6.5mm ? encore

[Rem06]

a friend is looking to buy a 6.5mm for his 12yr old to shoot groundhogs to whitetail.he is looking hard at the thompson encore in the 260rem "class" calibre.he has shot a .270 before but less recoil would be better, .243 is no problem,but we want a little more frontal area for deer.
most of us shoot to 500yds and i am sure he will be looking at doing the same.
my question is; will a factory sporter weight barrel from encore or their custom shop barrel be acceptable for 120-140 class bullets with their twist rate? or would he be better off buying the stock and action,then installing a custom after market barrel in say 6.5x47 lapua?
any recomendations on other good bbl makers?

 

[Ammohouse]

I got my 12yr old a Encore ProHunter 243 and it shoots great!
He was killing steel at 200yds today.
Is his kid really going to shoot a deer at 500yds?
Me and the boy shoot ALOT and at 500yds he will tell you is a long way.
Just for the sceptics...he has shot at 650yds, he hasn't broke 400yds with Pdog kills yet though.

 

[Rem06]

absolutely NOT "at this point".but with a few years practice,and getting a set-up that is "capable" of doing it.
his dad is thinking of getting a custom barrel to outperform the factory .260 barrel from the t/c custom shop,in the 6.5mm calibre class.
the question really should be geared more too;
will the t/c and a custom barrel be able to? and who makes one?
or stick with rem/savage bolt action and a new barrel?
i am not extremely familiar with the thompson and 500yd shooting at all,but they have a reputation for pretty good accuracy.

 

[onesonek]

I'm new here, and been looking around getting a feel for the forum. The being stated I'm going to put my 2 cents in.
I pretty sure the factory or TC custom shop barrels would handle most bullet weights with the possible exception of the longest VLD types. The .260 is an excellent round, my bullet choice would be the one that shoots best of weight to do the job, starting with any of these three,,,,120 TSX, 130 Accubond, or the 130 Scirocco.
If I was looking for a custom barrel in a sporter taper, I would get a tapered blank and send it to OTT in Dover, NH. or go to MGM.

Dave

 

[Ramrod]

Go to www.sskindustries.com.

If it's a Encore he can do it and do it well.

 

[TiGuy]

http://www.matchgrademachine.com/chamberings_public.php

MGM uses Shilen blanks. I have one on my encore pro hunter in 308 which shoots 1/2 moa with factory Hornady match ammo.

 

[Rem06]

thanks,info passed on, no purchace yet.

 

[jb77]

Rem06 take a pass on the barrels from T/C especially the ones from the custom shop. The factory barrels are more consistent than the ones from the custom shop.

Bergara barrels are coming in from Spain and the couple I have seen have been very good at considerably less cost than the T/C barrels. I understand that Shilen is helping them with their production of barrels.

Look at the Bullberry barrels if you want an awesome barrel and fantastic customer service.

You are dead on about the 260, 7mm-08 class of cartridges they are perfect deer calibers with tons of great bullets available for them.

 

[gemihur]

Check out Graybeards Outdoors:

Firearms & Ammunition Classifieds

Buy, Sell, Trade, Wanted, Firearms, Parts & Loaded Ammo Only

www.go2gbo.com

Lots of Encore and Contender shooters there
Look at the classifieds and save $ from having to pay retail
I shoot the 7-08 Rem. Easy to load for and versatile from varmints to big game

 

[WV Hitman]

I'll second SSK. Brian has made all my Contenders, Encores, XP-100s. Fantastic work & quality. As far as .260 it's just a 6.5/.284 "Lite", about 80% the power. Most of the normal SSK barrels are 1:10". My 6.5/.284 shoots 120, 130 gr. great. Not so much with 140s-need a faster twist.
Bullets: 120 BTs, 125 Nos. PTs, 120 Sierra Game KIngs will do anything up to deer very well. I like 130 ABs a lot, but a little tough. OK for deer, but not the best.

 

[GotRDid]

I think that “Boy” is 29 years old by now.

 

[gemihur]

He should be able to handle a 35 Whelen by now then!