I have been beating myself to death trying to decide on a new barrel for my Encore. I am looking for something that will cleanly kill deer and black bear. I want a portable barrel 10-12 inches and don't care for extreme recoil or muzzle brakes. I like .308 base cartridges, but I am somewhat concerned about efficiency in a short barrel. Does anyone have any experiences they can share with the use of .308/7mm-08 cartridges in a short barrel handgun? I just bought a Virgin Valley 6.5 BR barrel in an auction, but after looking up ballistics, I think this will be a target barrel verses a hunting barrel.

Also, who does the best trigger jobs on Encores/Contenders?

Alan,

At the moment, I believe that Bellm does the best trigger jobs, and he is even doing a batched discount trigger job deal for January.

You can also download his trigger job cd for free and do it yourself [he provides the proper springs etc at a very low cost].

Contact him at mike@bellmtcs.com for more details.

As for a good deer and blackbear barrel, at what ranges will you want to be using such a short barrel? If within 125 yards, I'd recommend several good big bore cartridges, and in the Encore the 44mag does not really generate what I'd call extreme recoil [though such is very subjective] and there are 12" offerings in 454 Casull [much more recoil], 480 Ruger [I've never shot one], and 44MAG which is the mildest of the bunch [I'd go custom though on any of these for the most accuracy potential]. I used to have a 10" thin tapered 50AE Encore barrel that was very accurate out to 150 yards, but the recoil was somewhat punishing.

If the range is to be further, I'd recommend a good bottleneck cartridge using 15" of barrel length.

The 7-08 [once factory offered in 10" length] and 308 [not offered under 15 in lencth by the factory] in such a short length would be inefficient, and the muzzle blast of unburnt powder is quite extreme. In a 15" length, both are very efficient and great for as far as you can hold the pistol steady.

The 7-08 10" Encore barrels can be picked up fairly cheaply, as they are quite unpopular, so if you really must have the shortness of barrel, that might be one to look at.

I have a 16" 308 on order. I don't know if it will be to long but I figure I can make it shorter alot easier than longer. I am having it tapped for the rifle forearm and will have the hanger bar system. It also helps to be 20 minute from Bullberry and Virgin Valley.BTW they both do triger jobs.

Hi there Alan,

I lurk here a lot and I don't post but rarely. I have to stick up for the 7mm-08! I bought my 10" barrel before I knew any better. This barrel shoots under 1" for 5 shots at 100 yards with a variety of loads, including factory Winchester Supremes. I shoot this barrel much better than my Virgin Valley 15" .223!

I also find it much easier to carry and to shoot off-hand.

Recoil definitely gets your attention, but I find it no worse with the scope on than my iron-site .44 mag S&W 629.

The downsides are that it is loud, produces a huge muzzle flash and is relatively slow. The load that is best in my 24" rifle barrel (140 Gr. sierra, 41 Gr. Varget 2800 FPS) only generates 2280 fps from the pistol barrel.

Now, I'm certainly no expert shooting the Encore. It's my first "long range" pistol, and I've only had it for a couple years. I'm still working on faster loads with lighter bullets. I work slow, so it takes a while.

I've shot two whitetail deer with it, they both dropped where they stood, but one was a neck shot.

I realize this cartridge can't be "efficient" in this barrel, but I don't think it makes much difference to me, it really shoots!

BTW, both the pistol and the rifle barrels have long throats, giving 2.745" C.O.L. with the Sierra bullets to be .020" off the lands in my guns (they are within .002" of each other). The deep throat doesn't seem to bother the Winchester loads.

The 10" 7mm-08s are even cheap enough that if you don't like it, you can get something else!

I'd also like to recommend Mike Bellm's treatment on the trigger. His CD and springs transformed mine! It's pretty easy to do it yourself.

Good Luck,

Mike

I believe that if a bear needed shot I would call in an air strike. Why have an Air Force and not use it? Regards...g