Reloading Encore in 460 S&W

[Gdbyrd]

Just wanted to start a thread to house my questions and your suggestions for reloading for this caliber.  I found the stock hornady 200 grners to be less than pleasant to shoot.  I am also concerned with accuracy issues as they were grouping 6 or so inches at 100 yards.

I want a flat shooting gun, not going after elk or black bear either.  I purchased a couple boxes of the hornady ftx 200gr bullets and would like to reload those first before I buy anything bigger.  Really would like to just keep the recoil the same, could maybe handle a little bit heavier but not much.  I worry about my wrists when I'm 50 and if my bushnell scope is going to hold up to the recoil.

What are your suggestions on powder, primers, etc. and any tips/tricks you have with the same platform you can share.

[Grumulkin]

I have a good 460 S&W load but if you're looking for low recoil, it's not the one for you.  I did some tests with, as I recall, IMR 4198.  If you PM me in a week or soto remind me when I have access to my load books, I'll be happy to share my data with you.  With 200 gr. bullets meant for 45 Autos, recoil was very reasonable and, while not as accurate as my full house load, was better than most of the other stuff I tried.

[Catfish]

I have a 16 in. barrel on an Encore. The only powder I have used in it is Win. 296 and can tell you it is a handfull. It has at least 3 times the recoil on my 500 S&W Performance Center model, and that is compairing 400 gr. bullets in the 500 to 200 gr. bulletts in the 460, both are loaded to the max. As for the scope, I would not even think of putting a Bushnell on mine.

[Grumulkin]

I initially had a Bushnell Trophy handgun scope on mine and it broke in fairly short order.  Bushnell wouldn't honor their warranty saying the scope had been "abused."  I, of course, was useing full house loads; it may have been different with reduced loads.

Large groups can also result from bad scopes.  I had a scope or two on my Encore 500 S&W Magnum.  Group sizes went from 3 or 4 inches at 100 yards to about 1.5 inches when I installed a new Leupold 2.5-8X handgun scope.

[Gdbyrd]

I initially had a Bushnell Trophy handgun scope on mine and it broke in fairly short order.  Bushnell wouldn't honor their warranty saying the scope had been "abused."  I, of course, was useing full house loads; it may have been different with reduced loads.

Large groups can also result from bad scopes.  I had a scope or two on my Encore 500 S&W Magnum.  Group sizes went from 3 or 4 inches at 100 yards to about 1.5 inches when I installed a new Leupold 2.5-8X handgun scope.

The scope issue was one of my primary concerns as well :*(  I spent a good hour or so reloading a box of shells last night with 46grns of 296.  I'm hoping it'll make it a little easier for me to shoot, max for that bullet weight was low 50s.  I'm going to give it a try this weekend to see if it'll do any better.  I'll post some updates and pics if I get any good bruises!

Edit:  For felt "kick," what makes for a lesser recoil?  I'm assuming my little 200gr bullets are going to be more mild than something in the 300 gr department, with velocity being equal?  It makes sense to me..more mass, needs more energy to travel the same speed.  But does that translate to felt recoil or not?

Stock rounds were a handful, as this thing has no break.  I'm concerned that I might reload and it'll be too much for me to tolerate.  What should the round I reloaded compare to stock?