.45ACP

I own a TC encore with a muzzleloading 12guage barrel, absolutly love it. Recently purchased .50 cal barrel for it. I cant seem to seat TC maxiballs the same everytime. Im shooting loose Triple7 various grs. Im rather new to muzzleloading. I really want to stay with loose powder and all lead bullets. Any input please.
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cayugad

You might have to swab between shots. Also I am sure you are, but are the maxiball lubed? I had a neighbor stop over once and said he had a hard time loading maxiball so when I had him show me, I noticed he did not lube the bullet.

If you want to stick with big lead, look at the 460 grain No Excuse Conicals and start them around 80 grains of powder. They might shoot good. Also some Great Plains with a ballistic sub base might be a good combination.

Make sure you swab. Your rifle might be going through a breaking in period. Also the powder you are shooting is known for hard crud rings and they can cause loading problems. It is still one of the best powders out there, crud ring and all.. (besides Goex )

.45ACP

Thanks for the advice. The bullets are prelubed and slide nicly down the barrel untill about the last inch or two. Im not swabbing between shots didnt know that I should. Also Goex, is that a more user friendly powder?

cayugad

Goex is very shooting friendly but cleaning friendly it is not. Goex will go off when other powder want to fudge. The problem with Goex which is just good old fashion black powder is the mess. At the end of the shoot, your hands are smudged, if your shooting flintlock even you face can be smudged. The clean up is as bad as Pyrodex. I shoot it because it is one of the most consistent powders shot for shot I have used. I also buy it by the case and get a heck of a price that way.

Mix up a solution of 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and car windshield washer fluid and dampen a patch. Work that in short strokes working from the muzzle to the breech. When you hit the crud ring you will feel it on the patch. Just keep scrubbing there until it is smooth again. I then pull the patch and turn it over and work it down the bore again. After that run two dry patches to make sure the barrel is nice and dry before you dump more powder down it. If you run that patch in long strokes it can get stuck. Also never run a dry patch down a fowled barrel. It will be a good chance the rifle will not give it back.

This simple act of swabbingdoes a couple things. It makes all shots consistent. It also makes loading much easier. It helps reduce the problem of short loading. Gives the rifle barrel time to cool down between shots. And gives you time to cool down between shots.