Encore pistol...which caliber do I get?
 

I recently picked up and Encore pistol frame, and I am looking forward to using it for hunting, to add a new element to the challenge. I don't know which caliber to get for deer hunting. I've narrowed the search down some, but not much. I'm looking at 25-06, 270, and 308. I can't find ballistics for a 15" barrel on these anywhere, so I'm not sure what to do. I know the 308 has been proven in the Encore pistol, but for some reason I like the 25-06. Any help or info would be great!

If you get the 308 you will be set if you decide to go after elk.

Stick with a short action cartridge. Such as the .308, 7mm-08, .260, .243, etc... etc...

Out of a 15" pistol barrel you aren't going to gain squat with more powder, aside from muzzle blast and a big ball of flame. A 7mm-08 will fire a 140 grain bullet equally as fast as the 25-06 will fire a 117 grain bullet out of a 15" barrel. Which should be about 2500 - 2600 fps.

I agree that short action calibers are in order. I don't think you will get a complete burn on your long action caliber's powder with such a short barrel. So you wasting powder, recoil, and muzzle flash for no reason.

One thing to consider, though it may not be an issue, is that if you intend to use the gun in areas where rifles are not allowed, like a shotgun/handgun/muzzleloader only type of area common in more urban environments, most Department of Natural Resources (or whatever it is where you are) classify handgun rounds as straight walled cartridges, thus the rifle cartridges would NOT be legal there. You might look at some of the larger pistol calibers like .454 casull and such. It is just a thought and may not apply to what you want, I just want to make you aware of some of the laws.

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I'm in MO so we can use any caliber. I was thinking that with the 15" faster burning powders could be used to get a little better powder burn, but I have not found any handgun load data for a 25-06. I have found some for the 308 however, which I am leaning heavily towards now. It's just a good all around caliber. Thanks for your input guys. One other question, a guy told me he had a 7mm bench rest barrel he'd sell me. This is a short little case, and I didn't know how well it would work on deer, or what ranges. Any info on that would be good too.

Um, you can't just stuff a faster burning powder into the 25-06 case and make it perform like a full length rifle, and you'd be running the risk of blowing yourself up. The .25-06 has a big case with a small bore, and it gets the performance it does by burning large amount of slow powder down a long barrel. Sure, you could use a powder that it on the fast side of the suitable powders for the 25-06, but you'll just use less powder (to keep peak pressure down) and get even less velocity. For a rifle cartridge in a pistol length barrel you're best bet for a good balance of performance and efficiency is probably the 7mm-08 or 308 Win, but I'd stick to the short action cartridges. If you really want a quarter bore, I'd suggest you look into the 250-3000 Savage if they make a barrel chambered in it. I'm betting you could get very close to full rifle performance from it without the high recoil and massive muzzle blast/flash that you'll get from a larger case round.

Either that, or just get a barrel in .454 Casull or .460 S&W Mag and have yourself a real train-stopper! :cool2:

Mike

Ballistics
 

Can't find ballistics anywhere?
The Lyman Reloading Handbook has extensive data for the .243, the 25-06, the .308.
Sierra has data for the .243, the .270, 7mm-08, .308.
Pete

I'm well aware I can't just use any powder in the 25-06, but looking through some different manuals and websites I've found handgun loads for the 308 and some other rifle calibers, but not the 25-06. In the 308 handgun load data, faster burning powders were used. I was trying to find similar data on the 25-06. I did a lot more research last night and the 7mm-08 and 308 seem to be the favorite deer calibers in the Encore pistols. I think I'm going to go with the 308, just because I have all the reloading stuff for it already. Thanks for the info guys!

That's because it is a worthless endeavor to chamber a pistol barrel for 25-06.

Good decision to go with the .308.