I have a rifle length 300 Win Mag barrel that I planned to sell but now I'm starting to think about having it cut down for handgun use. For those of you that have them, how efficient is it (powder burned compared to velocity gained) compared to other .308 rifle rounds in a short barrel? How is the recoil of this round compared to other rounds? About the hottest load I shoot now is a 385 gr bullet at 1700 fps from a 15" Encore .500 S&W barrel.

Probably far more case capacity to be useful in a handgun.

The more powder you burn, the faster it will go, but it becomes a matter of deminishing returns relative to barrel length. I feel the .308 is about the perfect case size for 15" + or - tubes, but you will go faster with a 30-06 in the same barrel and still faster with a 300 WM but you will not get your money's worth in the powder department. Would be fun at the range though ;-)

Not trying to steal the thread, but what about the 300wsm. I have been told that it works very well in a 15-16 in tube. Is this true...anyone???

I would argee that the .308 would be more practical. Maybe a better option would be to trade you .300 mag barrel for a .308 pistol barrel. I have done a lot of business with Ed's Contenders in those past and he has alway's treated me fair. More than likely he would have a used .308 in stock that would save you a few bucks.


http://edstc.com/

Savage chambered the Striker in it and that barrel is less than 13" (sans brake) and guys are getting good numbers with it, and the 7mm WSM. Again, a good bit more powder and kick for a little bit more speed.

I'm getting 2700fps with a 180gr bullet out of a 15" barrel, I figure I should be able to run a 150 to 3000 so it will out shoot a 308 or an 06 in the same length tube and the fireball is no bigger than any of the other big rifle calibers I've shot out of short barrels and smaller than others so I'd say I'm getting a fair burn. With a brake on it it's a pussy cat and that is with the tapered handgun barrel. I rechambered it from an 06. Regardless of unburned powder or other issues more powder capacity and powder will push it harder and faster. There is a point of diminishing returns but the 300Win isn't it. I get a massive fireball from my 458 but there is nothing else in a 15" barrel that's going to give me 2400fps with a 350gr bullet.

Im shooting a 300WSM out of 15" barrel. Im shooting 168grn VLDs right at 2900+. I was going to build a 308 but after checking ballastics and all it got change to the 300. No regrets just brake it.

I had an 18 inch encore in 300 winchester mag and it shot very good; but not much better than my 308 winchester 15 inch encore. NOT MORE ACCURATE BUT A LITTLE FASTER. People at the range complained about the noise level, but they got over it. It was a lot of fun to shoot though.

Joe W

I wouldn't do a 300 WM in a 15 inch Encore.
Add some length and you would be okay.
Do not try to load the WM or RM to bolt action levels in the Encore-You will not get a good result.
WSM in the Encore is even more of a riskier set-up (Larger head).

One of my antelope hunters showed up one year with a .300 Win Mag Encore pistol with an SSK Brake on it. A bit overkill for 'lopers but he let me shoot it and it was FUN; recoil similar to my magnaported .375 JDJ Contender, ie. not bad at all. But wear hearing protection!

Thanks for the info guys! I have a .308 Win barrel that shoots well but the velocity is below what I would like for longer shots, dropping below recommended bullet expansion levels.



Ernie, are you recommending to stay close to the minimum charges listed in loading data?

The Win Mag/Rem Mag cases with their larger head size causes the action to flex more than it would with the same amount of pressure with an 06 head sized case.
Be smart and check for case stretch.
Your brass may not last as long, since it will likely stretch more than cases with a .473 head will when shooting the same pressure.
If you do not reload, using factory ammo is fine.
I had a 338 WM Encore barrel at one time and had a series of frustrations/breakages/opening when firing.
I "thought" at that time that it could be loaded like a bolt rig-Combine that with the old Barnes X bullets and I was in for some serious schooling.
Just be wise and keep track of your case stretch. Mine stretched so much I couldn't shut the action after 2-3 loads.
Ultimately led to a case-head separation when the gun fired. Action opened in the process and the back part of the case hit me in the forehead.
I sold the Encore to a guy in Montana who only uses factory ammo-Works great for him. I gave him the full story of its history. Last time I spoke with him, he had killed a moose with it.

