FG

Can he shoot a copper clad PB or Sabertooth in Colorado,or does it have to be all lead?

Copper powerbelts are fine. We dont have to put up with picky rules like that. They keep it simple. no pellets, no scope, no sabots.

In my 209x50 Omega which has the same barrel as the prohunter I was able to get a ragged hole with the 223gr areo tip and 110 gr. RS . It may take about 40 shots to break in the barrel . The rest of my loads would be no good were you are . Take some time to get used to the new gun , they are great I have 3 barrles for my Encore .
Charlie

I've started a few threads here latelytrying to pick these guys' brains about the"perfect" bullet and powder combos for our Encores. They've been helpful withtheir suggestionsso you may want to search some of my threads for that info. However, it doesn't seem that many actual Encore Pro Hunter owners are here so feedback aboutyour specific rifle will be somewhat limited.

My best advice would be to loose the Power Belts! I promise you, there are a LOT bettermore accurate bullets for your Encore than the CVA rounds.

Ofthe several different bullets I've tested, the T/C Shockwaves and the Hornady SST's have been THE most impressive rounds thus far. They've proven vastly superior to ALL the PowerBelt bullets we've tried! Particularly, the newer T/C Shocwave Super Glides are great shooters for the 100 to 200 yard ranges that I've shot 'em at. I'd seriously suggest trying some. Best shooting performance thus far have been from using APP Shockey's Gold pellets or Pyrodex pellets. I'm looking forward to shooting again this weekend. This weekend I'm stepping upfrom the mostly100 grain charges I've been using to magnum 150 grain charges exclusively. I'll let ya know how they do?

Good luck to ya and congrats onyour new rifle. What model did you end up getting anyway? We have both the standard black stock model and the thumbhole Realtree model and I love 'em both!

What areSuper Glide Sabots? MMP or harvester or did TC make their own? Here isTC Shockwaveshot about 4 years ago at 100 with my guns (Omega and Disc):
http://www.the-gleasons.com/tcshockwave300g.htm

They were awsome shotters, but I couldn't use them since I had to pound them down the barrel with a hammer. I love their accuracy, I was shooting 300g. They tend to shoot thru cause their going fast.
Chap Gleason

Chap

Super glides are made by MMP under contract from TC.... the mmp equivalent that you and I can buy in bulk is the MMP HPH-3p-EZ load..

Boomer

Do not get me wrong here but yo probably have the wrong gun to be limited as much as you are by the Co rules, although i should talk, Idaho is even somewhat tighter now during ML season.

Your most limiting factor will your choice of projectiles, you have been cut out of some really good one, I means good one that will perform above the ordinary from that gun. You are limited to conicals of some sort witht the no-sabot rule and to be honest I do not believe the gun was designed by TC to be a conical launcher. 38 states do it differently so TC is responding to the masses not the few.

I believe the pro-hunter is a great gun and well built but for you it might be a problem because of the QLA on the end of the barrel, but you never know until you shoot it. Most open market conicals, excluding the PowerBelt type bullets, require a short stater to get them going down the barrel. Were I you in the beginning of developement I would get some of the slip fit conicals (no short starter needed) and try them. If they will shoot from you gun accuratey to 100 yards you are ahead of the curve. Two very good dealers for these type of lead conicals are Dave @ No-Excuses and Dan @ Bullshop. I use both of them and shoot their 460 grain bullets - they perform great and are as accute as you will ever want + plus for a lead conical have a decent BC.

http://bullshop.gunloads.com/

http://members.aol.com/noexcusesb/index.html

The next thing will be to get the right size for your barrel... Dave'sNo-excuses come sized .503 and do fit my tight barreled TC's - his bullets are also a bit more expensive than the Bull Shops... The advantage to Bull Shop other than price is he will size them to fit your barrel....

I would email each of them and ask them for a sample to try, i would also suggest getting Dan to size you some a .502 so you have both sizes to try.

I am shooting 90 grains T7-2f loose powder to propell these things out of the barrel. They will drop an elk dead - with the proer bullet placement

The next alternative and the alternative that you might have to use are the PowerBelt or Sabertooth option. I am not a fan of either of these bullets.... Sort one of those things that earns a love/hate relationship. You either love 'em or hate 'em. If you do go this route i would urge you to use the heavier PB's 348 grain and stay at 100 grains - do not over power them. I have no personal information on the new Plat PB's maybe they are better than the orginals and I personally like the copper clad ones better than the all lead.

Either of these bullets or even the conicals (if they will shoot from the QLA)canget you to a 2" group @ 100 or better with open sights. No matter what anyone tells you a 2" group with open isghts is better than average - even 3" with the average hunting rifle shooting BP or a sub by volume is good.

It is certainly amoung the best available today, but it may not be the best available for the state rules that you must adhere to... but it ain't bad....

For hunting - it will work it will just take some time to figure out what it will shoot best and if it turns out to be PBelts - so-be-it - do not get caught up about the negatives ( there are people with positives also)- they also work well for a lot of people. I am just to picky... That is why i went to Bull Shops... but truth be known i would shoot any of them I would be back to sabots and Nosler Partitions.

Hey! good luck and keep asking questions - there is a better than average chance someone here can help.

mike