Pro Hunter loading question
 

I have a T/C Pro Hunter and have been shooting Easy Glide 250 grain Shock Waves on top of 3-50 grain 777 pellets.

The problem that I am having is that I have put a piece of tape around the ram rod to show the seating depth and to make sure it is consistent. After a quick swab for the second round the ram rod comes up about 1" short of seating markon the ram rod. I know everyone is going to say this is because of the 777 crud ring, that is why I tried Pyrodex RS and it does the exact same thing. I have also tried the 777 primers and have taken the breech plug out and pushed the Easy Glide Shock Wave down a clean barrel only to have it get hard to push when it nears the tape mark on the ram rod. The gun has near 75 shots through it and there in now plastic build up in the breach of the gun. I am having to shoot CVA Power Belts to get it to load and shoot consistently. I have the new Nikon Omega scope mounted on the gun and the reason I bought the gun was to shoot magnum 150 grain charges with a 250 grain sabot and get achieve the accuracy the scope and the gun were made for.

Is there any way that the barrel could have a tight spot near the breech of the gun which is causing my loading problems?

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Try scrubing the barrel with boiling water and Simple Green then brush it good with a new bore brush then push a cotten ball through the bore if it snags bits of cotten get back to us or call TC. Lee

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Where the powder charge burns in the barrel,is where the most fouling will be. When I clean my prohunter,first I clean down to the crud ring,then through it. Then I reverse the patch and go down the barrel again,and there is still some fouling in the area,where the charge set in the barrel. I work the patch real well in this area,then follow with a clean patch( both sides) and I'm good to go! Try it and see if it works for ya!:)

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Shouldn't a guy be able to push down a secondshot without swabbing the barrel at all, if he had to. Ido not do this at the range, unless Ijust want to see if it groups with the group shot with a swabbed barrel. However, all the inlines I have had in the past were able to load a second sabot and seat it on the powderchargewithout swabbing. In a hunting situation, time may not allow for me to whip out my patches and swab before I push down a second shot on a fowled barrel. Maybe I need to call T/C and see how they want to handle this situation, before I put the gun in the classifieds for next to nothing.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Have had lot of trouble with hard loading sabots and dirty bores. But there has never been an occasion wheni could not properly seat the bullet. i use a 2 inch furniture knob with a hole for the ramrod and really bear down on it with both hands. It is very important that the sabot be properly seated on the powder.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Try switching to pyrodex RS loose powder. Or the other thing you can do is stick with the powerbelts. I can usually get around 7-8 shots with 120 grains pyrodex RS/ 295 grain powerbelt before i have to run a wet patch down to break down some of the fouling. Does the first shot load easy with the sabot? I dont use sabots so i honestly cant help you there. But if you can get this problem fix, i'd be sending it back and getting a refund.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

frontier is right loose would most likely help try 100gr pellets and see how your groups are just curious what primer are you using

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

I have been using the 777 primer with 3- 50gr 777 pellets and the Winchester 209 primer with the regular Pyrodex RS ffg. I really want to keep on shooting 150 grs of 777 pellets or an equivalent loose powder charge so my Omega scope ranges out for the intended yardages of the scope. I really hate to have $1100 in this set-up and have to keep on running to the gun shop and buying different sabots, bullets and powders every week. I just wish I could finally get lucky and find a powder/sabot combo that would load and still shoot accurately.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

damn thats one hell of a price to pay. I dont blame you forbeing "upset" over this topic. What kind of groups were you getting with the powerbelts and what grain?

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

why are you upset because your second shot wont seat properly or because you have to go out and buy differnt bullet and powder combos to find what your rifle shoots best.. either way welcome to muzzleloading thats the battle finding the right load..loose powder should help..but if your gonna sell your pro hunter for next to nothing I will take it no questions asked:D:D

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

I am shooting a 245gr Power Belt with 100 grs ofPyrodex RS ffg loosepowder at this time. It shoots about 2 inch groups at 100 yds with this load right now. I am not impressed. The bad thing about it is that my new Nikon Omega scope is useless with this load.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Well it sounds like the Triple Se7en is your problem. Have you considered a different powder? Even Pyrodex with three pellets might not produce the hard crud ring and allow you a second and even third shot without swabbing the barrel. Of course a lot of people do not rush the second shot and they swab, even out in the field.

