Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

I know of one so far, let's see if more show up.

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Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby 2500 HD » Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:38 am

I'm not a fan of short looking barrels. I like the looks and feel of a 26" barrel on the encore. My question is, will 26" barrel hurt the performance of the 450 bushmaster? MGM uses 1:16 twist. I have not ordered my barrel yet. I plan to hand load and bump up the speed all I can but keep accuracy. I have 265 gr swift A frame and 260 gr. Nosler Partitions.(have 100) till there gone. Want to try the 460 xpb 200 and 275 gr. As well when I get some.
Is 26" too long at that twist?
I want a fluted barrel. Should I get the bull barrel??
Thank Ken.
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby Hoot » Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:00 am

Welcome aboard Ken!

I keep wading in on bolt action questions despite not owning one. Some of your questions are germane to any style action though.
I've always said that the only reason I bought the 20" 450b upper was because at the time there were no 22, 24 or 26"offerings. I'm no peanut, so carrying a full size rifle has never been much of an issue when hunting. If I kicked down doors for a living, that would be a different mission, but I don't.

The longer the barrel, the greater velocity you will be able to achieve. That beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, the twist is a factor that you have to consider if you want to load the lighter (shorter), faster, flatter shooting bullets. I've read that the faster twist is a better match for heavy (longer) bullets. I had a 1:16 450b barrel. My pet loads for the 200 and 225 FTX, were no longer as accurate as they were with the 1:24 and I tried adjusting the charge to see where the sweet spot had moved. Never found it and since my favorite white tail load is a 200gr Barnes XPB, formerly the 200gr Hornady FTX until I got tired of spitting out bits of lead in my venison, I sold it and went back to a 1:24 barrel. That's just my experience.

A fluted versus a regular bull barrel is something I've never had to entertained in this caliber. I'll let others wade in on that. I once had an AR10 that I had a second, .260 Rem, 24" barrel for. That tiny hole in a full profile bull barrel made the rig terribly nose heavy. If it had been a .452 barrel, a lot more metal and weight would have been removed.

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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby 2500 HD » Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:47 pm

Right or wrong I'm going with a 26" barrel. Only option with MGM is 1:16 twist. I will stay with the 250-275gr range of bullets. Time will tell. Looking forward to seeing what it will do.

I'm also going to play with a 357 maximum with the same set up. 180 gr bullets. 1:14 or 1:20 twist are my options for this caliber.
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby Al in Mi » Wed Mar 02, 2016 6:37 am

Kenneth, MGM will get you any twist you want but will probably be from a premium barrel maker like Pacnor or McGowan and be a longer wait with a upcharge. One of my 410 barrels they made from a Shilen blank, forget what the upcharge was thou.

If you happen to run across a barrel blank with a different twist for sale, pretty sure they will turn it for you. Personally, I don't think there will be any issues with a 16T.

as far as profiles, the bull will be a heavy stick even when fluted, but MGM sure has some neat designs for sure. Length is a personnel thing, I don't see much for gains in speed over a 24". Think my 24" bolt gun was under 75fps against a 20" AR upper with factory loads, but have to find the notes from last fall.
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby pitted bore » Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:05 pm

2500 HD wrote:I'm not a fan of short looking barrels. I like the looks and feel of a 26" barrel on the encore. My question is, will 26" barrel hurt the performance of the 450 bushmaster? MGM uses 1:16 twist. I have not ordered my barrel yet. I plan to hand load and bump up the speed all I can but keep accuracy. I have 265 gr swift A frame and 260 gr. Nosler Partitions.(have 100) till there gone. Want to try the 460 xpb 200 and 275 gr. As well when I get some.
Is 26" too long at that twist?
I want a fluted barrel. Should I get the bull barrel??
Thank Ken.

Ken-
I have a 26" bbl with a 1:24" twist on my heavy bolt gun and a 20" bbl with a 1:16" twist on my light bolt gun, so I've some experience with your questions.

Short direct answer #1: The 26" barrel should be fine with a 1:16" twist if you use good well-balanced bullets.

Short direct answer #2: I don't know how to advise you about the fluted-bull barrel. A 26" bull barrel is a real truck axle. If you're a husky sort who would be at home dashing over woods and plains with a 1874 heavy Sharps buffalo gun, then you should be OK, with or without fluting. I'm planning to take my 14-pound 450B rifle on a hog hunt soon, but I'll be sitting in a blind resting the monster on a window sill and walking maybe 40 yards, so it will be fine. There's little chance I'd lug it into the Upper Peninsula bush seeking to slay a deer, however.

Here's a thread from four years ago, BARREL LENGTH AND TWIST RATES DISCUSSION, that covers a lot of your area of inquiry. Give it a read and play with the on-line stability calculator cited there, and ask more questions here.

--Bob
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby 2500 HD » Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:27 pm

I ordered 26" fluted rifle contour barrel from MGM. 1:16 twist. Once I get to work with this set up I'll post my results on here. It will be a few months.
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby 2500 HD » Thu Apr 07, 2016 4:40 pm

Here is my 450 bm Encore. MGM 1:16 twist 26" polished stainless fluted with black coating in the fluting. Stock is bone grey Revolution laminated thumb hole. I modified the rifle forend because I thought it looked long to me. I shortened is about 2" relocated the sling stud and put a double angle back cut to add some character. Us carpenters can do that. Lol
New action with trigger job done set to 2 lb. 12 oz. DNZ medium one piece mount and a Leupold VX3i 3.5-10x40 mm CDS Windplex scope. Now it's time to break in the barrel and see what it can do. Let me know what ya think.
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby 2500 HD » Thu Apr 07, 2016 4:47 pm

Image
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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby Hoot » Thu Apr 07, 2016 5:41 pm

Finally, a break-barrel 450b that catches my eye!

Very nice looking rig.

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Re: Encore 450 bushmaster barrel length

Postby 2500 HD » Thu Apr 07, 2016 5:59 pm

Thanks Hoot. Can't wait to see what it can do. Next build is another Encore in .357 Maximum. Just need the barrel.
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