I just recently got around to playing with a 15" Encore barrel chambered in 300 Savage that I got in earlier this summer, from Fox Ridge, and like you I found the round is a real tack driver in a pistol length barrel.



In .308 I only had some 150gr SST's laying around when my barrel got here and I used them and Varget to work up my pet loads....44.0grs of Varget under the 150gr SST's will darn near stack them in one hole at 100yds.



I've now got a 15" Encore barrel chambered in 7.5x55 Schmidt Ruben (7.5mm Swiss) ordered from Fox Ridge and I just recently fell into a full box of .308 dia 130gr Speer #2005 HP's and a partial box of Hornady #3020 130gr SP's that I plan on trying in it.



You've now got me thinking about trying a smaller weight bullet in the Encore 300 Savage barrel, I may just back up and try the Hornady and Speer 130's. As the barrel will be for both deer and targets the Hornady bullet would probably be the better choice of the two because of the Speer being a HP and probably too fragile for deer......the same would hold true in the 7.5mm Swiss.



Ike

Well, I just made a deal for a 16.5" Bellm barrel in .300 Savage, and I am anxious to get my hands on it. I had a Bellm .300 Savage way back when (that was a 14" version), and I could kick myself for ever parting with it. As long as you kept things on the mild side, it performed like a champ. Granted, the cartridge design itself can be borderline or even excessive in the Contender if one is not prudent is load selection (even factory fodder can give sticky extraction). But that 14" barrel was a genuine tackdriver, and I'm hoping this one will be as well. I doubt I'll ever fire it as a carbine barrel, although that's more than likely what the original owner intended it for. I'll probably have 1.5" chopped off, have it re-crowned and have a 15" .300 Savage pistol barrel -- unless it doesn't seem too unwieldy at 16.5 inches in length.

I honestly don't remember if the 125 and 150 grain Ballistic Tips were available when I had the 14" barrel, but I do remember how well the 130 grain Speer soft-swaged HP performed. The 125 grain Sierra spitzer was wonderfully accurate as well and wasn't overly destructive on coyote pelts, something that can't be said for the 130 grain Speer HP. This time around, I plan to concentrate on the BTs.

Now if it would just hurry up and get here!