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Post by deadeer on Mar 28, 2021 9:11:29 GMT -5
Encores have always been my pride and joy. So simple, and almost always ridiculously accurate out of the box. I have played with them since '98 or '99 right after their introduction. So I found a premade MGM 450bm Encore barrel at Haus of Arms calling my name. It's a 20" muzzleloader contour with the ramrod stand offs dovetailed in for strength.. This one has 5r rifling. I got her mounted up and did the break in per MGM's sheet. I put 25 rounds thru it total, keeping it barely warm. I wasnt shooting for accuracy, but kept a 3-4" group with almost 20 shots of mish mash rounds I had laying around. It is a very handy piece at this length. But it will be getting a muzzle brake for load development since it's so small and ferocious. I am looking forward to wringing it out, as I have thousands of .451-2 bullets from pistols and muzzleloader shooting. Even plan on trying a few Accumax's to see how they do. Will report back when time allows.   |
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Post by fatfred on Mar 28, 2021 11:44:24 GMT -5
That's a sweet little gun. One of my buddies is an encore freak as well. He does something with shims to tighten them up. He explained it to me many years ago but I can't remember what he shims or why he does it.
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Post by deadeer on Mar 28, 2021 13:25:58 GMT -5
That's a sweet little gun. One of my buddies is an encore freak as well. He does something with shims to tighten them up. He explained it to me many years ago but I can't remember what he shims or why he does it. Probably behind the firing pin bushing. Supposed to tighten up the headspace. I tried Mike Bellms beliefs one time. Have since went back to standard, and I have no regrets. I am no bench rest shooter, but the deer never notice the difference. I have 6 frames and have had almost 40 barrels total. Only had one, 22-250 rifle that ever fought tooth and nail to shoot straight. Every short length pistol barrel has been awesome. Different strokes for different folks. I had a few AR's, but just sold them off recently as the offers were too good to pass. I made 3 times what I had in them. I just never fell in love or had passion for them, so I am getting back to my roots. A single shot has never let me down, or been too slow to reload. I have taken many doubles, several triples, and 4 deer in a field twice. So no handicap for me. |
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Post by fatfred on Mar 28, 2021 13:57:19 GMT -5
I wanna say that he was having problems with damaged brass. Damage you could not see. Inside the case, somewhere between the shoulder and the rim, he was getting erosion from case stretch. He had a straightened out small paper clip. He bent one end about 90 degreesto make a small pick. When you scraped the inside of the cases, you could feel a spot where the case was getting thinner and if it ever broke, the front of the case would stick in the gun. I think the shims were meant to somehow stop that kind of case damage.  ?? He gave up on the centerfire break barrels but has two ML's shooting blackhorn at Savage book load levels that are tack drivers (and deer killers) |
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Post by deadeer on Mar 30, 2021 7:55:17 GMT -5
The 450bm is plagued with the short oal due to the design with the AR mag. A factory round is on the right, and the oal length of my chamber on left. So lots of room to work with.  Most loads I have started with have been in this ballpark.  It didnt take long to find a real sweet spot. This is with the .452 250gr Hornady monoflex. It has the same oal as the 300 sst/ftx. Not a lot of reloading data out there for it. I got a bunch of blems so getting them to work is a priority. Looking good so far.  |
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Post by deadeer on Jun 8, 2021 22:13:57 GMT -5
Got a little shooting in recently with it. Found my load right away. Plenty good for woods and brush hunting. Being frugal in todays times so will kill deer all day with this.  |
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Post by joelmoney on Jun 9, 2021 8:05:03 GMT -5
Looking pretty lethal.
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Post by fatfred on Jun 9, 2021 16:30:07 GMT -5
Yes, as a hunter first, you are THERE! The bughole groups are a bonus but a good solid 1 - 1 1/2" gun will kill everything you shoot at in normal hunting scenarios.
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Post by elkman1310 on Jun 11, 2021 9:30:28 GMT -5
Glad to see that you have your chamber throated out so you can get enough powder in the case to really improve the performance of this round. 2500fps with a 250gr bullet is very doable and usually produces nice clover leaf groups at 100 yards. going from a factory load of 2200fps to 2500fps is a real game changer. I use H110 for my reloads others use Lil gun and some other pistol powders.
To bad you didn't have a brake installed it would make the gun more manageable to shoot. Both my Rugers have factory brakes and they work so does my CVA Scout 45/70 that one really needs a brake when shooting heavy loads. At any rate the 450BM makes a dandy deer rifle out to 200 yards.
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Post by deadeer on Jun 11, 2021 12:43:34 GMT -5
 My buddy did a custom brake and threading. He has done about 10 for me. Something loosened during the threading and boogered the threads. So we decided instead of cutting the barrel off, he would just thread farther back and make the brake longer. Works great! |
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Post by gd357 on Jun 11, 2021 16:39:38 GMT -5
Thats a neat work-around. Effective. Looks really good too.  I ended up filling the stock on a ruger to keep recoil down, but I'm pushing considerably faster than AR levels. LOL |
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?? He gave up on the centerfire break barrels but has two ML's shooting blackhorn at Savage book load levels that are tack drivers (and deer killers)
I ended up filling the stock on a ruger to keep recoil down, but I'm pushing considerably faster than AR levels. LOL