Everything you need to know about the

450 Bushmaster – Thompson Center Encore

MGM has built many high performance 450 Bushmaster barrels. In our testing and from customer feedback, we have come up with some suggestions to help you build the ultimate 450 BM barrel. Our suggestions help achieve optimal velocity while still being compact and offer long-lasting high strength barrels.

450 bushmaster tc encore barrel

Suggested Contours for 450 Bushmaster

To start, due to the large diameter projectile we suggest a Muzzleloader contour. This will have a larger outside diameter leaving the crown diameter of .875″ which adds rigidity to the barrel which can increase accuracy.

We Suggest Adding Muzzleloader Standoffs for the Bushmaster

In addition to the muzzleloader contour, we strongly suggest adding the muzzleloader standoffs which offer the strongest attachment point to the forearm using 1/4” diameter hardware versus the standard #8 size. The ML contour with standoffs will drop right into the factory ML forend.

Optimal 450 Bushmaster Barrel Length

We have conducted velocity testing from 27″ down to 14″ and we found that you get optimal performance near 21″. You can still achieve higher velocities with a longer barrel but for a compact, lighter weight rig 21″ is a perfect balance.

Give Your Bushmaster More Strength with a Scope Base

The next suggestion would be to add a 6 hole supported MGM scope base. We make ours from steel and it is a full 5″ of Picatinny rail to attach optics, giving you more strength and options for mounting scopes in various positions.

thompson center encore 450 bushmaster

Don’t Forget to Add a Muzzle Brake

The final suggestion is to add a muzzle brake, we can cut them directly into the barrel or make a thread on seamless brake that helps reduce recoil from this cartridge. If you plan on mounting a suppressor to the barrel we do offer many thread options and 3/4×24 would be our first pick for the Bushmaster.