Birdrider

I took the Encore to the range today. Perfect weather no wind/65 degrees. I weighed a batch of powder charges and went to work. With a weighd equivilant of 100 grains and 250 Shock Waves I got my first good group ever with my Encore of just over 1 inch. But, the blowback into the action/breech is horrible. I am not sure what has changed to make it so bad but it is covering the bottom of my scope with carbon and blowing out the backside of the barrel. It is coming from around the primer. I switched from the Remington to Winchesters and it was better but still bad. The 777 crud ring is not too bad.
I checked over the breechplug(a new one from T/C) to see if something has changed and it looks fine. I have maybe 50-75 rounds on it since it was replaced.

Those of you who have switched to the 25acp conversion, once you get the right OAL for the cases how is the blowback? Is it $60 better?

Triple Se7en

Remington has a 2nd 209 primer on the market. They are called the Kleanbores. The name says it all! Should be in all major stores that sell ML suppliesby the end of the month. I've seen them at Bass Pro & Cabelas already for $4.49

http://www.remington.com/NR/exeres/00001699pkelbgfuaervnsvy/Product+Category.asp?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGIN ALURL=%2fammo%2fblackpowder%2fbpammo%2ehtm&NRN ODEGUID=%7bD9C30277-9B8A-4CCA-BBD6-6719092D2787%7d&NRQUERYTERMINATOR=1&cookie %5Ftest=1

Birdrider

Se7en,
I might not have been clear sorry. I'm using the new Remingtons and switched back to the Winchesters with almost no improvement in the blowback. . The Remingtons started out great with the new breechplug that T/C installed when I sent my barrel back. For the first 15 -20 shots they where very clean, no blowback on the breech and hardly any on the primer itself. Now with no other changes they are blowing like crazy. I'm getting a massive amount of crud in and around my breech. There was NO changes made to the gun, or load or bullets to make the difference.
I'm going to try cleaning out the fire channel in the breech plug with a drill bit. I've only been cleaning it with solvent and a tooth brush so mabye the channel is plugging up with crud.

I have so much blowback right now that I need to pull the barrel after every shooting session to clean the breech face off. If the acp breech will eliminate the breech cleaning it would be worth the money to me, but if dosn't help or only slightly reduces the problem I will pass.

cayugad

I think personally, I would be changing powders. Although to be honest, that does not seem right. You own one of the best rifles made by Thompson Center. If Thompson Center says to use Pyrodex I would give that a try. Yet is does not seem right that you can not use the powder you like. You might also want to look into some of the Black Mag3 or even American Pioneer Powder and see if that does not cure the problem. I am guessing that for some reason, climate, elevation,who knows, that the rifle does not like Triple Se7en Powder. For that reason, I would start changing one thing at a time and see if it makes a difference or not. When the rifle starts to behave then go from there...

Triple Se7en

Ethan

I think T/C is going to get your rifle back. Call them & ask for Jack in the tech department. Remind him of the 1st return -- then tell him what's going on this time. Then kindly ask him to send you a pickup tag for shipping with Fed-Ex. The shipping this time should be free.

Only deal with Jack!Get his phone number or leave a short message on his voice mail.... saying you will call back if he's absent.Jack will get your rifle fixed properly. He's done commending work with alot of folks on forums like this one.

Let us know if you run into any dead ends. Keep us informed when you get the rifle back & shoot it at the range.

Tel #603-332-2333

Wolfhound76

Is this the first time you've used the gun or did you just replace the breechplug? You may want to try Federal Primers as I understand they're a little larger diameter.

I have an Omega and the blowback was the reason I switched to the 25 ACP plug. Now there's no blowback at all. Is it worth $60? I don't know. I paid $30 for mine secondhand.

Birdrider

Sealed breech, easiest to clean, most accurate, most powerfull muzzle loader in the world. Did I miss something in the marketing hype?

I've been shooting this gun all summer trying to get a good shooting load. I've sent the barrel back to T/C and was told it was within specs. I started with pyro pellets, then tried 777 pellets, then loose 777 and now will try loose Pyro. I have mostly been shooting Shock Waves and it might be that I got a whole batch of the wrong sabots so I have ordered some fresh from MMP and will try the swap.
I don't know if I will have the time to send it back to T/C again before deer season. I talked to Jack when I sent it back the first time but I don't think he was the tech that looked at it. T/C put a new breechplug in the barrel when they sent it back. That plug, was the first time I shot the new Remington primers and they started great. I'm thinking about getting another new plug and seeing if theres a change. That would tell me the blowback problem is in the plug. If not it is hunting accurate right now. I will hunt with it and maybe send it back after the season so I don't chance not getting it back in time.
Or I might put my scope on my old Hawken and sell the Encore.

Triple Se7en

That breech should be sealed. My Omega still is... even after a few hundred shots. I'm thinking the plug maker may be at fault here. I'm not sure if T/C outsources this part or not.

Get Jack back on the phone. Tell him it's doing it again with various primers after working spendidly for a short time. Tell him you suspect soft-steel in the porthole at the plug face... thinking it may have expanded. Ask him for a new plug. But this time offer to buy one for a spare. When you get both in the mail, measure both holes but put one plug away for reference later. If it happens again later-on, measure the holes-differences using sewing needles.

I think that's the culprit or the hinge pin needs to be changed because it's creating a small gap - but only from the pressures of firing the weapon. Here's the best one for your model.

http://www.bellmtcs.com/Prod_and_Serv/encorepins.htm

One last thought:

How are you cleaning this plug? Please describe your procedure? What about the break-action shut-seal? Don't describe it... just agree that you're cleaning this area well &cleaning the hinge pin & hole-housingafter every 50 shots for cleaning also. I got this "important" tip from one of poster's Underclocked's posts.

bigcountry

Yep, I had to change out my pin to an oversized one. Of course TC said can't be, but many others say different.

Triple Se7en

I agree! They may have changed the pin also, but the oversized one will stabilize the slight sloppiness. T/C probably checked the seal gap by submersing it in water. But it probably only creates a hair-gap upon firing.

Like Country, I'm suspecting the pin more & more. Ask Jack to change that also.