did my hunting buddie just get lucky?Long story short.... he (new to the Encore game) ordered a 24" 7mm Rem Mag from one of the top aftermarket gunsmiths in the country...on my reccomendation of course..... It would not shoot to our satisfaction, factory or handloads proven in other rifles. Gunsmith told him it was because it was a belted case and that he should load it down. The loads he reccomended were along the lines of what one would expect out of a 7x57mm. After much nashing of teeth and numerous utterances of nasty words friend decides to give the TC customshop a try. This barrel shoots like a champ. The same factory and handloads have yet to produce a group over MOA. Anybody else tried the TC Custom shop recently?
Dave

I haven't ordered a custom shop t/c barrel so can't comment on it.

I will say a thing or two about the "gunsmith" that built the barrel. Blaming accuracy problems on a belted case is pure ignorance. This isn't to say that the belt is needed on the 7 mag case, but it isn't the hindrance all like to condem. Whoever made the barrel simply does not now how to properly chamber a barrel, period. He also should either refund the $, or make a barrel that will shoot. One doesn't buy a 7 mag to shoot 7X57 loads!