I want to share what just happened to me to hopefully prevent somebody else from experiencing it. I just missed the elk of a lifetime because of a problem with my TC Encore. I shot this gun all summer and cleaned it every time except for the trigger assembly which I did try and flush out with gun cleaning solvent but did not disassemble. I have had this gun and hunted with it for many years with no problems. I even went out to CO a couple days early and shot it on the range out there before going into the woods. Hunted in the rain tuesday so that night I cleaned and disassembled the gun and cleaned it inside and out - but did not disassemble the trigger assembly. Thursday I get a 25 yard shot at a bull that did not know I was there and when I tried to pull back the hammer it was locked up! I had to use both hands and finally got it to cock but did not get that bull. When I took down the gun to inspect the hammer-trigger assembly what I found was that the blowback from the primers was getting in the trigger assembly and the rain and moisture had caused some corrosion which locked up the hammer. I was very surprised at the amount of gunk in there. It seems like a very poor design to leave something as critical as the trigger/hammer assembly open to the blowback like that. Most average hunters do not have the tools or the knowledge to take that assembly apart and clean it then reassemble properly. Needless to say, after buildling up preference points for 12 years to get a good trophy unit and paying $6000 for this hunt I was very disgusted with that gun. I never had any indication that there was an issue with the hammer until it failed me on that bull. The water was the catalyst that caused it to fail at that point but the core problem is a design that allows all that crud to enter that critical part of the gun. Needless to say, if I ever get to blackpowder hunt for elk again it will be with a different gun.