Okay, I just posted this in another area but felt I might get info here as well.

Anyone have or hear about a 338-350 Rem Mag in a 15" encore bbl??

I have never heard of it...but there are much better cartridges available that would perform as good or better, without the expense or hassles. The 338-06 and its improved versions, as well as ones like the 338GNR which is one of Gary Reeders based on a necked down 405 winchester case. He has Hornady dies available for $90 as well as properly headstamped brass. Loaded ammo is available too at a reasonable cost. I just got one in a 16" heavy tapered barrel, of which 2" is a muzzle brake.

Woody

Hi,
I was going to have 338/350 rem. mag. built on a REM. XP100 CENTER GRIP ACTION but never gat around to it. i even ordered a die set from redding. Should make a great hunting cal. out of a 15 inch barrel.
Barnesx 185 bt at 2875 fps and nosler 200bt at 2650 fps, velocity not bad.
I was given this data by another handgun hunter on another handgun site. Sorry for the rambling.

I hadn’t heard about the other 338 rounds. I will have to look into them.

As to Gary Reeder and his, I shouldn’t form an opinion on one e-mail but I have. I e-mailed Gary Reeder several years ago with a question. I asked about an auxiliary cylinder in .22 LR for my S&W 53 .22 Jet. The reply I received was "the S&W 53 is a center fire and can’t be converted to rim fire". No other info. Well I KNOW some of them were made with .22 LR cylinders from the factory not to mention the inserts for shooting rim fire in the .22 Jet cylinders. . I figured that if they don’t know what the S&W 53 is and that it has the rotating firing pin on the hammer and is used for both center fire and rim fire then I don’t want them touching anything I own or am planning to own. So for revolver work I go to Hamilton Bowen and for Encore work I go to either E. Arthur Brown or SSK Ind.

Thanks for the info.

monty, no 1 of us is as smart as all of us...otherwise these forums would be pretty dull. As for Gary Reeder, Hamilton Bowen and the SSK people, they all provide the same type of services. In my experience, and I have revolvers, Encores and Contenders from all 3, Bowen does nice work but its expensive and you have a long wait, SSK is also expensive for what you get and they tend to be somewhat on the arrogent side, but with Gary you get very nice work...as good as anyones and the wait is nowhere near as long. I would imagine you could get a wrong answer from any smith...I have not found a single one that knows everything. I'm not sure I would have him work on my gun if he said he did! One of the many things that keeps me loyal to Gary is he is an innovator. Just compare what he has to offer in variety to any pistol smith out there...and get it within 6 months or less. Plus, with all of his wildcats...and he has many really good ones, there is the availability for Hornady dies, properly headstamped brass and even loaded ammo. No small feat I will tell you. He does go the extra mile. Now, tell me again why you don't think he knows what he is doing. I do agree on one of your comments though, an opinion should not be formed on one e-mail.

I haven't heard of using that chambering in an Encore but it should work. I doubt you could do better than what I'm getting out of my .338 Cooper Express Encore. I'm getting just over 2800fps with 180 gr. Accubonds. That's from a 16 inch barrel. The Cooper Express is basically a rimmed version of a Gibbs.

As for barrel makers look to OTT (On Target Technology), MGM (Match Grade Machine), and SSK. I didn't realize Bowen made Encore barrels.
I personally don't care for Gary Reeder having returned a gun he built for me some years ago due to it not being as he represented. I got my money back, but didn't care for the way he conducted business.
If you want to really learn about Encores and pistols for hunting in general check us out on Specialty Pistol Forum. There is a boat load of experienced handgunners on there to help you.

Don't know anything about the 338 Cooper Express but I can get very close to those numbers with a 338GNR in a 14 incher. Please eloborate on the Cooper and how it shoots. I am always interested in something new and it will benefit the other forum members too. I'm sure monty is interested as much as I am.

Hey dougm58, Bowen doesnt do Encore work, but I mentioned him because Reeder does. Just saying I have been using Bowen for revolver work and either E. Arthur Brown or SSK for Encore work.

Who knows, I might have to try him. I have spoken with John Taffin a time or two and he likes Reeders work. I might have to visit with John when I get home.

Woodrow,
The GNR's have too short a neck for my liking, but I know a number of guys on Specialty Pistols that own them and like them. It's great to have so many cartridges to choose from now. 22 years ago when I started exclusively hunting with a handgun we didn't have the choices we do today. Life is good.
The Cooper isn't hard to load for, I like IMR 4064 and some of the other guys use Varget. I think Neal Cooper (the cartridge's namesake) is getting close to 2850 fps using Varget. Group size is running @.5-.75 inch @ 100 yards for all of us. No need to slow it down in order to get a tight group as some cartridges have to. You can run it at full throttle. We use RWS brass (based on a 7x65R) and case life has been exceptional.
McGowen Barrels is getting ready to chamber their soon to be released bolt action pistols in the entire Cooper EXpress line. Google thier web site and they have more information on the Cooper express with some photos of targets. Heck my .338 Miceli is even mentioned!

Monty, most of the guys on Specialty Pistols have had a lot of problems with E Arthur Brown, glad you had good luck. I think thier issues revolved around barrel work. He has used different barrel makers over the years. I believe he started with Bullberry, then the TC Custom shop, and now recently he tried doing his own. That is where most of the horror stories are coming from.
I always like to use smiths that are master machinists. I especially have found those that were trained as tool and die makers are exceptional due to the preciseness required in that type of work. Smiths that specialize in building winning bench rest rifles are very good as well.
The three top smiths I have had build me pistols would be David Clements, Bowen, and Jim Stroh (Alpha Precision). I have a pistol built by John Linebaugh too, his work is OK but I don't think his attention to detail is equal to the other guys. I have heard a lot of good things about Jack Huntington but have not had him do anything for me as yet.

Doug,

Guess I have just been lucky.

SSK used to offer this chambering, they still might. For some reason the jones rhino stomper comes to mind. Before the encore was around JDJones made this for bolt pistols.

Well I looked it up and I'm wrong-SSK had/has a 339NNN but it is based on the 308/358 case. The jones rhino stomper is a 375.

I think I will either just stick with my 15" 308 barrel or purchase a 338 Fed barrel to go along with.