JimboHunter1

I was able to shoot my Encore for the second time this weekend and once again, I achieved only limited success. I' m shooting 100 grains of Pyrodex pellets and 295 grain Powerbelt bullets. My groupings were good at 50 yards but I was about 5 inches low and 4 inches to the right of the bullseye. I shot a total of 9 or 10 rounds and after some scope adjustment, my last two shots were about an inch and a half from the bulls eye X.

I know that the Encore is a very reliable and accurate muzzleloader and I have heard very good reviews about the Powerbelts as well, so what could be happening? Maybe the gun shoots totally different on the first shot or two than it does on the 5, 6, or 7th shot? I am guilty of not cleaning the barrel between shots, but do you think that' s where I' m going wrong?

Now for another can of worms... Is there any chance that I' m pushing the load down too tightly when I' m loading it? When I load it, the ramrod usually stops with 3 inches sticking out of the end of the barrel. I then throw the ramrod into the barrel and push the load down until the ramrod bounces, leaving 1/2 inch of the ramrod sticking out of the barrel. Am I pushing it down too tightly? Is there anyone else who shoots a similar load? If so, how much of your ramrod sticks out of the end of your barrel once it' s loaded? Everything I' ve read says that you don' t want any space between the powder and the load so I can' t imagine that this would be wrong.

I need some help!

Thanks,
Jim

trac209

To me its sounds like you might be crushing the pellets,all you have to do is push down so the bullet is seated you don' t have to pile drive it in.

dvdegeorge

You should try cleaning between shots,spit patch or lightly moistened with number thirteen cleaner,then run dry patch.Also seat bullet on top of pellets just firmly until it stops,there is no need to compress the heck out of pellets,thats one of the benifits of useing pelletized powder.Also try some different bullets,hornaday SST 250 gr or 300gr.They may load a bit tighter than powerbelts but I think you will see them shoot very well from your Encore.Good Luck

Triple Se7en

Jimbo

Call T/C Arms (Phone (603) 332-2333)... tell them your groups suck with pellets & ask them why they changed the breechplug three times since the rifle' s inception.

You need the new Stage III breechplug. If the woman on the other end of of the phone states she never heard of it, ask to speak to tech support there. They know what' s going on.

The first plug was too flat for pellets.... the 2nd one was too curled.... the 3rd one is more concave & fits pellets better. Supposedly, it will also cut down on the infamous " 777 crud ring" that forms 3" above the breechplug in the barrel.

If you get one, find out the part ## and post it in a new thread here because I have an Omega with the 2nd plug & I' m thinking about switching to pellets after Hodgdon comes out with a 30-grain version around October.

Triple Se7en

This is an update to my breechplug post above this. The part number for the stage three breech plug is 7763 and the cost with shipping is $20.15 from T/C.

When you call, ask for Tim Pancurak. He is the parts service manager.

JimboHunter1

Thanks Triple Se7en,

How confident are you that the breech plug is the reason for my problem? Have you heard of this happening before? I don' t have a problem spending $20 for the plug, but I don' t want to replace it if it is unnecessary.

mlaubner

I also have a T/C Encore 209x50. I have not had your experience at all. In fact quite the opposite.
My rifle shoots 1.5 m.o.a. groups @ 100 yds all day using the following set-up:
3-50/50gr. pyro pellets
1-220gr. " Dead Center" sabot bullet (made by Precision Rifle Bullet)
1-Winchester 209 shotshell primer (actually thinking about switching to a .410 primer)

I seat the charge firmly, add the primer and fire!
I am using the original breech plug and the rifle is 3 years old!

My point is to try different bullet / powder combinations to see what works best in your rifle. You may be surprised at the results.

dsheally

Power Belts won' t shoot good out of my gun. Don' t bounce you ram rod when you
load it. Just seat the bullet firmly on the power. I' d say your main problem is
your bullet. I have tried Powerbelts in 3 different guns and they would not shoot
in any of them. Try the Barnes 250 or 300 gr. sabot. Or as suggested above try
a Precision Bullet. Bet it will make a big difference.

herman

If you want to try a lighter bullet in the encore you might want to try these 195 barnes,sst,shock wave 200 gr.or the 250 sst makes small groups also. These are all 100 yd groups only tried the 250 (bottom pic) sst this one time,the top 3 in the pic are w/T-7 and the bottom4 are with pyro-select @100 grs.

hvyhitter19

I tired the powerbelts 195gr. with 150gr pelts this weekend as well with not so good results... At 100 yards, it was better then 2" groups... I am trying to make this an accurate 200 yard gun. So 2" at 100 is not good enough for me. I also tried the Knight barnes sabots with about the same results... I just orderd The new Hornady SST I will post later this week the results of that.