What kind of accuracy from a 300 mag?

[bigbuck270]

I have been thinking about getting a 300 mag bbl for the ol' Encore.  What kind of accuracy are you guys getting from yours?  I would like to be shooting 3-400 yards.  Can I expect MOA off a bench?

[leverfan]

bigbuck270-

You sure can expect MOA off the bench.  If your rifle is set up right, you might even get it!

Seriously, the 300 WM barrel that I had for my Encore was one of the best barrels I had for it.  Other toys called my name, and I sold it, but it was very accurate, even better than the 260 barrel that I had for it.  It shot better in a synthetic stock, rather than walnut, but it could be tweaked to work well in the wood stock.  The extractor had to be ground ever so slightly to allow cases to chamber easily, rather than have the belt hang up.  It did not impair reliable extraction, because I just took off the bare minimum to allow easy loading.

The usual stuff, like washers to "float" the barrel helped accuracy, as did epoxy bedding.  My favorite was to put a couple of epoxy "pads" under the barrel to support it away from the wood, and then also paint a very thin layer of epoxy in the barrel channel to seal it.

[Bob C]

My first .300 Win. Encore barrel shot very close to 1.25 MOA groups, but only after the barrel heated up. Bedding, washers, and hanger bars made no difference; the first 5 or so shots were 6" higher than the subsequent rounds.  I also had some problems with case head separations with this barrel.

T/C replaced the barrel at no charge, and the current one will shoot 1.00 to 1.25 MOA with favored loads, particularly the 200 Sierra BTSP with enough RL-22 to give 2850-2900 fps. I use a Virgin Valley hanger bar and fore end.  The barrel is very picky; changing powder charges by 1 grain either way opens groups up to 2 MOA.