[RKellogg]

I finally have the money for my Encore . I have been looking at the blued 28" barrel for a long time . Went to get it this morrning and it was sold but there was a blued 26 " there . What do you guys think , is it just as good . I am talking for shooting groups . Does 2" make that big a differance ( keep it clean girls :evil: ) .

[MutinousDoug]

In a quality barrel the bullet is stabilized in the first 10-15 inches. All a longer barrel gives you is sight radius and velocity.

[RKellogg]

Sooo , no real big differance between the 26" and 28" . Anyone eles have an Encore that can add so advice .

[mykeal]

I don't have an Encore, but longer sight radius and more velocity don't seem to me to be trivial things. After all, that's why we have long guns in the first place.

The choice is a personal one. Some people can take good advantage of that extra barrel length; others find it cumbersome. There is no best choice for everyone.

[gunrac]

I think the 26" is more then adequate.

[RKellogg]

gunrac , Is that an Encore , what load are you useing , powder , bullet , primer . Do you clean the barrel after every shot .

[AdmiralB]

I'd be surprised if the extra two inches of barrel gained you any appreciable velocity, even with a 150-grain load.

[gunrac]

It's a 26" Encore. 10 yrs. old. Roughly 300rds. She is a shooter.

I added Bellm's heavy hammer springs and floated the forearm a few yrs. back. Big improvement.

When pokin paper I brush between each shot. After 10 or 15 shots it needs a complete ****** job. Do yourself a favor an pitch the primmer extractor. There a pain in the azz and you don't need it.

Hornady 44cal. 240gr. HP/XTP
Harvester green crushed ribbed sabot
90gr. vol. Pyrodex RS

1670 f.p.s. avg.

[RKellogg]

gunrac , How did you float the forearm and what is a Bellm's heavy hammer spring .

[gunrac]

gunrac , How did you float the forearm and what is a Bellm's heavy hammer spring .

Check your clearance first off. A lot of guys are satifisfied with checking it with a dollar bill, I prefer using a business card { around .012 } Back your screws off an lay 2 cards in between the barrel and forearm. Assemble the forearm. You should be able to slide the cards back and fourth for a correct clearence. A hint of resistance, but not tight.
{ I do this each time I assemble, just to make sure the forearm is centered correctly }
If the card is tight, you need to relieve some wood in the channel and or the ears also. Your card should slide between all wood an metel.

I just took a straight wall, deepwell 1/2" drive socket, I'm thinking 11/16. Check first, you want to hit the channel evenly. Wrap with sand paper, 60 or 80 grit. Check clearence periodically. Once you get the clearence you need, hit it with some fine paper. Don't forget the ear's. I then sealed the the exposed wood with a couple light layer's of Tru-oil. It doesn't take long and with gratifying resuts.

Putting off a trigger job, I kinda fell into this fix. I needed the hammer extension, to get away from my scope.. After a short read, BELLM recommended the heavier hammer spring.
I alway's had a little creep in my trigger. The heavier spring cured it. Also, a lot of good read on his site. Some even consider him the: { T/C GURU }

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=1

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=86

[RKellogg]

gunrac , were do you get the Harvester green crushed ribbed sabot . I can't find them . I found the bullets .

[arcticap]

Harvester sabots direct:

http://www.harvesterbullets.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=3

Or go to the Harvester home page and click on sabots:

http://www.harvesterbullets.com/

Midsouth Supply and Cabela's has them in .50 caliber for use with a .44 cal. bullet:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/department.asp?dept=%4D%55%5A%5A%4C%45%4C%4F%41%44%49%4E%47&dept2=%43%4F%4D%50%4F%4E%45%4E%54%53&dept3=%53%41%42%4F%54%53%20%4F%4E%4C%59&dept4=%35%30%20%43%41%4C

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0012633216130a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=sabots&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

[gunrac]

I would contact them an see if they would send a sample of the sabots for that bullet. Ya never know. Also hit on these guy for samples. It's nice to know what will work. Shipping's a killer on small orders.

http://www.mmpsabots.com/

[jbkebert]

I have the 28" pro-hunter model of the Encore. The load it favors the best is 112 grains 777 with a 250 grain T/C super glide best 5 shot group was .893 with average going to just a hair under a inch .978 for 100 yards. I have been trying the Hornady FPB 350 grainers but not found the sweet load yet. I think the 26" handles a little quicker than the 28". A couple of my rifle barrels are 26" and it does make a diffrence in handle and feel in the woods. On the other hand you will gain roughly 100 fps gain for every 2" of barrel. So really not a heck of a lot of diffrence in the grand scheme of things. I do prefer the fluted barrels over the full contour ones the added gain in fps is not the big of a deal to me.