Shortened .223 Encore Barrel . . .

[Ranger413]

I just did it.  I was never really satisfied with the accuracy I was obtaining from the 26" barrel that I had bought a number of years ago.  That, and a friend of mine is trying to get me into suppressors.  So, I recently got the bug to send of that barrel and have it cut to 20" and threaded.  I really like the look and portability of the rifle now.  I also have a .308 ProHunter barrel that I had shortened to 23" (but no threads).  A 209X50 ML barrel rounds out my Encore line-up.  I hope to do some limited testing this weekend with the .223 barrel to see what, if any, improvements in accuracy have been made.
 

 

[lepcur]

I did the same thing as you did on the same barrel but no threading. I sure like the way it feels now and it's a shooter too.   Mike

[houndrunner]

Who cut the barrel down for you ?

[Ladobe]

FWIW, Fred Smith at Bullberry pretty much proved it out many years ago that around 20" was around the optimum for Contender carbines.   Combination of their relatively slow lock time and barrel harmonics.    I did some of the field testing, and every carbine barrel he made for me was 20" because of it (and those by other custom shops as well).  Mine were caliber specific for my long range P&V hunting, 17 & 22 wildcats mostly, but it seemed to carry over into the 24, 25 and 26 wildcats as well.   Ought to be somewhat similar with the Encores although I have no personal with them... all my Encore barrels were handgun, including the customs from 10"-15".

[hendog]

I just had a Contender barrel cut back to 18" + threaded. Still working on finding a factory load it likes.