I have had the pleasure of sharing several hunting camps with Greg over the years and watched as he used the emerging outdoor television medium to promote his guns and grow the company. For a while it seemed like the Encore was the only rifle allowed on outdoor television.
Greg sold the company to Smith & Wesson in 2007, where it withered and finally died. While it was hard to get some guns for several years, S&W officially shuttered T/C in 2021.
Then, in 2024, Ritz re-purchased the company. He returned it to New Hampshire where it belongs, and is busy putting it all back together.
I had a long phone call with him and based on that I think we can look forward to a big return of T/C including ... maybe ... the Hawken muzzleloader sidelock rifle. (Gotta channel my inner Liver Eating Johnson.) For sure you can expect the Encore and Contender lines to repopulate and maybe we will see a pretty cool bolt-action rifle down the line.
The first T/C gun to return to the market is the T/C Encore ProHunter rifle. This is a stainless-steel, break-action, interchangeable-barrel, single-shot rifle. It has a 26-inch heavy, fluted barrel on the centerfires with a muzzle threaded to add a brake or silencer. These guns have hammer-forged 5R rifling, which is pretty cutting edge. The honed chambers are precision cut on a CNC machine.
The external hammer has a rotating spur so it can be used easily with a scope, right or left side. The synthetic Flex Tech stock is fitted with a LimbSaver recoil pad, combined with the ProHunter compression arches. T/C says this system will add flex and absorb recoil energy. I have used the ProHunter in big boomers like the .416 Rigby and can say that, combined with the stock design, this gun handles felt recoil quite well. There are grippy rubber inserts in critical areas as well as on the comb.
The trigger and sear are nitride coated to help with a smoother trigger pull. The trigger on my new rifle is smooth and breaks at 3.1 pounds, which is perfect on a hunting rifle. The firing pin and bushing are also nitride coated for smooth operation and ease of cleaning when using a muzzleloader barrel.
The break-action gun is opened by pulling on the extension under the trigger guard so the barrel pivots muzzle down, exposing the chamber. The spring-loaded extractor pulls the cartridge out so that it’s easy to grasp.
I tested the reintroduced Encore in the bland, boring and extremely competent .308 Winchester. I fitted a Tract 2.5-10x Response scope, which is a perfect match for hunting with this rifle.
The accuracy is outstanding from a hammer-fired single-shot rifle with 100-yard groups as small as .3 inch. The performance was glitch-free over several days of shooting. In addition to the accuracy testing, I shot the rifle at some tiny Know Your Limits targets until I got bored with hitting them. I also did some field-position shooting at 100-yard steel targets and found the rifle to be ergonomically well fitted for hunting. But I knew that, as I have hunted for years with an Encore ProHunter. I’ve lost count of just the deer I have shot with the muzzleloader alone. The centerfire has counted for everything from woodchucks to musk ox. In fact, the Encore was the gun I trusted to take to the very extreme conditions found in the Arctic during late March. We had total whiteout days of storms, and wind chills were brutal hitting minus 70 degrees and ambient temperatures dropped below minus 45 degrees. The Encore ignored it all and was flawless when it came time to shoot my record-book musk ox.
There are barrels available in chamberings from .204 Ruger to .45-70. There is even a rimfire version coming. Muzzleloaders and shotguns will also be offered. The barrels can be swapped in minutes, and the scope stays with the barrel so the zero remains consistent.
The new Encore ProHunter might well be the most versatile rifle on the market today and can fit any hunting scenario from mouse to mammoth with a simple barrel change.
T/C Encore ProHunter
- tcarms.com
- Type: break-action, single-shot, centerfire rifle
- Caliber: 22 ARC, .204 Ruger, .223 Rem., .22-250 Rem., .243 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, .270 Win., 7mm Rem. Mag., .308 Win. (tested), .30-06, .300 Win. Mag., 350 Legend, 360 Buckhammer, 400 Legend, 300 Blackout, .35 Whelen, .45-70 Gov’t., 460 S&W, 500 S&W
- Barrel: interchangeable; 20", 26" (tested); heavy contour; button rifled; 1:10" 5R hammer-forged rifling, RH twist; fluted; threaded 5/8x24 w/cap
- Trigger: 3 lbs. pull weight
- Sights: none; Picatinny rail for optics mounting
- Safety: automatic hammer block w/bolt interlock
- Stock: Flex Tech; Monte Carlo; synthetic; LimbSaver AirTech recoil pad; 14.5" LOP
- Metal Finish: matte stainless steel
- Overall Length: 40"
- Weight: 7 lbs.
- Accessories: none
- MSRP: $995
