All throughout the custom-gun world, tinkerers like to push the T/C Encore and Contender platforms into new territory.
However only some do it with the combination of precision, creativity, and pure mad-scientist vitality that defines the work of gunsmith Mike Sirois.
Within the video above, the curtain will get pulled again on Mike’s workshop to disclose some of the distinctive builds ever created for these basic single-shot techniques.
The story begins with a reminder of the place the platform started. Thompson/Middle has been constructing interchangeable handgun and rifle designs since 1967, and shooters have been wildcatting the Contender, G2, and Encore ever since.
From the common-or-garden .22 LR plinker to powerhouse cartridges like a 500 Alaskan Encore, lovers have taken these break-action weapons to extremes. However nothing prepares you for the second Mike unveils a one-of-a-kind masterpiece: an over-and-under G2 Contender.
Sure, an precise double-barrel G2 handgun.
The construct includes a selector change that usually toggles between rimfire and centerfire however now flips between high barrel and backside barrel. The woodwork is gorgeous, wrapped completely for the thumb and fingers, and completed with jeweled particulars that make the gun look extra like {custom} jewellery than a firearm.
The higher barrel is chambered in .17 HMR and the decrease in .17 WSM, with an adjustable barrel regulator to tune factors of influence. Because the shooter places it, “have you ever ever seen an over-and-under multi-shot Contender or Encore? I by no means have.”
On the vary, the pistol performs with virtually whimsical ease. The .17 calibers have just about no recoil, and the crimson dot barely strikes. Pictures from every barrel land inside half an inch of one another at 50 yards regardless of windy situations.
With the selector change appearing like a built-in “shoot once more” button, the pistol delivers two fast photographs with out breaking sight image, a novelty on any Contender platform.
Then comes the actual deal with: entering into Mike’s store to see how this creation got here to life. He explains how a easy buyer request sparked the concept, how the firing-pin geometry determines selector placement, and the way math, not magic, drives his engineering selections.
His woodworking, barrel ending, and chambering practices reveal the extent of element he pours into each construct. Mike has created almost 100 wildcat cartridges and even achieved documented sub-quarter-inch teams along with his {custom} barrels.
The ultimate takeaway? These weapons aren’t simply builds, they’re labors of affection. And on the earth of break-action innovation, Mike Sirois stands in a category all his personal.
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