With a revolutionary new barrel technology that’s lightweight, cools faster than anything on the market today, and delivers bullets where you want them to go, the new Thompson/Center Encore ProHunter CFT-X may make you rethink the single-shot, break-action hunting rifle
by Rob Reaser
A couple weeks before Christmas last year, I got one of those rare opportunities to test a prototype. This one, a variant of a Thompson/Center Arms Encore ProHunter that is scheduled to launch this year. The Encore ProHunter, as you T/C fans know, is a single-shot, break-action rifle built on a modular design that allows you to swap barrels/chamberings onto a common receiver/stock assembly. Pretty cool, and a proven big-game hunting system enjoyed by discerning hunters seeking that added challenge.
The focus of this new model, called the Encore ProHunter CFT-X, is the first large-scale application of an interesting barrel technology developed by our friends at Avient Corporation.
The day before heading to southern Ohio to pit the new ProHunter CFT-X against some wary late-season whitetails, I set up the rifle with a Burris Fullfield 3-12×42 scope and tipped the 350 Legend-chambered barrel with Dead Air’s Primal suppressor.
I spent a full afternoon getting familiar with the gun and the Hornady American Whitetail loading (170-gr. soft point) I intended to use. I must say, this combination won me over almost immediately. More on that in a moment. But first, let’s examine the heart of the Encore ProHunter CFT-X — the barrel.
Because this is sort of insider baseball stuff, most of you are probably not aware that T/C purchased Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Company in August of last year. Dedicated muzzleloader fans know GMRB for their exquisitely accurate blackpowder barrels. The company also produces numerous upgrade and replacement barrels for several different platforms as well as blank barrels for custom gunsmith work. Given T/C’s roots in the muzzleloader world and the company’s ambitious “rebirth” goals following its acquisition by new President/CEO Gregg Ritz and partners from Smith & Wesson Brands in 2024, the T/C-GMRB fusion seems strategically sound.
All of that to say, the new Encore ProHunter CFT-X rifle has, at is core, an equally new barrel produced by the skilled folks at GMRB.
But that’s only part of the story.
Last year, we talked at length with Yves Cordeau, Market & Technology Development Manager with Avient Corporation. Avient specializes in advanced materials technology, and has a division specifically focused on the outdoor segment. One of the intellectual properties Avient engineers developed for the commercial and military firearm market is an innovative composite barrel heat release technology. This is really interesting because we all understand the detrimental effects of heat when it comes to barrels and accuracy potential.
In my conversation with Yves, he explained the concept Avient engineers developed and provided fresh insight regarding the nature of heat transfer in a rifle barrel.
The “Sciency” Stuff
“It is a three-layered system that uses the OEM’s original steel barrel turned down to a smaller diameter,’” Yves said of this new technology. “A proprietary ceramic material that goes on top of that, and then a carbon fiber composite over that. And that allows for very rapid heat release because the materials are specially designed to draw the heat out of the bore of the barrel very rapidly.
“[This concept is] actually based on a principle that doesn’t get talked about very much.
“Traditionally, when people think about heat release, whenever they are talking about thermal management of any sort, they’re talking about thermal conductivity. That’s just the well-known term. Thermal conductivity tells a lot about how something is going to cool but it doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s actually based on density. So, higher density materials like steel or even higher density materials typically have very high thermal conductivities. Well, in the world of lightweighting, you want to reduce that weight but you’re going to suffer on your thermal conductivity. And yet we still cool faster, so it’s actually based on thermal inertia.
“Thermal inertia is something that people don’t hear about very often, but it’s actually the measure of a material to come back to ambient temperature. So, how rapidly does something release the heat that’s actually trapped inside it? Conductivity is to pull heat into a mass; inertia is a matter of how well something releases that heat out. [Inertia,] it’s the resistance of something to start moving or stop moving, and in the case of heat, it’s that same way. A high thermal inertia system is going to hold onto that heat for a long time, so we designed a specifically low thermal inertia system.”
I asked Yves how traditional carbon-fiber barrels compare to Avient’s composite heat release technology.
“So, the key thing is the interstitial layer between the carbon and the steel. The barrels that you see today, you know, are typically going to be the carbon fiber composite bonded directly to the steel bore. That obviously gives you light weight, gives you high stiffness, [and] a lot of strength. We’re able to provide that same solution; however, we have this low thermal inertia material in there that’s drawing that heat out. Often times, you’ll see that composites…they’re not the same in all directions, so heat flow doesn’t go very well through the composite layer. We help facilitate that.”
The difference Avient delivers is their proprietary material between the steel and the carbon fiber. That’s where the magic happens as far as rapid heat dispersal goes. When you get that heat out of the barrel quicky, you reduce the chance of point-of-impact shifting during high-volume shooting sessions.
Now, you might be thinking — and rightly so — how this technology could benefit a break-action, single-shot firearm like the Encore ProHunter. Well, in a big-game hunting field application, heat-warping of a barrel is a non-factor. (If it is, you’re not doing hunting and marksmanship right!) It can certainly be a factor, though, if you are sending consecutive rounds downrange on the bench or if your idea of a good time is setting up on a prairie dog town with a rifle chambered in, say, .223 Remington. Thus, a barrel that offers fast heat dissipation — or as Yves would say, has “low thermal inertia” — is a benefit for any firearm.
