Encore 357 Max barrel

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LBAhunter

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I was thinking about having MGM do a barrel for me. Anybody shooting one of their 357 Max barrels?
 
Never shot theirs but a 357MAX and a 180gr XTP was great combo back in my Contender days.
 
Got a CVA Scout 357 Max pistol that is the cat's meow!!!! I was wanting a rifle barrel too. All the MGM reviews seem too be favorable. I haven't seen any negative reviews.
 
i have a 10" mgm encore barrel on my encore. the one i have is a heavy factory taper. if i had it to do again, at this length, i would go with a straight bull barrel. i'm running a 170 gr hawk HP w/ .0125 thin jacket seated long w/ 22.5 gr h110. this combo hits like the hammer of thor! h110/win 296 provide the best velocity at this barrel length. imr 4227 and accurate 1680 are a couple others that work well- i suspect 1680 is best for rifle length barrels. 180 xtp, 158 xtp, remington 180 sjhp are all excellent bullets for the max. many 38 and 357 bullets won't hold up well at max velocities and will rip petals off, etc...which may not matter depending on what your after. remington, jamison, and starline offer brass for the 357 maximum.

another chamber i'd consider, one which i'd also like to own someday is a 414 super mag. starline makes brass for this round. i'm thinking a 12 inch bull barrel w/ another burris fastfire :) personally i can't stand extended eye relief scopes for hunting, but they're nice for load workup.

attached is the pic of my first deer taken with my 357 max...unfortunately they came running in while i was busy setting up my lone wolf and the ground was terribly crunchy w/ old snow and i couldn't turn on the lead doe. normally i'd let this one walk but i wanted to get my first and it was the last day of rifle season.

also a pic of the remington 180 sjhp...if you can find them, they're a great option. i've seen the expansion tests of these in the maximum and they expand and perform nicely.
 

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and yes you can run 357 magnum if you choose- and seat bullets extremely long in the case in a pinch. but now that there's brass available, there's no real reason to do so.
 
This my first handgun deer. Spike. About 60 yards.
CVA Scout 357 Max. (re-chambered by David White)
Load - 22gr - W296, 180gr XTP, Rem 7 1/2 primer., Rem Max brass

Attached Files:
I shoot Barnes 140 gr, W296 - 23.5 gr, Rem 7 1/2 primer, Rem Max brass for my hunting load this year. I tried AA1680 with the 180's but W296 was more accurate. With the 140's the powder I tried was W296. The scope has been changed to a Burris 3-12. I wanted more magnification when shooting paper/sighting in. The rings I was using kept get loose even after torqueing and blue loctiting, so I changed to Warne low rings. I was taking my rifle
(Rem 700 280 AI) with me along with Scout but this year I decided to leave the rifle at home.
 
yeah, i'm finally getting comfortable enough to just leave the rifle at home too. i tend to hunt them like it's archery season, regardless of the time of year. my only real concern is when black bear season overlaps with whitetail firearms season. bear and those damn grouse are the two things that still get my goat every time:)
 
Back in the day, 357MAX was the only round i ever really loved in the Contenders. My brother had a side cock single shot in 357MAX too. Same parent company that made the Desert Eagles.
 
yeah, the Max is just about perfect in a single shot. The Max is easy to reload, accurate, mild recoil, hits like a ton of bricks!!!! If I get another pistol barrel for an Encore, it will be 12 - 14 inches long, straight bull barrel, maybe throated alittle long to get some more powder space. Right now I would like to have a rifle barrel.
 
I like the rimmed Max better in a single shot. If I was going to do a bolt gun, it would be the 350 Legend.

I would rather do the 357AR in a long gun just to stay away from the 9mm bullets/bore of the Legend.

However, you would sure have a whole world's worth of plinking bullets to reload for the Legend.
 
Only benefit (to me) in the 350 legend or the 357ar is a repeater. I figure as a mostly muzzleloader hunter, I should only need one shot so, the Max on an Encore or Contender platform is all a man needs.
I still have a huge stash of Hornady 180gr SSP’s on top of 28gr of Lil Gun (2450fps out of a 20” tube) and deer usually don’t make it over 20yds. Fury makes a great bullet but a little more pricey and the Speer Flat nose are great bullets for a cheaper shooting bullet that still will put a hurt on some of the biggest white tails and hogs.

my MGM barrel will cloverleaf at 100yds and hold about half MOA out to 300yds. I preferred my older 1/14 twist but my newer 1/16 is almost as good a shooter. You won’t be disappointed going with MGM.
 
Only benefit (to me) in the 350 legend or the 357ar is a repeater. I figure as a mostly muzzleloader hunter, I should only need one shot so, the Max on an Encore or Contender platform is all a man needs.
I still have a huge stash of Hornady 180gr SSP’s on top of 28gr of Lil Gun (2450fps out of a 20” tube) and deer usually don’t make it over 20yds. Fury makes a great bullet but a little more pricey and the Speer Flat nose are great bullets for a cheaper shooting bullet that still will put a hurt on some of the biggest white tails and hogs.

my MGM barrel will cloverleaf at 100yds and hold about half MOA out to 300yds. I preferred my older 1/14 twist but my newer 1/16 is almost as good a shooter. You won’t be disappointed going with MGM.

RIght now my favorite centerfire is a Handi Rifle in .35 Remington. Shooting the 200 FTX over LVR at the Hornady book max load overlaps bullet holes at 100 yards and is doing 2331 fps at the muzzle.

My first two years hunting deer were with a slug gun and then I switched over to muzzleloader for accuracy and range improvement. Shot only muzzleloaders for the next 15 years or so before Indiana legalized rifles. Still love my muzzleloaders, but that .35 Rem is a bit faster to reload. :) Although I have not needed a followup yet with it.
 
RIght now my favorite centerfire is a Handi Rifle in .35 Remington. Shooting the 200 FTX over LVR at the Hornady book max load overlaps bullet holes at 100 yards and is doing 2331 fps at the muzzle.

My first two years hunting deer were with a slug gun and then I switched over to muzzleloader for accuracy and range improvement. Shot only muzzleloaders for the next 15 years or so before Indiana legalized rifles. Still love my muzzleloaders, but that .35 Rem is a bit faster to reload. :) Although I have not needed a followup yet with it.
Mine is about the same story except my first 20 or so was archery and slug gun (Indiana as well) then switched to archery and muzzleloader for about 12yrs and then started using the 357max when allowed by law (‘07-‘08) during firearm season. Archery is still my favorite season and weapon but the nerve damage in my neck and weakness in my arms and hands has made me switch to a crossbow. I received a handicap permit before they was legal for everyone but still fought to keep to using a vertical bow. That fight is over, I can no longer hold the draw weight.
 
A Contender carbine in 357MAX custom barrel would be a absolute hoot. Plenty cheap to shoot just for fun and a great little rifle to carry.
 
I bought a used 14 SSK 357 Max Contender barrel and it’s a shooter. I have 21 in 357 Mag MGM barrel and is shoots great
 

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It had a silver Bushnell 2-7 and silver Burris rings. This is after.
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