I am thinking of buying a rifle barrel for my 50 caliber thompson encore muzzleloader. I have found a shop called Virgin Valley Custom that makes barrels for the encore in about anything imaginable. Anybody ever used or bought a virgin valley barrel?

Also i would like to get something like a wildcat. I have always wanted to try something a little different, and i think a single shot would be a good place to start experimenting. Thinking maybe a varmint round or something like 6.5 or smaller.... been kinda throwing around the idea of a 7.82 Patriot...even though i dont know what i would use it for. It just sounds like an interesting cartridge. Anybody have any suggestions on calibers to try? Not really looking to get into neck turning or anything...something that i can find brass for or that brass can be easily formed for.

Thanks guys...

i have a 6.5 x 284 barrel for my encore. its a custom, and a very tight chamber, which requires very precise reloading when FL sizing, but it shoots like a dream.

another thing to keep in mind is that some of the custom encore barrel makers won't chamber in short mag or ultra mags, because the single shot break action doesn't "like" high pressure.

check out [URL=http://www.bullberry.com /]Bullberry[/URL] or Virgin Valley Guns

troy

Didn't see that you had already found virgin valley . . . they have a very good reputation, and the few times that i've talked to them, they've been very polite and cordial.

i found Bullberry first, and have used them with no complaints on their product. the one problem i had was quickly resolved (and no fault of theirs) once i supplied them with the appropriate information (my reloading die set at lowest was larger than the chamber they cut by about .001-2").

Virgin Valley guys post down on the single shot rifle forum, too . . . you might post down there and get a response from them.

troy

I have two Custom barrels from Fox Ridge outfitters (T/C custom shop) I have a 26" .270 and a Heavy tapper .338win mag. To me they are the best bang for the buck. It has not been my experience that the other Custom Dealer barrels shoot any better. So I'll just put that extra 70-80 bucks into the scope.

I've got a Contender barrel that started as a Shillen blank from VVCG chambered in .30 Bellm by Mike Bellm that is OUTSTANDING! VVCG guarantees their barrels will shoot MOA or they'll replace it free. Now there are restrictions of course and you need to see their web site, but it's a good guarantee. The first 4 rounds out of the barrel were sub-MOA. And that was with CNC Cartridge factory loads, I haven't even started 'rolling my own' yet. Not sure I can do better than CNC. Sorry if this sounds like an advertisment, but I think these 3 companies are great. VVCG does great work (although I've been waiting since 12 December for a forearm I ordered, it supposedly just shipped yesterday), Mike's chamber work is top notch, and CNC is incredibly consistent. Now as for what wildcat...Bellm makes a "triad" of interesting wildcats based on 444 marlin brass see his web site bellmtcs.com for a full review), JDJ also has some fun stuff (although I haven't shot any, sskindustries.com ), depending on the length you want to shoot and if you want to stay with a standard factory load the 6mm Rem using a Hornady light magnum loads or CNC's would be fun in an Encore especially if you went with the lighter bullets and "pumped up" the velocity. Too many choices, and that's a good thing.
Helicopter Bill