obiwannabe
New member
I ordered a 460 S&W barrel for my Encore from the MGM booth at the last Wanenmacher's show in Tulsa. Got a great "show price" (at least compared to the website). It's a 24" heavy contour stainless barrel with their integral muzzle brake. It arrived about 3 weeks ago. The fit an finish were perfect. Absolutely tight lock-up, zero play in the hinge pin. Last weekend I went and bought a set of Lee dies, Hornady 300gr XTP Mags, WLRM primers, Hornady cases and a pound of IMR4227. Loaded up and went to break it in New Year's Eve day.
Took 5 rounds and a lot of adjustment to get it on paper at 25yds. Took it to 50yds and it was all over the place. When I got anything that resembled a group it was 3"-3.5" at best. They were as bad as maybe 9-10" inches (didn't exactly measure those). No stringing, just random holes--up there, then way done there, then back up there and over a bit. I tried at 100yds but couldn't even hit a 17"x22" piece of cardboard in 5 shots. I persisted back at 50yds going through a usual litany of potential issues--check scope mount, rings, forearm screws, buttstock screw--all okay. I spent the rest of my 50rds working with the forearm. I tried super tight screws, just hand tight screws, spacing with washers, and finally removed it altogether and moved my front rest to sit under the receiver just ahead of the trigger guard (totally free-floating the barrel). Nothing made a difference.
Here's a sample of 7 shots at 50yds, no forearm (free-floating barrel). The load is 38gr of IMR4227 (Hodgdon manual's range is 36-40gr). These went over the chrony at just 2020fps. I numbered the shot order. No adjustments were made between shots. The point of aim is highlighted in red. Again, this is only 50 yards!
Given the huge vertical dispersion, my shooting buddy and I finally decided that I must have killed the scope. It's a Burris E1 3-9x, which was a great hunting scope on my 270, but even with the brake the 460 is still a decent thumper.
This morning I put the scope back on the 270 to check it. I had it dialed back in in 5 shots and it was dead on and totally consistent for three more 5-shot groups, all an inch or less at 100yds. I don't think there's anything wrong with the scope. Unless the 270 just can't generate enough oomph to make it fail.
So I don't know what else to do but contact MGM. Have I missed anything before I go to the manufacturer? It's completely unusable as it is.
I'm very concerned that the brake might be the culprit. I haven't read of any problems with their integral brake though I've never heard anyone talk of it on a 460. It is very slightly back-bored but there is essentially no crown. Just a few thousandths of an inch shelf where the rifling was reamed away.
Took 5 rounds and a lot of adjustment to get it on paper at 25yds. Took it to 50yds and it was all over the place. When I got anything that resembled a group it was 3"-3.5" at best. They were as bad as maybe 9-10" inches (didn't exactly measure those). No stringing, just random holes--up there, then way done there, then back up there and over a bit. I tried at 100yds but couldn't even hit a 17"x22" piece of cardboard in 5 shots. I persisted back at 50yds going through a usual litany of potential issues--check scope mount, rings, forearm screws, buttstock screw--all okay. I spent the rest of my 50rds working with the forearm. I tried super tight screws, just hand tight screws, spacing with washers, and finally removed it altogether and moved my front rest to sit under the receiver just ahead of the trigger guard (totally free-floating the barrel). Nothing made a difference.
Here's a sample of 7 shots at 50yds, no forearm (free-floating barrel). The load is 38gr of IMR4227 (Hodgdon manual's range is 36-40gr). These went over the chrony at just 2020fps. I numbered the shot order. No adjustments were made between shots. The point of aim is highlighted in red. Again, this is only 50 yards!
Given the huge vertical dispersion, my shooting buddy and I finally decided that I must have killed the scope. It's a Burris E1 3-9x, which was a great hunting scope on my 270, but even with the brake the 460 is still a decent thumper.
This morning I put the scope back on the 270 to check it. I had it dialed back in in 5 shots and it was dead on and totally consistent for three more 5-shot groups, all an inch or less at 100yds. I don't think there's anything wrong with the scope. Unless the 270 just can't generate enough oomph to make it fail.
So I don't know what else to do but contact MGM. Have I missed anything before I go to the manufacturer? It's completely unusable as it is.
I'm very concerned that the brake might be the culprit. I haven't read of any problems with their integral brake though I've never heard anyone talk of it on a 460. It is very slightly back-bored but there is essentially no crown. Just a few thousandths of an inch shelf where the rifling was reamed away.
Last edited: