I am looking to buy a Contender or Encore with the primary purpose of buying one in 300 Whisper to complement an AR-15 project that I am starting.

First:  If anybody knows of a place or has seen a 300 Whisper Contender or barrel, please E-Mail me at:  [email protected]!

Given my inabuility to find a used contender, I have looked at my options and it looks like I may be able to get a 300 Whisper barrel from Thompson Center's custom shop or obviously I can buy one from JD Jones of SSK industries.

I have come to the conclusion, however, that with these two options I can buy either the Contender or the Encore.  My father has a Contender with three barrels (22, 222, and 30/30) so obviously I could share those with him if I get a Contender.  On the other hand, the Encore allows me to consider a much larger variety of options especially if I buy a full stock and a carbine barrel for it.

Can anybody give me some advise?  I know I wish to start with the 300 Whisper and I will use this for deer.  If I need to buy from SSK I will get the 1:8 twist barrel and have the barrel threaded to match my AR-15 project so that I can share a silencer at a later time.

Thanks for any help!

That's a tough question to answer, and I believe it varies greatly on your overall intended use. The Encore is quite obviously built to handle larger magnum level calibers.  

Personally, I would opt for the Encore in a carbine form, probably an 18" or 20" heavy barrel.  300 whisper is a specialty at SSK industries, so you can't go wrong with them.  

I have a friend who has a 300 whisper (I think an Encore, but I honestly can't recall for sure).  It is a carbine with 18" barrel.  He also has a suppressed AR-15 in 300 whisper, although I haven't had the pleasure to shoot it yet.

Are you planning on paying the tax stamp and foregoing the background check to own a suppressed system, or just looking for an accurate subsonic rifle round? I was just curious why you wanted the 300 whisper.

My background with the 300 Whisper goes back at least three years as I had tried to build a 300/221 AR-15 upper at that time but I had problems and eneded putting the project on a long term hold.  Now, I am working on a AR-15 project which will get a silencer.

As for this contender/encore, this will used for hunting and I may consider getting the barrel threaded to allow the use of the silencer especially if I go with a 1:8 twist barrel.  If I go with a standard 1:10 T/C barrel then there is little use for a silencer as this barrel will have a dificult time stablizing the heavyweight bullets that really work best in the subsonic role.

If you have not seen my webpage, please drop by www.Quarterbore.com as I do have a considerable amount of info on the 300 Whisper.

Now, for the Contender vs Encore question:  I really don't know which way I want to go and that is the reason I asked!  Obviously with an Encore I can start with my 14-inch pistol and convert it to just about any highpower rifle cartridge I want so that may be the route I choose.

Thanks for the Advise and I welcome any additional oppinions!

Hi QB
I have a Contender and, like most owner, love it.  My two barrels, 256 Win Mag and 30 Herritt are both lots of fun.  However, I do not like the Encore because of its size. I have no desire to fire any of the the JDJ rounds.  If I were you I would look at the G2.  It's the latest incarnation.  It also uses the older style barrels.  Another route may be to go to Bellum and see what he can do for you.  He can rechamber an existing barrel to what you want at a very good price.  You would probably need to find a 30 carbine or something similar.  Try Bellum first.

Encore's are sweet, I have the muzzleloader 50 cal, and will when I want another rifle barrel for hunting, I'll just drop the 250 bucks and get whatever caliber I want.

Versatility with big calibers, like Bsly said earlier...Encore...

But then again I'm biased.

What areas do you want to prioritize:

If I remember correctly, the Encore and I think the new Contender are being made without the adjustabe trigger due to liability concerns by the Company.

The old model contenders have the adjustable trigger which you can adjust to your desired weight.