ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
08-10-2007, 02:19 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1
ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
JUST GOT A ENCORE PROHUNTER AND WAS HAVING SOME TROUBLE FINDING A GOOD COMBINATION. IAM FINDING THE BEST RESULTS WITH 100GRAINS OF TRIPLE7 AND 250GRAIN SPIRAL POINT SHOCKWAVES.TRIED JIM SHOCKEYS BUT DONT LIKE HOW THEY SIT.I FEEL LIKE IAM CRUSHING THE PELLETS.WHAT ARE YOUR OPIONS?
08-10-2007, 02:43 PM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,408
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
90 grains of JSG granular and the 250 grain Shockwave/SST works great in my 26 inch barrel Encore.i do not use the easy load sabots.It loads a little hard but that is a small price to pay for the accuracy and performance that i get. Have killed a lot of deer and hogs with that gun since i got it last September.
08-10-2007, 03:08 PM
#3
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
From what I have read .. and understand there is not first hand experience here..
Encores and Pro Hunters are one of those rifles that seem to shoot powerful loads very well. I have watched a lot of hunting programs where they use them. Their standard load is 3 50 grain pellets and a 250 grain Shockwave. Now that is a real slammer of a load.
From what I read, I think falcon might be on to something that for standard moderate distance shooting, a simple 100 grain load and a Shockwave might produce all the desired effects you need, with less recoil, and less expense. Also do not under estimate the power of that load.
All you can do it try. Get some 250 grain Shockwaves and start out with 90 grains of Loose powder and work up 10 grains at a time until the group falls apart. Of if you have pellets try two of them and if the accuracy is good, try three. You can always go back to what works for you. I like Triple Se7en 2f and sabots in most of my inlines. Although Pyrodex RS and even Goex are great powders as well.
At least you purchased one of the finest shooting muzzleloaders out there. If that thing will not shoot, you have few places to look to correct the problems. Good luck with it, and be sure and let us know what load works best for you and what kind of results you are getting.
Also let me take this opportunity to welcome you to the forum and to the sport of black powder. You will have a lot of fun.
Encores and Pro Hunters are one of those rifles that seem to shoot powerful loads very well. I have watched a lot of hunting programs where they use them. Their standard load is 3 50 grain pellets and a 250 grain Shockwave. Now that is a real slammer of a load.
From what I read, I think falcon might be on to something that for standard moderate distance shooting, a simple 100 grain load and a Shockwave might produce all the desired effects you need, with less recoil, and less expense. Also do not under estimate the power of that load.
All you can do it try. Get some 250 grain Shockwaves and start out with 90 grains of Loose powder and work up 10 grains at a time until the group falls apart. Of if you have pellets try two of them and if the accuracy is good, try three. You can always go back to what works for you. I like Triple Se7en 2f and sabots in most of my inlines. Although Pyrodex RS and even Goex are great powders as well.
At least you purchased one of the finest shooting muzzleloaders out there. If that thing will not shoot, you have few places to look to correct the problems. Good luck with it, and be sure and let us know what load works best for you and what kind of results you are getting.
Also let me take this opportunity to welcome you to the forum and to the sport of black powder. You will have a lot of fun.
08-10-2007, 04:37 PM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 365
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
My 26" older style Encore shoots 110 grains of loose T7 ffg well with both 300 grain SST's and 240 grain XTP mag bullets. I have worked up the 300 grain SST's for my upcoming caribou hunt. One comment I will say, swabbing with one spit wad and a dry wad after every shot makes mine shoot like a tack driver. I even do it in the field b/c you rarely are going to reload and get a second shot in time any how....
08-11-2007, 06:02 AM
#5
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hickory NC USA
Posts: 964
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
If you want to try a 200 gr bullet in your encore,this is a very good load.
100 to 115 grs pyro select,cci reg 209's.200 sst,sw,or 4o cal xtp 200 gr.They all shot one holers in my encore at 100 yds.
Didn't try the xtp on deer before I sold the encore but the sst and sw worked on deer.
100 to 115 grs pyro select,cci reg 209's.200 sst,sw,or 4o cal xtp 200 gr.They all shot one holers in my encore at 100 yds.
Didn't try the xtp on deer before I sold the encore but the sst and sw worked on deer.
08-12-2007, 09:16 AM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: TEXAS!!!
Posts: 135
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
I shoot an TC Encore.Not the Pro Hunter. I do have a Pro hunter stock on it. I have found that 100 gr-150 gr Pryodex pellets and 250 gr. Shockwaves give me great accuracy. Also use the Variflame adapter with large rifle primers. This has mad my accuracy tons better. My main load is 3-50gr. Pyrodex pellets and the 250.gr Shockwave. Thought about switching to T-7 but after shooting 100-150 times with no real accuracy issues, figured if it isn't broke, don't fix it or spend the extra money. Granted, I dont shoot as much powder as Cayugad and don't get to work loads like he does, but this is what works for me.
08-14-2007, 07:29 PM
#9
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location:
Posts: 160
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
Do you want accuracy? It might be MORE then just your power charge.
Here is what I have done.
