Found a .357 octogon rifle barrel today and it followed me home. Its 24" with a boogered dovetail where the mag tube fitting was, but it will trimm up nicely at 19" for a cute little carbine in .357 rem max.

Has anybody heard of a smith making a monoblock for a TC Encore and threading a barrrel into it? Cuz that's the route I'm headed unless somebody knows a good reason not to.

Rusty,
Yup it can be done, I even had a couple of monoblocks for TCs.(yes I know that this is not how TC does them) I bought them while I was in Germany. I no longer have any left but I know they can be had. It would be a fairly simple part to make. To be honest I did not make anything with them I sold them to a friend. So I do not know if there are any problems associated with a monoblock. But why not just have it welded like TC does. It would not be any big deal for an experienced TIG welder.
h2o

The chamber end isn't big enough in diameter tp be direct welded to an underlug, hence the need for a monoblock.

IIRC there's at least one 'smith who cuts Encore barrels to a stub to create a monoblock. Sounds a lot simpler than fabbing one from scratch.

Yes that would be the easiest route. However, and not to be rude, but if I could afford a factory barrel, I wouldn't need to make a monoblock.

Time, tools and machines I have, $$ for toys is in short supply.