Thinking about a .45-70 barrel for a prohunter encore and I need barrel advice

[expeditionx]

Are the factory .45-70 barrels pretty accurate?
What kind of expectations should I have with a
factory barrel shooting commercial ammo as far
as inherent precision in groupings (1 MOA?)?
Is this a caliber that TC happens to shine with
as far as factory barrels, or is a custom barrel
like ssk probably the way togo for shooting
.45-70 in a prohunter? And finally, will a
wood encore fore arm work with the prohunter?

[Grumulkin]

Scoped Encore factory rifle barrels I've had with the exception of a 375 H&H Mag. barrel which did 1.5 MOA, all did 1 MOA or better.  I have no personal experience with Encore 45-70 barrels.

The wood forearm for the heavy barrel should fit.

[expeditionx]

1.5 inches is good
Can anyone confirm this for TC .45-70 barrels?
Do the ssk or match grade machine barrels do better
than the factory ones accuracy wise?

[pab1]

My TC Contender 14" (12"+2" brake) barrel is very accurate. This target was shot during load development and was 5 shots fired from the bench. This barrel will do 1.5" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. I just picked up a 20" TC Prohunter .45-70 barrel. I have not shot it yet, but I hope it shoots as well as the short tube. The only drawback to TC barrels is that bullets like Speers 400 gr SP can't to seated to the C.O.L. listed in reloading data. I have been happy with 300 gr Hornadys and 300 gr Nosler Partitions in my barrel, but sometimes the heavier bullets are fun to shoot. A custom barrel would more than likely have a throat that would allow the use of heavier bullets. This load was safe in my barrel but may not be in others. Start at minimum charges and work up.

[Lone Star]

Some T/C .45-70 barrels are great, some are poor.  One way to tell is to look at the throat - if it is short to non-existent then I would not look for 1 moa - more like 3-5 moa unless you are lucky.  If the throat is longer and tapered, then the accuracy potential will probably be much better. 

My Contender carbine barrel has almost no throat and it took a lot of load development to get a consistant 2 moa load.  Most loads that shot very well in my four other .45-70s only shot 4-6 moa out of the Contender.

I don't know why the different throats, but it does matter and there are plenty of .45-70 shooters who know it.


.

[righttoown]

I was looking at one also but am also considering the .444 marlin.

[DDZ]

TC does not throat thier 45-70 barrels for whatever reason. I have a 18 inch 45-70 Kataden barrel that didn't shoot very well. I sent it to have it throated correctly, and the accruacy was greatly improved. Haveing the barrel throated right, is the single most important thing you can do to improve accruacy. Yes a costum barrel will be throated correctly but you can have your TC barrel throated for little cost.

[expeditionx]

I finally decided, and ordered a Bullberry 45-70 barrel.
I asked about throating and was told that keeping
the bullet closer to the rifling will enhance accuracy.
I'm sort of confused about the throating issue.
Does throating increase the distance from the bullet
to the lands?

This brings to mind the .410 gauge/.45 LC barrels.
Wouldn't these be throated significantly to allow for the
.410 case?

[Keith L]

This brings to mind the .410 gauge/.45 LC barrels.
Wouldn't these be throated significantly to allow for the
.410 case?

That is why so many people are not very happy with them as a .45.

[DDZ]

Throating does not increase the distance to the rifling. It lets the bullet align with the rifling instead of slaming into the rifling at a cant. (Nose of bullet not aligned with the heel) It kind of guides the bullet into the rifling. Go to Mike Bellm's website. He explains throating very well and how important it is to be done right. He also has a list of other good reads about TC barrels. He is the one that throated my 45/70 barrel, and I can attest to the fact that it helped the accuracy of my barrel tremendously. Before he throated my barrel it shot around a 4 inch group at 100 yards. Now, at times, it will do 3 shots touching.  On his web site he shows pictures of bullet casts before and after throating. I believe the casts of my barrel are there under the 45/70 listing. As he states in one of his articles Tc does not throat thier 45/70 barrels, and you can see this from the casting pictures. I know you won't go wrong with a Bullberry. If you just want your 45/70 for hunting, a throated TC barrel will work fine. The cost for the throating was $45+shipping & handling . His web site is www.bellmtcs.com   

[DDZ]

I'm new to this. I see you can't post websites here.   
 

[troy_mclure]

just that one guys website, anybody else is fine.