i want somthing differant! have you guys been there? i am looking to get a new barrel for my encore and just just can't figure out what i want.i find something new every day that i think i might like then i talk myself out of it! a light recoiling easy to shoot, 7-30,7tcu 6.5 tcu 6mm tcu,all the JDJ off the 225win,6mm 7mm 30 whispers? then i think no i want one of those teeth jarring rounds like 375,358,348,454,444 ,45-70 or better yet one of those really cool wildcats.hmmmm let see what is the vol.,bullet weight, BC of the round,how far will it shoot. i need to stick with a good deer round but what about groundhogs? can i have the best of both worlds? this is somthing i go through every time i get ready to buy a gun or barrel. don't you ever think there is to many to chose from.if you have been here let me no how it turned out for you and what did you end up with! yeah my wife thinks i am crazy too!

Same trouble, but, you see, the trouble isn't wanting all those barrels, it's with the wallet. I just can't afford them all. My advice, if you don't have a 6.5 is a 6.5x55 Sedish Mauser barrel by TC Custom Shop. I bought mine from Ed's Condenters for only $200 NIB. It is a dandy to shoot and the 6.5 bore is something special, give it a try.

If you're looking for a good deer & groundhog barrel you can't go wrong with the .444 Marlin. With the 270 gr Speer Gold Dot @ 2100+ fps it shoots plenty flat out to 225 yds or so. It may be a little much for most white tail, but you can't have too much gun for groundhogs!

if i had to pick a good deer/groundhog round it would be the 260 remington.the swede is a good round to but i have had such good luck with rounds based on the 308case.95 grn vmax shoots 1" lower than the 129 hornadays i use for deer in minnesota....

any of the BR family of cartridges would be really sweet.
the 22BR, 6BR, 6.5BR, 7BR, or 30BR

all of em are known deadly accurate, and if you chose one of the smaller bores, you could get a custom barrel with a fast twist rate to shoot heavy for caliber bullets to use on deer.
you may find some interesting reading on these at www.6br.com

LOL........the 300 win mag rattled my teeth enough that i had to put a OTT muzzle brake on it. you will shoot a nice recoiling round a lot more than one that inflicts pain. ........and i like to shoot em.

Don't listen to Kyode!!! Why he probably doesn't have much more than 10 or 15 times the experience I have.
You said you want something different!
Anybody can shoot chucks all day with one of them little calibers, but it takes a real man to shoot 200 rounds prone with full house loads in a .444 Contender in one setting(and I AIN'T that guy )!
Another posible candidate would be the good old 7x30 Waters, or maybe it's improved version.

well guys i did it today.not sure if i did the right thing! i ordered me a 375 winchester barrel,brass,dies and bullets.now i have to buy another scope. i think this round for me and where i hunt would work great. 50yrds average and some spots even less. very few places i hunt you can get a clear 100yd shot. either way it is coming.i havn't ruled out my groundpig round yet but that will have to be the next overtime check or maybe i want that ruger sbh 45 colt. Well here i go agian!

That sounds like a good choice. I've always wanted to try the 375 Winchester. Keep us posted on your progress with the new barrel.

For what you're doing I think the 375 Win. is a great choice.

Mstake
You will love that 375 winny.I had one but T/C screwed me out of it so now I have a 375 JDJ which is a great barrel but I really liked that 375 winny it would cut one ragged hole at 100 yards if I done my part.