.460 S&W ENCORE BARREL

I have the opportunity to buy a stainless .460 S&W Encore barrel for $225 and I understand that they can shoot .45 colt and .454, but do they all shoot ok and is this a good deal. Also what about cutting the barrels down to make them shorter. Any advice you guys out there can offer would really help.

Thanks,
Steve

Yes you can shoot 45 Colt and 454 Casull in the 460 barrel. Some guns shoot the shorter cartridges well and others don't. There's only one way to find out. Try it.

Also a word of advise. Shooting the shorter cartridges can cause a build up of copper, lead, and powder fouling in the area where the shorter case does not fill the chamber to the lead/throat area. It's a good idea to clean the chamber thoroughly before firing the longer case. If it's real dirty the longer cartridge will not chamber. If it chambers and is tight from the build up you can have a very high pressure spike from the restriction.

I have the S&W PC 12" revolver in .460. At 50 yds, I can just about put three bullets in one hole with Hornady's FTX loads. With my hand loaded Casull loads, 3 or 4 inches is about as good as it gets. As for the .45 LC loads... You wouldn't believe me if I told you. An Encore may be different though.

Is that a good, "you wouldn't believe me" or bad.

Granted, I was using factory Remington SWC LC loads. I shot two, three shot groups (it was all I could bear), cleaning between groups. I didn't bother measuring but the best of the two groups was 10 inches. First and last time a .45 LC cartridge will ever be loaded in that gun.

inaccuracy from the shorter cartridges comes from the distance the bullet has to jump from the case mouth to the lands and grooves. Most long throats wont shoot them well. The 460 is very versatile in that it shoots them all, but you may have to experimet with specialty length cartridges with e 45LC and your Casull. The same process usually carries with a 357 when shooting 38 specials. My K-38 is much more accurate with them than my 657 357 but the difference is less than you experience. The chamber space is different to. You have much more.