3seasons Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 I've got a T\C Encore that will not group. Can anyone give me some bullet\powder loads that work for them. So far I've tried 240gr. power belts 250gr Night sabots Pyrodex loose and pellets 80, 100,120,150grns. 777 80,100,120grns. American pioneer 80,100,120grns. I clean my barrel out after every shot with a clean patch. I have a friend who is having the same problem with his. Thanks for any info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacherman Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 I shoot a 250 gr. Hornady bullet with 100 grain of Triple 7 powder. Haven't had trouble grouping yet and have killed deer with this set up. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 I'm getting MOA groups at 100 yards with 100 grs of Pyrodex pellets using 250 gr. T/C Shockwaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetucker Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 just bought the pro hunter haven't had the chance to try ml barrel on it yet having to much fun durring riffle season,but it ended sat. here in maine,today i'm going to put my barrel on and see if i can get in tune with it.will be the first time ever shooting my pro hunter with ml barrel.can't wait!!!will let you know how it turns out. oh and i'm going to use 250 hornady bullets with 100 grs of pyrodex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmoss Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 If you are shooting Powerbelts dont clean your barrell so much they like a dirty barrell, only clean it after say every 4 shots. I use 100 Gr 777 and a 295 Gr Aero tip Power Belt in my older Encore and 150 Grn 777 and a 295grn Powerbelt or 250grn Shot Wave and get 1 to 1.5 inch groups to 200 yrds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 My groups of three shots, generally 2 of the 3 will be touching @100 yards with the black diamond with 240 grain tc xtp mags propelled by 120 grains of loose pyro, using the hot remington percussion caps for ignition. First shot is a fouling shot and usually hits a tad high, I run a spit patch after every fourth shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoyt03 Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 shockwaves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3seasons Posted November 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Thanks for the info.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vtgrizz2006 Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 to tell the truth i havent messed around with too many loads for my optima,i started off with the hornady lock and load sst,s in 250grn and my gun likes em even with 150 grns of hodgdon 777 pellets. i believe if it aint broke dont fix it. but you may have to mess around with a few differant loads befor you find one your gun likes. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 I use 777. With the FFG I get so-so groups with 290 gr Barns bullets. By going to the FFFG my groups are MOA at 100 yds. MZs can be really picky, so asking others what they shoot may be a practice in futility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tped Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Half the fun of muzzleloaders is finding what works best in your gun. I spent allot of money with different bullets and powders in mine until I found something I liked. Powerbelts were horrible in mine - I couldn't get a 1 foot group at 50 yards no matter what. My final load is 120 grains of loose 777 behind the 250 grain Barnes expander. 2216fps and solid 1" groups at 100 yards in all conditions. Amazing thing was how consistent the velocity was as each shot was 2215-2217. 130 grains grouped equally well but velocity increase was marginal at best. With any bullet you try start out at around 90 grains of powder and work up in 5 grain increments. My groups got tighter with more powder and nothing came close to 777 in velocity over the chrono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreeWalker Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I have an Encore, and have messed around some, and I'm getting excellent groups at 100 yards with 100gr (2 pellets) of 777 powder, with 250gr Shockwave sabots and Remington primers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3seasons Posted December 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Thanks for all of your suggestions, I wound up using 100grs. of 777 and a 250gr shockwave. I also swapped from 777 primers to some old #97 primers we used to use reloading. The 777 primers actually caused my gun to hang fire. Ive never seen this with in-line ML's I had one shot that sounded like a flintlock. With the new primers it is more like a center-fire now, no hesitation at all. I was able to shoot a .6" 3 shot group at 100yds. Thanks again for all the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganHunter Posted December 6, 2007 Report Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hey if u go the to T.C. arms web site and look under their