Back in the specialty pistols game

[North Country Gal]

Okay, I never totally left the specialty pistol game, because I kept my one of my favorite specialty pistols after selling off most of our regular guns. Recently, though, I added two more specialty pistols, mostly for old time's sake, though I will certainly shoot them, too.

So what is a specialty pistol? It's a pistol for shooting outside the realm of conventional pistols, either for hunting or ranges beyond (and sometimes much beyond) normal pistol shooting distances. Specialty pistols also use actions you don't see with conventional pistols, namely break actions or bolt actions. Today I will show you examples of both.

First up is a vintage TC Encore pistol in 7mm-08 when they were being made by the original TC company in Rochester, N.H. Even has an original (made in Japan) TC 2.5-7x pistol scope and came with the original papers. It's getting very hard to find these, now, since TC has recently dropped the Encore, so I wanted to grab one while I still can. Will replace the grips and probably add a different barrel or two, but the gun is all original Rochester made TC and that's what I wanted. And, yes, I have shot 7mm-08 in an Encore pistol before. In fact, I used to shoot much nastier cartridges in an Encore pistol. I am no stranger to these hand canons.


Next up is a bolt action specialty pistol. This is another Anschutz Exemplar in 22 LR. In fact, it's my second one. Both were even made in the same year, 1987 and both are marked made in West Germany, because that's before the wall came down. These are so rare now, I just couldn't pass it up. The previous owner added sling studs, which worked out for me so that I can use a bipod for bench work at 50 and 100 yards. The scope isa 4-12x Bushnell Trophy riflescope. If it shoots like my other Exemplar it will easily do half inch or less at 50 and stay under an inch at 100 yards on a good day with the right ammo.


So now I have two Exemplars. The top Exemplar in the pic is my offhand shooter and it wears either a red dot or small rifle scope for that work, this time a Leupold 3-9 Freedom Rimfire. The bottom Exemplar is the new one and I will use that for bench shooting or field shooting.


So, okay, I am not totally a traditional single action pistol shooter. Now you know.

[Sir Henry]

Those Exemplars sure look nice. They are something that might follow me home. Hope we get a range report soon.

[North Country Gal]

Soon as I get some warmer weather. I'm getting soft in my old age.

Don't expect to find an Exemplar without a lot of luck. Never were a lot made and they don't come up for sale very often. Prices are getting up there around 1k, now and even more. My Holy Grail gun is an Exemplar 22 Hornet. Very few made. I've never even seen one, yet.

Another point I should make is that the Exemplars were not made for bench shooting. They are actually lighter than they look and the stock forearm is rounded, so they don't sit on a bag that well. They were made for silhouette shooting, either offhand or from one of the unlimited field positions, but no shooting from a rest allowed. That's why I want bipod the newly acquired one for bench work.

Note, too, that the Exemplar trigger will absolutely spoil you.

[dmanwarren]

Nice looking "specialty " handguns NCG! Love my Contenders ringing 3" gongs at 100 yards with the 41 mag being my favorite. Saturday at a huge gun auction here in central Nebraska a Exemplar in 22 hornet sold for $2300! It was a very high end gun auction with 9 Contenders and many many barrels. Biggest collection of Ruger #1's and #3's I've ever seen.

[JEBar]

nice collection ... I don't have any experience with handguns like these and appreciate the pictures and comments

[daytime dave]

I can also say I have never had experience with either gun type. I appreciate their specialty niches, but have never needed one. Probably a loss for me as anyone I've come across with either type love them.

NCG, Lucky you to have two nice examples of the same one.

[BrokenolMarine]

I always wanted a contender or that type of single shot handgun to shoot long distance. Funny, but with the single shots, ammo goes a lot slower.
The Ruger #1 has always been on my Bucket List, the few I have seen have all been beautiful. The Cabela's in Richmond had a very nice one in their used rack, in the caliber I had been searching for, but they weren't willing to deal on it. They were asking as much for the used .223 as they were for a new .308. They had no idea if the gun was a shooter and of course on the used guns they offered no warranty.

A good friend in Richmond heard my tail and showed me HIS .223 #1 with a Presentation Grade Stock and upgraded target style sights that would put the rounds into a ragged hole at 100 yards. But, it wasn't for sale. Of course.

I'm always on the lookout for the #1 at a good price, or up for a fair trade.

[North Country Gal]

Marine, I don't think you'll find too many used No 1s at less than a starting price in the $800 dollar range. As for accuracy, I've had a couple that were a joy to shoot and very accurate, but also a couple that were real dogs in the accuracy department and so a real disappointment. That's always been the nature of Ruger single shots, though. Has nothing to do with vintage or version. You just won't know until you start to shoot one. Great design, but Bill Ruger really missed the boat by not using a hanger bar to attach the forearm, which is used on other classic single shot designs like my current production Winchester 1885s. There are accuracy tuners sold by EABCO that mount in the forearm of the Ruger. Have never used one, but have heard they really help with the accuracy.

Also, there an be some scope mounting issues on the NO 1s, thanks to that scope/sight rib position relative to the stock. It can make getting a scope mounted with the right eye relief a problem. I actually used a Leupold Scout scope on one of mine. Worked great. If you get a chance to shoulder one, take note.

[markiver54]

Very nice NCG. I'm pretty sure I will never own one, however, I sure would love to shoot one some day.

[markiver54]

Nice looking "specialty " handguns NCG! Love my Contenders ringing 3" gongs at 100 yards with the 41 mag being my favorite. Saturday at a huge gun auction here in central Nebraska a Exemplar in 22 hornet sold for $2300! It was a very high end gun auction with 9 Contenders and many many barrels. Biggest collection of Ruger #1's and #3's I've ever seen.

Very nice collection dman!