Henry Rifle Forums

Going a little nutty to get out and shoot and with all the snow and cold we've had, this winter, you'd have to be a little nutty to wade though snow measured in feet, up over my knees, just to put up targets. We did it, today, though. Really mean it when I say that I should have brought snowshoes.

Okay, these are not single shot rifles. They're single shot pistols (though Bill did some shooting with one of our CZ 455s with a single shot adapter). These guns all wear new barrels, acquired over the winter. The goal, today, was just to get them checked for function and getting the optics initially sighted in before moving to other distances. For that reason, all shooting was at 25 and 50 yards.

Sorry, but no targets to show because I was NOT going to wade back out through all that deep snow and pull targets. Guess you'll just have to take my word on how the guns performed.

First up is a stainless Contender wearing a TC Custom Shop (now defunct) 12" stainless 45 ACP barrel. As with all of these old Custom Shop barrels, there's a very good chance that this barrel is a one of a kind barrel. The red dot is a Leupold/Gilmore with a large 8 MOA dot. (Perfect size dot to just fit in a 3" bull at 25 yards or a 6" bull at 50 yards.)


This barrel will be my dedicated offhand 25 and 50 yard shooter and, pleased to report, it lived up to my expectations. 5 shot groups from a rest at 25 yards were easily one ragged hole as I sighted in the red dot dot. When I switched to standing, without a rest, had no trouble shooting 2" groups, even one going under 2". Now I know that claim for groups at 25 yards, offhand, will raise a few eyebrows, but, remember, this is a Contender and the standards for a Contender are different than for a revolver or semi-auto. The fact that I have tuned this Contender trigger down, safely, under one pound really helps.

Next up is just your ordinary, garden variety 30-06 pistol. This is an Encore and the 15" barrel is another Custom Shop product. Instead of the standard taper, this is a full bull taper and that extra weight is much appreciated for the sake of managing 30-06 recoil. Scopes is the excellent Leupold 2.5-8x.


Got a couple 5 shot groups with the Hornady Whitetail 150s to print under an inch at 50 yards. Likewise, some Remington 125s. Close enough for this outing. This one will be a 100 to 300 yard shooter, come summer, but no way was I going to wade out through 100 yards of deep snow, today. Recoil with the 150s is just doable, but recoil with the 125s is much more manageable and that will be my main load for this gun. Not my first 30-06 Encore, by the way, so this barrel also lived up to my expectations.

Last up is another new barrel and really my favorite of the three rigs. This is another Encore wearing a brand new 12" 44 mag barrel and a Tasco Pro Class 1.25-4x scope.


An Encore is really overbuilt for the 44 mag, but the extra weight of this rig, compared to a Contender in 44 mag, is what I wanted. Really makes shooting the 44 mag enjoyable. Again, very pleased with the accuracy. No problem keeping 5 shots at an inch or a touch less at 50 yards, using a rest. Some offhand work produced easy 4" groups at 50 yards. Not bad, considering the ammo was the very affordable Mag-tech 240s.

Not sure when we'll make another range trip. Really marginally practical with all the snow (and we have another big storm moving in over the weekend.

Next time, though, I promise it will be back to single shot rifles. Hope you don't mind some single shot pistols thrown in, now and then, but, hey, these pistols really do shoot like rifles, after all.

NCG, I don't believe you will hear any complaints about your posts on Contenders and Encores. In the hands of a shooter like you they shoot like rifles. Hang in there on spring coming to the north country.

For sure, they're close enough to rifles for me. I think I once read someone referring to that style of handgun as a "hand rifle" .

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No complaint from me. I like reading about what acquaintances are up to with their shooting!

North Country Gal wrote:... Hope you don't mind some single shot pistols thrown in, now and then, but, hey, these pistols really do shoot like rifles, after all.

You never cease to amaze me, both, your firearms and shooting skills NCG not to mention knowledge.
Sure glad you're up there if we ever get attacked from the north. Nothing political intended, just admiration!!..impressive stuff!

Beautiful pistols - when are you going to try out that Khatahdin that you recently picked up?

Holy cow. I wasn't born yesterday, but I've never even seen pictures of guns like that in my entire life. Always amazing reports from you, NCG, thanks for sharing.

Don't blame you a bit for not retrieving those targets, and give you all the credit in the world for venturing out in the first place. What a trooper!

Hats off to you guys for braving the wx to try out the new barrels. There were times, back in my competition days, when we shot important state level matches in the rain and falling snow, but these days... I wait for better wx. Like the rest, shooting reports are always interesting to me, be the Henry 45-70 or a diminutive 22 derringer.

Thanks, everyone. Appreciate the nice comments.

Yornoc3, when Contenders started wearing 14" barrels and, especially, with the introduction of the larger frame Encore in 1996 and their 15" barrels, these specialty pistols (now the accepted term) earned the name hand rifles and also rifle-ettes. This is essentially true, in that these long barrel versions are really guns to be shot from a rest of some kind. They're too awkward to be shot, comfortably, without a rest. The 12" 44 mag Encore, though, balances, nicely, for offhand work, making 12" barrels my favorite on the Encores. with the 10" and 12" being my favorites on the Contenders. Yeah, got a chuckle when shooting the 30-06. After every shot, had an avalanche of snow blow off the roof above me at our shooting station. That's a sure sign of a hand rifle.

Tractordad, the 45-70 Katahdin is in the queue, probably next trip out. That may be awhile, since we have yet another snowstorm moving in, tonight. Not good. Of this keeps up, we may all have to shoot from a standing piston at our range. The snow level is getting close to being high enough to make the target stands invisible when shooting from the bench.