SMI 50 Cal encore

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cat2024

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I am new to the forum. I have a Thompson Center Encore pro hunter. I am looking at the SMI 50 cal barrel setup to get into smokeless muzzleloading. I really looked hard at a lot of the 45 caliber smokeless conversions, but in the end it came down to this. My brother-in-law just bought a used SMI 50 cal barrel for his H&R. That is the main reason I want to get something similar. That way we can work on loads together and we have the same thing as any shooting or hunting I do we are always together. My question is what type of accuracy should I expect? Are those of you that have this setup happy with it? Also, I talked to Ron's associate Dan Dewitt today. He said the Encore Barrel's in 50 cal are coming in 1-32 twist rate, but I could change that if I wanted. What would be your recommended twist in this barrel? My brother-in-law's is a 1-36. I could forsee maybe going to a 1-28 if you think it would be better. Any info would be greatly appreciated, as any google search I searched directed me to this forum, so I figure you guys have got good info on the subject.

Lastly, I don't need precision accuracy, I don't plan to ever shoot this for anything but at a deer.
 
Re: RE: Re: SMI 50 Cal encore

bestill said:
You planning on saboted bullets in this 50cal?
Yes planning on the SMI sabots and a 250 gr bullet or so I'd say.

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My personal preference would be the faster 1 in 28 twist but others may vary, even a bit faster I would consider. Generally better too fast that too slow of a twist. I have two SMI barrels, one a .50 on a Savage and a .45 on a Ruger no.1. I do not know the twist of either but both are plenty deer accurate.
 
Re: RE: Re: SMI 50 Cal encore

jims said:
My personal preference would be the faster 1 in 28 twist but others may vary, even a bit faster I would consider. Generally better too fast that too slow of a twist. I have two SMI barrels, one a .50 on a Savage and a .45 on a Ruger no.1. I do not know the twist of either but both are plenty deer accurate.
Thanks for the reply Jim. And yes that is what I was thinking go with a faster twist. The bergara muzzleloader 50 cal for encore twist is 1-28 so I figured I should try to match that at least. If I recall right the barrel is 28" long.

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In a 50cal i would go with either a 1-24 or a 1-28. Both will get the job done and im pretty sure Douglas offers both those twists.

What i CANT say is that SMI has had very good reviews lately. The last few guys that posted about more recent Encore conversions were less than happy with SMI.

On a side note i can tell you the Douglas 50cal 1-32 does shoot exceptionally well. That is the barrel used on my NULA. It is probably the least finicky 50cal rifle ive ever owned but im not shooting long for caliber bullets either.
 
I have used 43 grains of 4759 or N110 but both are hard to find now. That was with 250 grain bullets and sabots, the SSTs worked well. Some like 60 grains of N120 and 300 grain Barnes Originals but those also are a bit hard to find. 4198 might be a powder that would work around the 60 grain area. Do a bit more checking to verify.
 
Do you know what kind of issues they have had as of late? Also, the load they say they are using is 65 grains of 4198 and a 250 grain bullet with their sabots of course. I wouldn't mind that load because I have several pounds of 4198. What are the alternatives to the SMI sabots? I have heard that harvester made the sabots for SMI but I don't know if their is truth to that or not.
 

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