Encore caliber advice

[Dano5001]

Hi guys, I'm thinking about trying handgun hunting, I already have a T/C Encore. what would be some good whitetail deer calibers for a 10" barrel? max shot distance might be 150 yards, more likely under 100.
I would like to keep the overall length under 16"

Also, any thoughts on optics?

Thanks

 

[Dano1]

If you are wanting a pistol or straight walled cartridge, it's hard to beat a 454 Casull especially in short bbl.

If you want to use a rifle cartridge the choices are limitless, but I'd recommed a longer 14" bbl with a bull bbl taper for recoil reasons, with out a brake. Handgun brakes are ruthless, I sold a bbl in a .260 Rem because I couldn't stand the noise of the brake. I then had a a 14" bull made in the same caliber and it was more accurate than the other one.

.260 Rem is a really good handgun cartridge.

For a scope, Burris makes an excellent handgun scope for the money.

Dan

 

[hammertyme]

Pretty much any caliber will work for the ranges you indicate. 260 Remington as already stated would be an excellant cartridge.

Burris,Leupold are my long eye relief scope choices.

Neal

 

[7STDUBBERU]

Dano, for what you want the barrel to do take a good look at the 460 S&W. I would do this for shorter barrels and if you go out to 16" then look at the bottle neck cartridges. The 260 being a great one....

 

[Ernie]

The BR line cartridges 6mmBR-7mmBR would also work in short barrels if you want bottleneck cartridges.
Give us a better idea, if you are looking for a straight-wall or bottleneck cartridges.

 

[AJ Peacock]

I hunt with an Encore here in Michigan. I use a 357 Maximum and it has pretty good ballistics out to 200yds. I also have a 7mm-08 barrel that is good to 300 or so. The 357 Max is a straight wall (which is required in the south half of Michigan).

AJ

 

[Dano5001]

Thanks for the input guy's

I realy dont have any cartrige preference, just looking for one that would be efficient in a short barrel. the main criteria would be a caliber of .45 or smaller, and overall length of the pistol under 16" so 10-11" barrel would be max length by my calculations.

 

[Ernie]

How much recoil are you wanting to deal with?

 

[Dano5001]

I guess I realy dont know much about handgun recoil, the largest I have ever shot was a .44 magnum revolver with hot handloads, it was pretty stout I thought. I just dont have any experience with large caliber handguns, let me know your thoughts.
Thanks

 

[Dano1]

Anything larger than a 44mag espeicallly in a Encore with a 10"bbl with out a brake will have alot of recoil. A scope will add weight to the handgun, and that will help.

If going with a rifle cartridge, maybe a .243 would be better, still a 14"bbl in my opinion will serve better.

You have to look at it two ways, a Large bore handgun will knock something down with a larger, heavier bullet, they are made for shorter bbls but at the distances involved you need to become proficent at shooting a straightwalled case (ie: .44 mag, .357 Max, .45LC, or .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh even the .480 ruger & newer S&W .460 & .500's are excellent. But getting into those larger bbls a brake is almost manditory, if not for your arm and aim , but also for the scopes life.

The rifle cartridges shoot a lighter bullet much faster and could possibly have more "down range" power if not accuracy depending on your choice of calibers. Granted you are loosing a great deal of velocity in a 10"bbl vs a Rifle bbl. But a .308 class of case whether is be a .308, .243, .260, or 7-mm08, are certainly very good deer cartridges in a handgun. I just feel that they are handicaped more the shorter a bbl is. That is why I mention a 14"bbl, in a 10" bbl you will still be needing a brake whether you want it or not, but a 14" bull is much more managable.

I would suggest that you call SSK Industries or even EABCO and see what they have to say, They specialize in these things and would definately be a good source of advice.

Hope this is helpful,

Dan

 

[Ernie]

Good advice.
I would add MGM to the list for custom barrels as well.

 

[Dano1]

I forgot to ask how you were going to be hunting with this handgun? From a Stand with a rest or free handing it? That would also help you to make up your mind.

When I had my Encore (I traded it and wished I had it back), I hunted with it using a backpack as a rest, this took planning when getting set up for shots and also worked well, With the .260 Rem bbl that had the integral brake, I had to be careful of the flash from the brake as it would start any thing made of cloth on fire. I ruined 2 backpacks that way. This is another reason why I never liked Braked handguns. The other was the muzzle blast and noise. 1 set of earplugs combined with muffs were'nt enough to tolerate the noise. I got rid of the braked bbl after making the mistake of shooting it without protection. My ears rang for 2 days and was really painful.

I never used it for deer hunting before I traded it off, but I used it on coyotes and Chucks. I would have liked to used it on deer, but never had the disipline (sp?) back then to stick to handgun hunting. I was in my mid-twentys when I had that one. Now that I'm older (mid thirtys) I'd like to try again.

I've had quite a few Single actions in .357 through .44 Rem Mag and I've Shot the big ones like the .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, and 500 AE. I'vs also had access to Encores in larger chamberings. One was in a .458 Win Mag (that one was brutal), I've enjoyed shooting them all, but most of all I'd just like to have the .260 Remington Back with the 14" bull bbl. It was so much fun to shoot. I'll have to put some $$$ away and get another one.

Dan

 

[Dano5001]

Thanks for all the input guy's, I will contact SSK and EABCO, I'm not familiar with MGM, does anyone have contact info for them?

I stand hunt 99.9% of the time, two of my stands have rifle rests on them, the longest shot I have ever taken was about 150 yards with a rifle, I will just have to see how well I shoot a handgun, but I expect to use it less than 100 yards, at least as a beginner.

I am leaning tward the 357 maximum in a short barrel, if I go with a longer barrel, I will think about some rifle calibers, I have a friend that shoots long range rifle competition with a .260, he loves the .260 round.

Thanks again guy's

 

[Ernie]

Match Grade Machine formally Virgin Valley Guns barrels