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I am looking at the smokeless Encore barrel from Arrowhead Sporting Goods LLC. Does anyone have a smokeless Encore Barrlel from them? How do yu like it? I am also looking for mixer loads than What was given to me. I just doth need a 275 Gr bullet @ 2,500 FPS. The barrel is $680 for the 209 primer system and $ 780 for the magnum rifle primer system. Does anyone know much about these barrels? I am thinking of a 50 Cal. but a 45 cal. that shoots .458 might be a better idea if I dont need a sabot.

Those barrels are made by MGM using a Brux barrel. They are excellent barrels. If you want a cheaper barrel that is very similar go to Haus of Arms. They have one for $480 but its not rated for smokeless. They are light years better than a factory T/C barrel. Bullberry offers one in 50cal. MGM does not. Its also about $660 though. They use Douglas blanks which i love although Brux is a better barrel. https://www.bullberry.com/black-powder-barrels

The really nice thing about the ASG barrel is you can change to LRMP later if you want and of course it is rated for smokeless. However the one that is $680 is also a full bull. In other words i think its 1" the whole length. The one for $880 is 1" for 9" and finishes at .8" Bullets will need to be sized to about .450 to shoot in any of the Brux 45s. So you will need a sizing die. Shooting soft lead conicals you can get by with a cheap Lee .451 or .452 sizing die. So add another $160 for an adjustable die if you want to shoot jacketed bullets sabotless.

I think I might get the .452 barrel. I have a Lee swaging die that reduces my 45-70 gov. bullets to .452 to fit my muzzleloader. These should work . I can make my own bullets and not use sabots and use smokeless powder. It should be a good combination. I do need a softer load for my cast bullets though. 1500 fps would be just fine. I hope this works for me and not sure I should buy the 209 or the large rifle magnum primer set up. Is one better than the other?

You keep talking about lead conicals with smokeless. I just dont see that happening.

If you are using smokeless you may as well take advantage of it and use sabots or even sabotless ( non lead ) and make good use of it. Using smokeless and limiting yourself to lead conicals and 1500 fps or less just doesn't make to much sense to me. May as well stick with regular black powder.

Ya know, I think you are all right about the lead bullets. I could stay with black powder if I wanted. However, if I bought a smokeless barrel I could use both, I think. I enjoy casting my own and they are cheap to make, and I like to shoot several hundred round a year so it adds up. Arrowheads web sight said he can't guarantee real good accuracy with sabots so sabot less is a must . I really dont need 3" @ 300 yds though. I will get a 45 cal. Brux or some other one. I just like to know exactly what I am getting when I spend $700 on anew barrel.

You might be surprised how well a Brux will shoot sabots. Blackhorn209 works pretty well with conicals and you dont need much of it to reach 1400fps. A bottle will last for quite a few more shots when only using about 65gr by volume. That load probably has close to original 45/70 performance. Lighter bullet moving just a little faster. I shoot a 400gr+ with 70gr of BH just for kicks in my 45s. Tons of fun to shoot and very deadly. You can get that bullet from Bullshop sized and ready to shoot. Its the old Lee 405gr HP mold but cast in soft lead if you can still find the mold.

Oh thanks Overkill! I am looking for the best of both worlds too. Smokeless if I want and black powder also with big old 405 gr lead bullets. I live 20 miles from the Lee mould shop and they are very smart and know their stuff when I walk in there for info. I'm sure they will make me just what I want if they dont have it in stock. I am likely to get a bear tag this fall for Wisconsin. It is a later season so I ma likely to see some bigger bears if I wait. I want a big old lead bullet for a bear and that bullet you mentioned was a buffalo bullet.

That mold hasnt been made in awhile. They do offer it in a flat point still. The Lyman 457122 Gould 330gr HP mold is still made and its great for light loads too. They will drop at just under 350gr in pure lead. A 45 1-20 will handle upto at least a 490gr. Should handle more if you really wanted. I havent shot any over 500gr in mine.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...iameter-330-grain-flat-nose-hollow-point