Howdy NY shooter, I’m new here as well and currently trying to decide between buying a used B-78 (BTW: not the one you’re looking at), Ruger #1, or now, a later production Win/Miroku 1885 rifle too….

I can however offer you a first-hand opinion on the Encore—avoid it! 

I fell for all the advertising and BS TV hunting shows and got involved with an Encore a few years ago (a fact my wife still ribs me about  ). Thought the idea of being able to swap out barrels/calibers was just awesome—“one gun, multiple calibers for all seasons” blah-blah-blah. 

Was definitely a learning experience as a handloader getting to know the issues surrounding head space in a break action design, bumping cartridge shoulders back to accommodate the barrel / frame “gap”, using larger hinge pins, heavy duty lug springs, and so forth. On the plus side you can have a GREAT trigger with the Encore. After a lot of time / effort / money I was finally able to coax acceptable performance out of the Encore but by then I was really burnt on the design and sold it to someone who just had to have it (I even warned them!). 

Here’s a link to Encore Guru Mike Bellem’s website (who I did business with in effort to make my Encore perform) which is full of information on the peculiarities of the design:
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) 

Give some serious consideration to one of the Sharps reproductions---Shiloh being number 1, followed by C Sharps and Pedersoli. For just pure fun they are unbeatable. There are silhouette matches, gong matches, and Creedmore matches to participate in. By the way, I also like Ruger # 1's.

Excellent rifle and very accurate cartridge. When done right the .308 can poke sub-1" groups at 250yd. Which model #1 did you get? Post a pic. We love pic's.

If you decide you want some work done on it (trigger, forearm accurizing, etc.) there is a gunsmith outside of Stroudsburg, PA who specializes in the Ruger #1/3, which should not be too far from you.

NY Shooter congratulations and a very nice choice in rifles. It appears you got just what your little heart desired and that counts the most. What model #1 is it an A, B or maybe a V and as the others I would love to see a picture of it as well as knowing how it shoots as you move forward. 

J.Louis

Quote:


And what would you be doing in Stroudsburg ?. If for some reason you have to be there bring your # 1 with you, there's a bunch of shooters in that area that shoot, build, and custom tune nothing but # 1's, and have there own range,  if you have a problem I'm sure one of them could help you out
  Regards
   H. M. Pope

Should you ever decide to buy a Shaprs stay away from the Pedersoli. I have handled three of them from diferent production vintages on two continents and they all have the same problem, no ejector lug on the lever. I cannot say it is liek that on all of them since I have only handled three but 100% of them I have seen do have the problem and Pedersoli won't fix it if you call. Not even Dick Trenk (RIP) could get them fixed. Be warned!

SS