Encore Sights and Load Experiences
10-15-2003 | 01:46 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: St. Charles IA USA
Encore Sights and Load Experiences
I’d like to take a minute to type up a few of the things that I’ve learned about my Encore 209 50 cal. I have the standard stainless steel, black plastic stocked version.
I’ve shot over 300 rounds with the gun and have some information that I hope someone will find useful.
What worked for me: My Encore was woefully inaccurate using the supplied fiber optic sights. Using a variety of loads, the Encore could not shoot better than 8-10 inch groups at 100 yards, no matter what I did. I put a scope on the Encore and my groups came right down to about 2 inches. (I' m no marksman and 2 inch groups are about the best I' m ever going to do) The scope is fine for hunting here in Iowa, but to take it elk hunting out west, I needed an iron sight setup. To get more accuracy, yet stay with iron sights, I put on a rear Williams WGRS peep sight and a KNS hooded front “crosshair” sight. I learned of this setup on another website. I had to do a bit of modification to the sights to make them work, but the results were exceptional. I now easily shoot groups of the exact same size with this setup as I do with a 5X scope on the gun. The stock sights virtually covered elk sized animals at greater than100 yards so that I could not see what I was aiming at. The peep sight/crosshair sight combo gives me an exceptional look at the target. This has resulted in a huge improvement in my accuracy as well as my confidence.
I have also been a huge fan of Precision Bullet products. I shoot my smallest groups using their 220-grain Dead Center bullets. These load easily and dropped an 8 point buck at 85 yards with 0 yards to recover. The bullet retained 85% of it’s weight after it was recovered under the hide on the far side of the deer. I also like Powerbelts. These are very easy to load and give decent accuracy. I take these elk hunting in Colorado and have 2 elk in 2 years to show for it. One immature bull dropped in its tracks at 85 yards and one 5X5 bull ran 75 yards after a 95-yard shot. The Powerbelt recovered from the 5X5 retained 50% of its weight and had expanded to over 1 inch in diameter. This bullet was also recovered from just inside the hide on the far side of the bull.
What didn’t work for me: As a fan of Precision Bullets products, I was keen to try their 209 to .22 Hornet primer conversion. I sent in a new breech plug to Precision, had the work done and went to the range. On the first try, the gun did not fire using 100-gr. 777 and a 348-gr. Powerbelt. The primer was spent, but the weapon did not light. I put in a new primer and repeated and repeated and repeated. I had to pull the breech plug, push out the powder and bullet. I reloaded using the standard 209 primer and everything was back to working. After a few rounds using the 209 primer, I went back to the .22 Hornet breech plug. Everything worked now, for about 10 rounds. Then the flash hole got gummed up enough that the .22 Hornet primer could not light the gun off again. I repeated the entire scenario again a week later and I again found that the .22 Hornet primer would not consistently light my gun. I’m not trying to start any controversy, but in my hands, I can only confidently expect my gun to light with the 209 primer.
I hope this information helps someone.
Bill the Dog
I’ve shot over 300 rounds with the gun and have some information that I hope someone will find useful.
What worked for me: My Encore was woefully inaccurate using the supplied fiber optic sights. Using a variety of loads, the Encore could not shoot better than 8-10 inch groups at 100 yards, no matter what I did. I put a scope on the Encore and my groups came right down to about 2 inches. (I' m no marksman and 2 inch groups are about the best I' m ever going to do) The scope is fine for hunting here in Iowa, but to take it elk hunting out west, I needed an iron sight setup. To get more accuracy, yet stay with iron sights, I put on a rear Williams WGRS peep sight and a KNS hooded front “crosshair” sight. I learned of this setup on another website. I had to do a bit of modification to the sights to make them work, but the results were exceptional. I now easily shoot groups of the exact same size with this setup as I do with a 5X scope on the gun. The stock sights virtually covered elk sized animals at greater than100 yards so that I could not see what I was aiming at. The peep sight/crosshair sight combo gives me an exceptional look at the target. This has resulted in a huge improvement in my accuracy as well as my confidence.
I have also been a huge fan of Precision Bullet products. I shoot my smallest groups using their 220-grain Dead Center bullets. These load easily and dropped an 8 point buck at 85 yards with 0 yards to recover. The bullet retained 85% of it’s weight after it was recovered under the hide on the far side of the deer. I also like Powerbelts. These are very easy to load and give decent accuracy. I take these elk hunting in Colorado and have 2 elk in 2 years to show for it. One immature bull dropped in its tracks at 85 yards and one 5X5 bull ran 75 yards after a 95-yard shot. The Powerbelt recovered from the 5X5 retained 50% of its weight and had expanded to over 1 inch in diameter. This bullet was also recovered from just inside the hide on the far side of the bull.
What didn’t work for me: As a fan of Precision Bullets products, I was keen to try their 209 to .22 Hornet primer conversion. I sent in a new breech plug to Precision, had the work done and went to the range. On the first try, the gun did not fire using 100-gr. 777 and a 348-gr. Powerbelt. The primer was spent, but the weapon did not light. I put in a new primer and repeated and repeated and repeated. I had to pull the breech plug, push out the powder and bullet. I reloaded using the standard 209 primer and everything was back to working. After a few rounds using the 209 primer, I went back to the .22 Hornet breech plug. Everything worked now, for about 10 rounds. Then the flash hole got gummed up enough that the .22 Hornet primer could not light the gun off again. I repeated the entire scenario again a week later and I again found that the .22 Hornet primer would not consistently light my gun. I’m not trying to start any controversy, but in my hands, I can only confidently expect my gun to light with the 209 primer.
I hope this information helps someone.
Bill the Dog
10-15-2003 | 03:37 PM
#2
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 283
Likes: 0
From: Dunkirk MD USA
RE: Encore Sights and Load Experiences
i hadn' t heard about the .22 hornet primer system ...will definitly stay away from it.
i agree the open sights provided with the encore arn' t very user friendly. was aiming at a deer in my yard at about 50 yds. prior to the season opener and couldn' t see much ...if it was hunting season i would have had to " guess place" the shot. what ever happened to the old style buckhorn sights ...i have an old 25-35 with the buckhorns on it and it works great.
mounted a 3-9 leupold scope on my encore this past weekend. shooting 1 inch groups at 100 yds with 100 gr pryodex and 240 gr powderbelts ...can' t wait to shoot some deer.
i agree the open sights provided with the encore arn' t very user friendly. was aiming at a deer in my yard at about 50 yds. prior to the season opener and couldn' t see much ...if it was hunting season i would have had to " guess place" the shot. what ever happened to the old style buckhorn sights ...i have an old 25-35 with the buckhorns on it and it works great.
mounted a 3-9 leupold scope on my encore this past weekend. shooting 1 inch groups at 100 yds with 100 gr pryodex and 240 gr powderbelts ...can' t wait to shoot some deer.
