I am thinking about getting a new barrel for my encore. It will be used for whitetail and hogs in south Alabama and Louisiana. I am thinking about getting a 15" 454 casull barrel. What do you guys think? Shots will be 100 yds are less. What can I expect for accuracy? Are there any advantages or disadvantages between the 12" & 15"? Are there any other calibers that I should consider? Thanks for any opinions.

I'd consider a 12" 44 Mag. Ammo is easier to find and a helluva lot cheaper. Do heap big damage to deer and hogs out to 100 yds.

My next barrel will be a 12" 44 Mag. Wish I would have just went ahead and got one when I first got my Encore. Would have avoided quite a bit of trouble I had with that 270 Win barrel.

Live and learn I guess...

I would purchase a 15" 308 Winchester Barrel I have one and shoot 125 grain Nosler Balistic Tips through it with absolutely great accuracy, 1" groups at 100 yards and around 2 1/2" groups at 200 with it. The recoil is not as bad as my 44 SRH. With heavier bullets it should do a fine job on any hog that you might run into. Just a thought, if I were to go with a 454 Casull or 44 mag I would go with a SRH instead of an Encore.

I'd recommend a 16 1/4" braked 375 H&H pistol barrel. At least that's what I'm going to use this year .

I too like the 44 RM over the 454 because it is plenty for whitetail, but either should work superbly. I think both of these are 12" barrels from the factory?

Edited to add: 308 Win, as well as 260 Rem and 7-08 Rem would also be fine choices, I would prefer a 15" barrel for these cartridges.

Good luck and good hunting,

Bill

[ 10-16-2002, 19:28: Message edited by: Bill M ]

First let me thanks for the information that you have provided. I currently have 2 barrel for my encore: 1)Factory 26" stainless 22-250 2) VVC 13" full bull matte 7-08. I know that the 7-08 will do what I need, but for some reason I just can't get used to it. I used to have a factory 15" 7-08 that I got rid of before I bought the VVC barrel. I shot that one much better. I am going to continue working with the VVC 7-08, but I was just thinking about trying a factory barrel similiar to what I had but in another caliber. Thanks again!

I had a factory 15" 260 Rem and I sold it to finance a custom barrel. Wish I still had it, I'm still struggling to get the custom barrel to shoot and the 260 was an easy barrel to load for.
Greg