videos they have a guy on there who i followed what he said and my gun shoots great....i have a encore...its the pro hunter buy my choice is....100gr of triple seven "Pellets" and a T.C. shock wave bullet in 200gr....i have shot a doe with it this year and it put her right to her knees...I run a wet patch with #13 bore cleaner and then a dry patch after every shot and my gun is right in there. and i use remington primers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted December 6, 2007 Report Share Posted December 6, 2007 and a T.C. shock wave bullet in 200gr... There's a 200 gr. Shockwave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganHunter Posted December 7, 2007 Report Share Posted December 7, 2007 and a T.C. shock wave bullet in 200gr... There's a 200 gr. Shockwave? __________________ Don't cry because it's over, smile because you were there. yes there is...I buy them at Gander Mt. and the local sporting good guy....it was what i orignally sighted in with so i didn't want to go up to the 250 but i might jump up a bit next year...but that 200gr is still a hefty round smacking a deer at just north of 2000fps....according to this guide in the back of my encore booklet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted December 7, 2007 Report Share Posted December 7, 2007 yes there is...I buy them at Gander Mt. and the local sporting good guy....it was what i orignally sighted in with so i didn't want to go up to the 250 but i might jump up a bit next year...but that 200gr is still a hefty round smacking a deer at just north of 2000fps....according to this guide in the back of my encore booklet. Cool. What color is the tip? The 250 is yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scubabeartoo Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Black Powder Shooting Some people just get lucky when they purchase a T/C black powder rifle or rifle barrel and get a decent shooter. Then there are the rest of us who have to work to make them shoot. Mine, being one of the latter, took a lot of bench time and some work to make it shoot. I did a trigger job using Mike Bellm's, www.bellmtcs.com, free download instructions and I did use his spring and oversized hinge pin kit. His spring pliers and stones really made the job easy. By doing the trigger job and tightening up the slop in the hinge I went from 3 out of 10 shots on the paper at 50 yards to about 3 to 4 inches at 100 yards with fliers. Then, I found Cecil Epp's site, www.precisionbullets.com, and ordered his 200 grain 40 caliber sabot bullets along with a 22 Hornet breech plug conversion. At the same time I also sent my barrel off to David White, www.dandtcustomgunworks.com, to have the QLA, Quick Load Accurize, removed and have the barrel recrowned with a target crown. The QLA on my rifle was 0.029" out of parallel with the rifled barrel and was causing fliers. The 22 Hornet conversion required you to cut down the case to a shorter length which was a lot of extra work so I have gone to the 25acp case and use it full length. The best load I have found for my gun is 90gr Pyrodex, 200gr 40cal Dead Center bullet, using a 25acp modified breechplug with a CCI small match rifle primer. It is now easy to get 1 to 2 inch groups at 100 yards without effort. My best to date is 5/8" at 100 yards and just under 1" at 150 yards. I only use a spit patch between shot at the bench and usually just load another round just in case when I am hunting. This year I harvested a nice doe at 126 yards with the above load and she dropped on the spot. It took me almost three years to gather the information to make my gun shoot and now I own several Encore barrels. David has rechambered most of them to make them shoot to my expectations. Mike has provided the small parts. Bellm's site has a lot of very interesting and useful information. If you screw up on the trigger job he will take care of it for his normal fee so there is no reason for you not to give it a go. David White has been a gunsmith for about 30 years and has built sniper rifles for the military and various police departments. He can turn your Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag into a fantastic deer hunting pistol. He also does barrel stubbing on the T/C and NEF rifles. Stubbing is where you cut the barrel back to about 4", then ream out the stub and thread a new match barrel to fit into the stub. Now, you can create a match quality rifle. If you enjoy long range shooting, 600 to 1000 yards, check out David's picture gallery on the stubbing process. Even if you don't shoot long range it is quite intersting. I have been hunting and shooting guns for ove 50 years and David is now my go to smith. Check out the various websites and forums and see if there is any information you may be able to use. There is a wealth of info out there, you just have to find it, check it out, and decide if it is for you. Anyone else out there with a favorite website? Let us know!!! Bear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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