has anyone else had problems with 777, powerbelt in .45 stainless encores? i know it sounds wierd, but my buddy has the same problems with his identical gun. just last month another friend bought a pro-hunter, 45stainless, has same prob.my father in law has a .45 blued, shoots the same combo, and it works well. my friend sent his back to t/c, they sent him cleanig instructions. ive read abt the pin problems, but my pin is very tight. i've had this gun since t/c released it in 45. i have never shot anything else in this gun. i have to brush between shots to get a 2-3" group @100 yds. for the longest time i blamed in on the shooter(me), my father in law shoots like a sniper, so when he shot it with the same results, my worries were confirmed. should i switch powder? any help or adviceis appreciated from 3 people.
i should add that i started with 150 grns powder, now shoot 120. father shoots 120, both friends shoot 110.

Instead of blaming the powder, I would blame the projectile. Some rifles do not like Powerbelts. My Knights for instance hate them but will shoot the Saber Tooth Conicals real well. What I would do is go to Wal Mart and get some Shockwaves and try them in your rifle. The 200 grain should work well. Start with 100 grains of powder and work up from there.

thank you
do you have to brush between shots, or can you shoot a string of shots?
the reason i ask, is i contacted hodgden, they said it may be necc to swab between shots

150 grains with a 195 grain powerbelt? For cryin out loud! Its no wonder powerbelts get such a bad name!
Drop down to 70-80 grains of triple 7. That IS the maximum load you should shoot when shooting the lighter weight powerbelts.

Also, The TC inlines have major issues when shooting conicals. The .45 TC encore is really bad from what ive heard from tc owners.

Drop your powder charge. If you shoot a chipmunk with 150 grains powder and that tiny 195 grain powerbelt, that chimpmunk is going to live because you pushed that bullet WAY past its limits and it exploded when it hit the lil chipmunk.

70 to 80 grains T7 MAXIMUM.

Yes, when you are working up a load swabbnig between shots will increase consistancy and give you better accuracy for the most part. Also it helps in the loading of the next projectiles as well. Before I hunt, I do like to shoot and then reload on a dirty barrel and see where that one hits as well. Just in case I really needed a very fast second shot. But even out in the field it is not uncommon to swab between shots. You can get these alcohol swabs at the dollar store, which you can swab with. Some people make up a small container of pre-wet patches for swabbing. The important thing is after a lightly damp patch you swab with, use a couple dry ones and swab with them as well to make sure the bore is dry, before loading again..

Personally if I had your rifle, I would forget the powerbelts and use the projectiles for what it was made for. Shockwaves and a powerful load is the Encore load on almost every hunting program I watch. Most of them are shooting 3 - 50 grain pellets and a Shockwave. Some of the distances they are shooting game at still amazes me. Other really good projectiles are Parker Extreme, Nosler Partitian, Speer, Hornady, and Sierra.

thank you very much for your input, ill try the shockwave. but as far as pellets, i haven't seen 45 cal t7 pellets. the last show i saw, greg ritz was using loose Goex powder. whats your thoghts on Goex, or any other powder?

frontier gander, Knows and he is right any thing over 90 gr with PB is asking for several kinds of problems,
As for the 777 expect to clean between shot no matter what bullet you shoot it is the nature of the beast.
If you want to shoot with out cleaning try thr asorbic acid based powders [ you do still have to clean when you get home] Black mag if you can get it, Pinicle if your gun likes it, APP will shoot in most guns but it takes about 10 per cent more to get the same velicity.
There are some guns that the harmonics just don't match up with a certain powder, I have an Omega that shoots good with most other powder but shoots all over the place with 777 or pinicle so it can not hurt any thing to try some Pyrodex or APP.
One other thing do not expect you gun to dial in with the same amout of powder as any other one, barrel harmonics can prevent that. Try evry 10 gr from 90 to the upper limit of your gun but I will tell you a head of time most guns shoot best some where between 90 and 120 and that enough if you have the pin point accuracy necessary for long range. The only load that is normally an exception to that is the 50/40 2oogr Shock Wave it seems to always have more than one load it will shoot good with and one of them is usually a mag load.
I hope this helps. Lee

My pet loads with my 209x45 SS Encore are 100grs. FFFg 777 or 130gr. pyrodex pellets with a 200gr. SST . Get great groups with these two loads , but you have to try different loads to find what works best in your gun . You may find that a load that works great in one gun will not do the same thing in a different gun .
Charlie