1. REPLACE that sloppy hinge pin with a oversized one. If your barrel "falls" when you open it then you have slop. You can buy aftermarket hinge pins on the internet that will tighten this up and take out all the slop... this was a HUGE improvement.
2. The Encore utilizes the 209 shot primer like most all inlines. I changed over to the .25 ACP breech conversion and this was another big improvement. That 209 is way overkill not to mention its not consistant. In my state of Missouri it is legal to use it for hunting but in some states it might now be so you might want to look into that if you choose to do it.
3. Trigger- from the factory my trigger was over 5 pounds... I had it professionally honed and polished along with a new spring, etc. Now its a 2 1/2 pound trigger and INCREDIBLY smooth. No way you can be consistant with a trigger pull over over 5 pounds and rough.
4. Scope and scope mount... buy as much scope as you can afford. I use a Nikon muzzleloader scope and it works great.
All this stuff costs money but I improved the accuracy a ton.
You might really chase powder and sabots and never get where you want too till you fix some of the problems that came from the factory.
I can shoot the basic 2 pellets and a shockwave and hit groups of 2" or less at 100 yards. I have had days where I used 110gr T7 with a 250 shockwave and hit within 1 1/2" at 100 yards. Before doing upgrades I was more like 5-7" groups so "fixing" the slop and roughness was a huge deal.
Here is what I have done.
1. REPLACE that sloppy hinge pin with a oversized one. If your barrel "falls" when you open it then you have slop. You can buy aftermarket hinge pins on the internet that will tighten this up and take out all the slop... this was a HUGE improvement.
2. The Encore utilizes the 209 shot primer like most all inlines. I changed over to the .25 ACP breech conversion and this was another big improvement. That 209 is way overkill not to mention its not consistant. In my state of Missouri it is legal to use it for hunting but in some states it might now be so you might want to look into that if you choose to do it.
3. Trigger- from the factory my trigger was over 5 pounds... I had it professionally honed and polished along with a new spring, etc. Now its a 2 1/2 pound trigger and INCREDIBLY smooth. No way you can be consistant with a trigger pull over over 5 pounds and rough.
4. Scope and scope mount... buy as much scope as you can afford. I use a Nikon muzzleloader scope and it works great.
All this stuff costs money but I improved the accuracy a ton.
You might really chase powder and sabots and never get where you want too till you fix some of the problems that came from the factory.
I can shoot the basic 2 pellets and a shockwave and hit groups of 2" or less at 100 yards. I have had days where I used 110gr T7 with a 250 shockwave and hit within 1 1/2" at 100 yards. Before doing upgrades I was more like 5-7" groups so "fixing" the slop and roughness was a huge deal.
08-14-2007, 09:24 PM
#10
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 84
RE: ENCORE POWDER AND LOAD COMBINATIONS?
I have the regular Encore which I purchased two years ago. Iuse 2-50gr 777 pellets and a 295gr PowerBelt bullet. I know they are considered by many as a subparbullet, but they shoot well in my Encore and Ihadsuccess thetwo seasons Iused this Encore. Plusthe PowerBelt loads very easily.
I really have a limited amount of time to get in much shootingbutthis year I plan to usethe 250gr TC Shockwaves. Going to start with 2-50gr 777 pellets butplan on using3-50gr 777 pellets to see what results I get with this combination as well. TC customer service tech highly recommended theShockwaves to me and said he uses them totestat the factory. I have shot a few in the past but never got serious with them. I do know they seem to load a bit harder than the PowerBeltsespecially after one shot without swabbing the barrel.I normally swab after each shoot anyway which eliminates that issue for me.
The onlyother items I have added to my Encore isaBurris 3x9x40 Fullfield II scope witha Leupold QR scope base andQRrings (high),the EZ Tip Extractor, anda custom Bellm hammer extension.
By the way, TC will not warranty the hammer if it shows signs that an extender was used. That's why I purchasedthe Bellm custom extender. It's by far the very bestand made from lightweight high tensilestrenghth aircraft aluminumwhich adds virtually no weight to the hammer.Also if you plan to do any other tweaking to your Encore, Mike Bellm has been doing that service on TC Encore's forever. He can do anything you want for an Encore.
http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=93
I really have a limited amount of time to get in much shootingbutthis year I plan to usethe 250gr TC Shockwaves. Going to start with 2-50gr 777 pellets butplan on using3-50gr 777 pellets to see what results I get with this combination as well. TC customer service tech highly recommended theShockwaves to me and said he uses them totestat the factory. I have shot a few in the past but never got serious with them. I do know they seem to load a bit harder than the PowerBeltsespecially after one shot without swabbing the barrel.I normally swab after each shoot anyway which eliminates that issue for me.
The onlyother items I have added to my Encore isaBurris 3x9x40 Fullfield II scope witha Leupold QR scope base andQRrings (high),the EZ Tip Extractor, anda custom Bellm hammer extension.
By the way, TC will not warranty the hammer if it shows signs that an extender was used. That's why I purchasedthe Bellm custom extender. It's by far the very bestand made from lightweight high tensilestrenghth aircraft aluminumwhich adds virtually no weight to the hammer.Also if you plan to do any other tweaking to your Encore, Mike Bellm has been doing that service on TC Encore's forever. He can do anything you want for an Encore.
http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=93