The greatest benefit from my perspective, though, is the reduced barrel weight. The moment I unboxed the Encore receiver assembly and affixed the new ProHunter CFT-X barrel, I couldn’t help but grin. The gun felt deliciously light in the hand and quick to shoulder. The difference in weight between the standard barrel and the CFT-X barrel is about 20 percent. While that may not sound like much on paper, in the hand, it’s a difference you can feel and appreciate.
This weight savings becomes even more important when you install a suppressor onto the threaded muzzle. My Dead Air Primal suppressor weighs 16.4 ounces. It’s an easily manageable weight when tacked to the end of most sporter-weight barrels in the 20- to 22-inch range, but you definitely know it’s there. That weight, of course, feels compounded when you shoulder the weapon. Here is where fatigue can quickly set in.
With the suppressor installed, the Encore ProHunter CFT-X feels well-balanced. That would not be the case were it not for the composite barrel configuration. The gun is also easier to carry on the shoulder.
On the second day of my Ohio hunt, I had about a mile or so walk-in to my blind, all while wearing heavy clothing, heavy boots, and a loaded daypack. Any weight you can save in those conditions demands a “hallelujah!”
The Encore ProHunter CFT-X Up Close
For those of you who are not familiar with the T/C Encore platform, this is a system worth getting to know. Again, it is a break-action, single-shot rifle that T/C offers in several popular calibers.
Because my hunt was to be in Ohio, I needed a test model chambered for a straightwall cartridge. Not having yet taken a deer with the 350 Legend and curious as to its terminal performance, that was my cartridge of choice. As it turned out, it was a choice well made.
Operation of the Encore series is straight-forward. The trigger guard also serves as the action break lever. Simply pull back on the trigger guard extension to open the breech. The receiver and barrel assemblies pivot on a transverse-mounted hinge pin that requires no tools to remove.
The Encore uses a hammer firing system and a hammer block safety. At rest, the gun is in a safe condition. Pull the hammer back to cock it, pull the trigger to release the sear and strike the firing pin. That’s it.
T/C’s swing hammer allows you to position the hammer spur to the left, the right, or down the center, depending on your needs. Since a scope’s eyepiece tends to be positioned above the hammer for most eye relief setups, swinging the spur outboard makes easy work of cocking — even when wearing gloves.
The rifle comes from the factory with a Picatinny-style rail installed, so adding a scope or electro-optic is quick and painless.
Note also, the injection molded panels along the forend and grip. These high-traction panels ensure a solid hold on the gun — which is especially welcome when wearing gloves on cold-weather hunts.
In the Field
But how does it shoot, you say?
Obviously, I started out at the bench for familiarization and zeroing. That little exercise went exceedingly well. Since the area I would be hunting presented a mix of thick hardwood forest and expansive old pastures, I wanted to set my zero near 200 yards and then be able to adjust for bullet rise at closer distances. The farthest my shooting range allows is 180 yards, so that’s where I set my zero.
I was happy with the results.
- 180 yards / 1.695 inches
- 100 yards / 1.525 inches
- 50 yards / 0.717 inches
The 170-gr. soft point Hornady American Whitetail (with its low 0.215 B.C.) clocked an average velocity of 2353.8 fps and a standard deviation of 32.5 fps from 17 rounds on the chrono.
That kind of performance from an easy-handling, smartly balanced, and lithe sporter-weight barrel rifle…I’ll buy that all day long.
Taking these numbers, I worked up a dope card and taped it to the stock for ready field reference.
Speaking of the stock, the Encore ProHunter CFT-X comes with a gushy Limbsaver butt pad. You can, futilely, attempt to heat up the CFT-X barrel with high-volume shooting, but in the doing you’ll not wear down your shoulder. The butt pad is that good.
Terminal Results
I spent a mind-numbingly boring and quite frigid first day in OH deep in the hardwoods, listening to bluejays squawking and watching Booner-class squirrels run around. After that dawn-to-dark sit, I’d had my fill and wanted open country for the second day.
Day two started out less slowly, with some turkeys and an up-and-coming 6-point keeping me company. That evening, I shifted my stand to the end of a goes-on-forever abandoned pasture. Despite the open country, the terrain limited my shooting range to about 60 yards. Nothing much happened until just before legal shooting light was about to end. That’s when a nice, mature eight-point popped up directly over the rise in front of me.
I eased the barrel out the forward blind window, but he turned right and messed up my angle.
Here is where the lightweight and fine balance of the Encore ProHunter CFT-X came in. I carefully pulled the barrel back through the window, shifted my position slightly, then shoved the rifle out the side window. A quick “MRRRP!” stopped him, but then he turned strait toward me.
I don’t like frontal shots. In fact, I’d only taken one in my 40-plus years of hunting. That was on a hard-fought mule deer in B.C. But with the clock ticking and a load of confidence in the Encore, I settled the Fullfield’s crosshairs about an inch and half below the optimal point-of-aim and pulled the trigger. The gun barked with suppressed authority, the deer ran to the right, and I heard the fatal crash about four seconds later.
Backstrap city.
When breaking down the deer for processing, the effects of the Hornady round were devastatingly evident. In fact, I was quite amazed at the channel of carnage. It looked as if you took a two-inch-wide auger and chewed the buck up from the brisket back into the vitals.
Single-shot, break-action rifles are just plain fun. I can’t really describe why I find them so appealing. They just are, and they are lethal, and that’s good enough for me.
The Thompson/Center Encore ProHunter CFT-X is expected to ship to dealers around the end of August, so keep your budget open if you’re looking for a new gun that’s easy to carry, easy to maneuver, and capable of putting rounds squarely on target at Midwestern whitetail distances.