If clean burning is what you're after then you might want to look at some Pinnacle E-Z load sticks, American Pioneer Sticks, or Black Mag 3 powder. These will be clean burning and should give you some excellent performance. Black Mag 3 is rumored to be more powerful then 777. I shot a couple pounds of it off and really liked the stuff. Just the cost bothered me.

I can sure understand your frustration when you have that kind of investment and it does not perform the way you feel it should. Also have you contacted Thompson Center with this problem? They might have some information that will help you. One last question is, are you positive you are cleaning the bore clean of all oils before loading? If you mentioned this fact I missed it in your post and apologize....

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

You wanted to shoot three pellet-only loads - but don't want to spend the time to swab with large patches and a bore brush after every shot.

Well.... now you need to make a decision on either switching to Pyrodex pellets to alleviate the 777 crud ring or magnum loads of loose powder to match the energy & velocity you were getting with pellets-- or sell the "gimmick" scope & mount it with a normal scope-- or sell the entire Pro Hunter/Omega scope outfiit you just purchased.

It's your call!

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

Yes, I am totally positive that I have everything out of the barrel after cleaning the last thing down my barrel is a perfectly clean dry patch and I in inspect the barrel with a light. My gun shop has also done this because he also thought there would be some fowling in the barrel. There isn't. I have not tried the Black Mag 3 yet, but I have tried both ffg Shockey Gold and the Shockey sticks anddid not like the inconsistencies with my groups. Every bullet that I have had down the barrel has been tight at the breech besides the Power Belt and they arenot grouping at all for me with 150 grs of charge, which does not justify my purchase of the Nikon Omega scope. I plan on calling T/C after hunting season just to spend another $50 in shipping back and forth. Hopefully, they can tell me something over the phone. I read on another site about the hole on the one guysbreech pug of his Pro Hunter clogging up. May be that could be inducing a crud ring with all of the powders that I have been using. I use a pick to clean out my plug but I have never used the drill bit that he recommended to clean it out. I have just been soaking it in the new 777breech plug cleaning dish and then picking it until I had no trouble seeing light through it. I don't know may be I am just grasping at straws trying to find something here. Until then I guess the 100 grains of Pyrodex RS loose and 245 grain Power Belt will have to do.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

I should have read your first post better. I over looked that you were shooting 150 grains. And thats a lot of powder for the 245 powerbelt. 2" at 100 yards is about right. I used to shoot 150 grains pyrodex rs withthe same bullet and thats the group i used to get with open sights. You could try the 295grain powerbelts, those may tighten the groups a little. Or maybe even the 338 grain powerbelt. I really wouldnt complain about 2" groups tho, thats good enough for hunting. I'd just be happy with the powerbelts thatallow you a quick second and third shot.

RE: Pro Hunter loading question
 

hoytman57,

Sounds you've been watching too much Sunday night TC Extreme (is that what it is called?) They sure make it look easy, don't they? Have you ever noticed that they only shoot once? Have you ever seen them reload and need to shoot again? I'd bet they'd have a horrendous crud ring to deal with if they had to. Shoot, I'd bet that techs sight in specially constructed (not typical off the shelf pro-hunter) rifles for the "old man". Heck, I'd bet the "team" carries 2 maybe three spare rifles all precisely loaded with weighed charges.

Ever notice how the average bass at a lake is 2 1/2 lbs (looking like they've been eating lead shot)? But when you get there they weigh just like they looked like they weighed on tv? A measely 15 0z?

Seriously, muzzleloading, IMO, is a very satisfying way of hunting, althoughit isnot without its challenges. I hope you don't get discouraged. I suspect that you have a fine rifle there. One thing I would consider, were it mine, is this.

I would work with SST's or Shockwaves. I would use a charge which gives consistent results (precise 100 yard groups)with them(Lots of guys here will help). Then Ifind where the zero's are for the BDCreticle in my scope. Then I'd knowthe useful range of my Rifle, load, scope combo. So maybe it will be a 200 yard rifle instead of a 250 yard rifle. I'd planmy hunting around that limitation and begin to enjoy the great rifle I just purchased. But that is just me.

3 pellet loads could still be used, but one is going to have to accept the difficulties they present.