Problems with new Encore barrel

Having the same problem

Obewannabe,

I am having the same vertical stringing problem with my 460 S&W, 24 inch MGM barrel with heavy profile, removable brake, and Nikon Inline scope. I can barely keep it on paper at 100 yards. I already discovered that beefy rings are required, as my Burris Signature Zee rings cracked at the dovetail clamp. I replaced them and I am still varying wildly vertically, but holding tight horizontally. I tried IMR4227, Lil Gun, and H110 powder with similar results. I am thinking that my scope may have been damaged by the recoil. My next steps are to try factory ammo, change scopes, and remove the brake, to isolate the problem to gun, scope, or ammo.

Did you ever find the root cause to your problem?

Any response from MGM?
 
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I would use 45Colt Lever revolution rounds as a baseline. Id also check the headspace which can be really important in Encores and they can be really fickle about it. Worse case scenerio, you could send it to www.bellmtcs.com.
 
I have a 16 in. 460 TC barrel without a break and it shoots the 460`s like a shotgun. Had a friend that had a 406 barrel and he told me that his would not shoot 460`s rather, but did good with 454 and 45 Colt. So I tried 454 and 45 load and they did shoot a lot better, but I have a Ruger in Blackhawk in 45 Colt and a red hawk in 454, and both carry 6 rounds instead of 1. :rolleyes:
 
Had some success at the range today. Tried 454 Casull factory loads in 240 XTP mags and got a 3" group at 100 yards, which is a big improvement from the 20 inch groups previously. BUT, I also discovered a severe sensitivity to the forend attachment and support. I had to keep tightening the forend every 4 to 5 shots to keep it from walking vertically. My groups would also shift significantly if I changed positions to support the forend. I also tried a wood forend, rather than composite, and the extra weight/intertia caused the attachment screws to bend. As the screws were bending, my groups were walking downward.

I am not sure if these break actions are worth the trouble.
 
I am starting to figure out this gun. I relieved the composite forend so that the screw bosses made better contact, and I used loctite on the mounting screws. Groups are down to 1.5 to 2 inches. Point of impact shifts 7 inches when the brake is added or removed, but it grouped OK either way.
 
I've given up on mine. If it can't shoot 460 level loads then what's the point? If I wanted 454 level power I'd have bought a 454. If it's just incredibly finicky like LOhunter's then it's not trustworthy for field use. I'm not going to risk injuring an animal because my forend screws loosened by a few in-lbs. Probably should have gone with the 45-70 to start with, but oh, well...

I just finished building a 458WM on a Savage LA. It not only shoots the massive elephants-stopping shoulder-bruisers, but it also puts 405gr WLNGC's from 1500-1900fps with reduced loads of H4895 into 1.5" at 100yds all day. Problem solved. No need to beat a dead 460 barrel.

Plus, if a rogue elephant ever walks past my deer stand I'll have a little something for him.
 
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Another step forward

I am gaining on this 460 Encore barrel. The latest improvements have me down to a 4 inch group at 100 yards, almost all vertical. The latest improvements were to tighten the buttstock, replace the locking lug spring with a a stiffer one, and add shims between the forend and the barrel. That was after I had replaced broken scope rings, relieved unwanted forend contact, and built epoxy standoffs for the forend. I am feeling good, as I have moved from 24 inches of vertical stringing to "only" 4 inches, but that is still not up to par. Fortunately, I identified one more issue that is easy to fix. My forward forend attachment screw is bottoming out, so the forend is still not tight. I ground down the screw to stop the bottoming-out, so the forend is very secure now. Hopefully, I will be able to start tuning loads soon, as I have only been sorting mechanical problems so far.
 
FWIW, recall a gent with a nice encore rifle at range beginning to loudly talk to himself. Seems he'd recently acquired the rifle new and had been to range several times with it shooting his reloads. Accuracy with the rifle was dismal. Well, the day he began talking to himself concerned what he'd discovered shooting another batch of new reloads that were producing acceptable accuracy. Basically, he discovered the further away from the lands he seated his bullets there was a noticeable increase in accuracy with his Encore. This was what he was talking to himself about.....he'd always gotten better accuracy with a reload the closer he'd seated a bullet to the lands in his other rifles.
 
Same issue with MGM barrel here

Hi folks, any update on these MGM barrel issues? I'm a long-time Encore fan and have 3 frames and 8 barrels. Have factory barrels, TC custom shop barrels, an EABCO custom barrel and 2 MGM barrels. All shoot really well - better than I can - except my last barrel. It's a 23" 338 Fed heavy taper, interrupted spiral flute integral muzzle break from MGM. It does look awesome. :D

The MGMs are my newest additions. The 243 standard taper straight fluted 243 with integral muzzle break is a tack driver. And, with the MB you can actually see the bullet impact. It is loud, I'll grant you that.

This 338 Fed barrel is the bane of my existence. I've only been shooting Federal Premium rounds through it (200g Trophy Bonded Tip). I've bent two sets of forend screws and chased three boxes of ammo all over targets. The last session was my best, but was still chasing it all over the paper and finally had vertical stringing. I originally started with a steel MGM base and steel Warne rings. Leupy VX-3i. After about 7-8 rounds, the rings would work loose from the base (move back and forth). Took it home, uninstalled everything, reinstalled using blue Locktite, back to the range, same issue. Oh yeah, and bent the forend screws so badly they didn't want to come out. So, new mount (DNZ one piece, have them on all my other Encores and love them), new forend screws, and new range try. Better, but still terrible accuracy (chasing zero all over paper and 4" best 3-shot group) and I'm pretty sure my scope is moving horizontally in the base (hard to tell since I've mounted it so many times on this $#%$$^% barrel).

I've reached out to MGM, they responded, said only time they've heard about this before is using a lead sled (I'm using a Rock front rest and a sandbag rear). Reached out to them again and they agreed for me to send it back for a check (they are paying return shipping). They've said if they can't find anything wrong on a QC check, they will test accuracy for me. If there's no problem they can find then I'm stuck with $25 return shipping and $40 for range accuracy session. At this point the barrel is worthless to me so I'm going to send it back for their suggested treatment.

Apologies for the long post on an old thread.
 
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