If you like the rifle and how it handles then go for it. I had a 7 mm Rem. Mag. barrel for my encore. I had terrible groups with 175 gr. bullets and sold the barrel before really giving it a chance experimenting with different bullets. The barrel is 26” long just like other manufactures and being on the Encore makes the overall length shorter because of the action. I only have one barrel at this time but wouldn’t mind getting into black powder...