300 win mag encore barrel

[Customcountry]

Been reading posts on the sidelines taking in the wealth of knowledge and finally making my first post. I'm getting ready to purchase a new 300 win mag encore barrel from MGM. Barrel length will be 26" 1-8 twist with a muzzle break. Looking at running the 215 Berger hybrid. I have two questions: am I limited to the heavies with that twist rate? Will the 3.700 coal be to much in that barrel? Thanks for any and all help, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[Wolf76]

In a brake action, you're not limited to any COAL. Lands and pressure are your limiting factor.

With the fast twist you're not limited to the heavy bullets, but will have the option for 230gr pills. I wouldn't discount a 1:10 twist for the 215 Berger. Many here use this combo with great success. H1000 ~77 gr is your friend.
Also, I have a 300 wm barrel for my encore and have learned that the recoil is something noteworthy when 200gr + bullets are used. Suggest a muzzle brake if you're going to shoot it much.

 

[Customcountry]

Thanks for your reply Wolf76! It will have a muzzle break and recoil pad in hopes of taming some of that recoil. Still trying to learn more about the lands and pressure for reloading purposes. I had a reloading bench given to me and have never used it for rifle reloading only shotgun shells so far. Thanks again

 

[Wolf76]

Just a funny story about the encore. I bought it with the sole purpose of muzzleloading where I live in Michigan. Figured I'd like to hunt elk someday, so I bought my 300 wm barrel. Shot it and realized at 100 yards my muzzleloader shot better. This totally ticked me off and 300 wm ammo was getting pricey. This is what started my reloading career. Hardly knew a thing about rifles because where I live it's shotguns and muzzleloaders only. Fast forward 8 years and I'm a fairly advanced reloader and have some super cool guns. My hunting guns are .5 moa or better. The irony is that the gun which started it all doesn't get used. Laws got changed so I use a 45 Raptor during the gun season and the encore during black powder season. 300 win mag barrel just sits in the closet.
On my 300 TC barrel, it had a ton of freebore. Bullets had to be loaded rather long. The barrel was sub moa, but never got as good of accuracy as my bolt actions.
My avatar elk was shot with my 300wm custom Remington 700 using 215 Berger, 215M primer, nosler brass, and 77.9grs of H1000. This load/ gun combo easily shoots .5 moa and often closer to .25 moa out to 500. The elk hit the ground so hard, it **** near knocked out the ivories.

 

[Remmy700]

I run 215s in my 300 win just fine with 10 twist. Do they offer a 9 twist option?

 

[Customcountry]

Wolf76 my experience is pretty much the same. Live in Va and hunt in MD where it's a muzzleloader/shotgun county. Bought the original encore starting out and now have three of them with different setups for year round. Thanks to my lovely wife and sister I'm building the 300 to use on elk this fall hopefully and add to the collection. Thanks again for the input and help!

 

[Customcountry]

I run 215s in my 300 win just fine with 10 twist. Do they offer a 9 twist option?

Thanks for the reply remmy700. No, they only offer 1-8 and 1-10. Went with the 1-8 to be able to run the heavies.