New member here, would like to thank all for some interesting and informative reading.

I have been reloading for alittle over 8 years or so. Starting out on a lee anniversary kit and quickly upgrading to a Dillon 550B and hope to have a Redding Big Boss II soon. I have loaded serveral common handgun and rifle cartridges. (9mm,10mm,44 Mag,45ACP,.223,.220 Swift,22-250,7.62x39,.308,30-06,300WM). I shoot a little benchrest informally, Dabble in long range shooting out to 1000 yards though most has been around 800, I like shooting Prarie dogs, and have chased after a few coyotes.

I should soon be recieving a 15" 7.62x39 Encore pistol barrel.
I would liike to know if any one else has any load data specific to a hand gun. It will be used mostly for target shooting bu tmay find it's way afield for coyote.

Furthermore since this barrel has a .308 dia bore is there any danger in firing a .311 dia bullet from a factory loading such as Winchester white box. I would think it best not to and is not something I plan to do, Just wondering if it can be done...Safely.

Thanks to all, I look forward to being a member here.

Not the expert of course, but Fox Ridge told me to not fire that .311 ammunition in my Encore .308 bore, so I don't. Loads of .30 caliber bullets to choose from, you would be taking a unnecessary chance with a .311 bullet. r in s.

I have one for my Encore from MGM and they didn't say anything about shooting .311 bullets in it when I talked to them about it. It shoot equally well with both diameter bullets with no outward pressure signs.

Steve E........

Thanks to both of you for your replies.
Like I mentioned shooting .311 dia. bullets is not something I plan on doing if I don't have to. And as of now I don't have to.

I know that some firearms like the mini 30 and some others made in the US have .308 dia bores, and I would imagine that some get away with it.

I'm planning on running 125gr Nosler BT to start with. I also have some partial boxes of Hornady Spire point 130 gr some 150s, and some that may be a bit heavy at 170.
A subsonic loading may be interesting with some real heavy wieghts...if they will stabilize.
I have rifle load data for some of these but none for heavier bullets.
A call to Sierra's Ballisticians was a dead end also.

Still looking for starting loads if someone would like to share.

Thanks,
Halfnutz

I just use the info in most reloading manuals, one of the most accurate loads in mine is with .308 diameter Winchester 150 gr. bullets and 21 gr. of AA1680. Reduce 10% and work up for your gun as usual. This info came from the Sierra Manual.

Steve E.......

AA1680 is about the only game in town. I used to load the round a fair amount for a mini-30. I don't know about the potential problems with larger bullet diameter and the encore. It is a shame no one appears to be making a barrel in the proper diameter.

I've sent an E-mail and called TC to see what thier reccommendation on bullet dia is, unfortunatly they must have the rest of the year off as they have not replied as of yet.

Well over a month later and still no response from TC. P*ss on em'.

Anyway I did get out and put a few through the the barrel.

Load was 28.5 gr Bl-C(2), CCIbr primers, 150 gr Sierra spitzer stuck in a Winchester case.

Lots of unburned powder left in the bore and velocity had a high of 1705 with a low of 1577.
Bl-c(2) is looking a little slow for this, as I kinda expected but figured I would give it a try anyway as I had some on hand.

I'm Looking at either Reloader 2400 or maybe IMR4227. Any suggestions as to which one?
I would also like to try this same powder in the .44 mag barrel I have with 210 to 240 grain bullets.

Any other sugestions for a dual use powder in 7.62x39 and .44mag?

Thanks.

I think about the only powder that will be readily used in both calibers listed will be IMR 4227. I have used it in both and it did fairly well.

Steve E.......

Thanks again Steve,

I have an older pamphlet from Alliant, maybe 8 yrs old. It shows 14.8 gr of 2400 pushing a 150gr Sierra jp at 1800fps, or 15.3gr for a 123gr Hornady Sp @ 1915 fps. I could not find this load from any newer sources so I put a call in to Alliant on the 13th, maybe I'll hear back from them in a day or two.

I was thinking 2400 would be a good compromise for both but am second guessing that now.
I should probobly just get seperate powders. Unfortunatly the local Gander Mtn's powder storage is almost bare (hard to believe at thier prices). I was unable to get 2400 or IMR4227.

I have looked at RL7 again for 7.62x39 but on the Specialty Pistols website they are running out of case capacity before getting to max.

What kind of velocity are you getting with AA1680 out of an Encore?

Thanks.

I believe for the 14 inch Encore barrel I was using around 20 gr of AA1680 and was getting about 2000 to 2050 fps. But I'm working from memory so you better check the mauals. LOL. 1680 is about all I use in the 7.62x39 now. Nobody much in my area seems to carry AA1680.

Steve E.......

I guess I'll have to check and see if I can get AA1680 locally. It looks to be in the "right spot" on the burn rate, not quite as fast as 2400(which seems to be a little slow velocity wise) and not quite as slow as RL-7. It also is listed in serveral of my manuals with a broader range of bullet wieghts, hard to argue with that. As well as being mentioned by others (yourself included) as the goto powder for the 7.62x39 Encore.

i loaded some for a mini-30 with 90 gr pistol bullets with imr 3031.went from 25 grs to 27 grs speed was not bad 2100+ to 2400.also loaded imr 4227 with the same bullet 25.o grs went 2700+.with rl-7 110 bullets and 26.0 grs about 2300,123 gr 25.0 grs about the same speed,150 gr bullet 24.0 grs about 2100 fps hopes this helps.Good Luck

Thanks for the additional info.

I did get a E-mail back from Alliant, they no longer reccommend 2400 for use in 7.62x39, no reason given. They did suggest RL-7.