Wapiti,
I read your post, then it disappeared???
Anyway, here is my response:

Yes, I know what Mike is talking about and agree with him.
Improving the case, proper headspace, having a slightly rough chamber, all help you "get by" with using a larger head size.
Don Bower discovered a lot of these things when wildcatting for the Contender.
Just imagine a 308 Win AI or 7-08 AI in a Contender...!
I have shot a number of them.
The only bad thing about having chambers like that is if you ever sell it to someone who does not understand the limits of the action/cartridge.
You walk a "fine line" sometimes when pushing things.
I believe Don stretched a number of frames in his day.

lol I had actually pulled that post because of what your talking about I didn't want someone not as experienced getting in over their head. I actually have a load manual with load data for the 308 in a Contender. Headspacing though is the key. He suggests removing the extractor and putting a primed case in and firing it, the amount the primer moves back will tell you how far off your headspace is. I'm using the shims on my 458 and it's tight enought you can't get a .001 feeler gauger between the recoil plate and the back of the case. The one thing about it though is if you do it right then you have to switch the shims for different barrels but it only takes about two minutes to do once you have the depth set and know which shims to use. There is also a method for checking just how far the frame is flexing too.

I didn't realize frame stretch could be an issue with this round. If factory loads are not a problem am I right in assuming that minimum loads shouldn't be a problem either? Is this only an issue if you a running max loads?

i thought ernie did a great job of explanation. he is speaking of case stretch, not frame stretch. the action can FLEX with large case head diameters, just as the contender can. the magnum size case head is the upper limit of the encores design.

i had an 18" 300 win mag handgun. it was great fun AFTER a brake was added. 2600fps with 180gr sierra. it was difficult to find a good load, but i did. H1000 at MAX did really good. i did not keep it long enough to get a final opinion on case life. other powders such as imr4350 and a couple others in the faster than h1000 category(i forget without looking)seemed to show case stretch and MAX much earlier, and closer to lower end loads.

I just got back in from shooting mine and with the 180 Accubonds at 2700 and the brake it's pleasant to shoot. It's very accurate and your basicly getting 30-06 rifle performance. I don't see any major frame stretch issues with it, any rifle caliber including the 270 and 06 will cause the frame to flex the same way a cylinder flexes in a big bore revolver with full house loads. Metal has a certain amount of elasticity but it's when it passes it's point to return to it's original size or shape you have a problem and the win mag would really have to be pushed to take the encore to that point.

Now thats got me wanting to keep it again Rod. I'll keep the loads around minimum and see how it does.

I actually use a load with a powder that's not quite at the top in velocity and pressure and it's working great. My 458 I am running 2gr under max, I'm running 80gr and speer shows 82gr max and so far I haven't had any problem and I check it often because what's even harder on the gun than just the pressure is the force rearward force of the cartridge which with the bigger heavier bullets is even worst. Like I said EABCO chambers up to the 416 Rem and there are alot of 458 Wins like mine out there and they've held up so don't underestimate the Encore and cartridge either.

Are you going to cut this back to pistol barrel length or leave it at rifle length?

I'll probably have it cut to 16.5" so I can use it as either a handgun or a carbine. What powder does your like?

I'm using 7828 right now but I'll probably play when and if I ever get the time just to see how tight I can get it to shoot and I may eventually put a 3-12 Burris mil dot on it so I can stretch it out some.

just to throw this out here that 06 barrel I told you about is set to be re chambered and brake installed and then put up for sale but since you already have a barrel probably wouldn't make much sense.

actually it might! he could sell his factory barrel and get your rechambered barrel. it should have a tighter chamber than the factory model and i think that would be a benefit with the belted magnum.