i would like to have a 50 alaskan barrel built for my encore.it would be similar to t/c's katahdin with the porting and same length only in stainless.i know some of you guy's have barrels in this cal. would appreciate any info.

I have an ss SSK 12" with the 4 port fish-gill brake. Even with the brake it is a handful, but if you can shoot a full house .454 or .45-70 Contender, the .50 AK is doable, and a WHOLE lot of fun. Reloader #7 is the best powder, bar none. Some will give slightly higher vels, but accuracy suffers. In my 12" barrel, I shoot a 450 gr. Barnes original at 1725 fps, a 475 gr LBT LFNGC, sized .512, at 1675 fps and 1732 fps, the 570 gr. Woodleigh SP at 1445 fps, and the 750 gr. A-Max at 1125 fps, which will stay supersonic until 325 yards thanks to a BC of over 1.000. The .50 AK is a fun round, but I highly urge you to go with an SSK TSOB 3 or 4 ring mount. For a scope, anything over 2x is pretty much wasted, as this is a 150 yard round at tops. Even with the A-Max, to zero at 300 yards it takes every bit of elevation adjustment a Leupold 2x has to offer.
Now that Starline is making factory brass, no more need for incredibly expensive forming dies and the PITA that goes along with that. The last lot of Winchester .348 brass I formed was so thin, I had to use a 50-90 Sharps die to get a tight grip (or any grip for that matter) on the bullet (the .50-90 has a neck wall OD of .528 verses .536 for the .50 AK), so you won't have to worry about that unless you form your own.