New to in-lines and ML

[cinosbus]

I just purchased a 209x50 Magnum Encore barrel in stainless. It has been "lightly used" prior to my purchase.

I have a few questions.

How low can you go on the powder charge for plinking or youth loads? Do light charges eventually cause problems at some point?

I was thinking that the 180XTP .430" moving around 1400fps would be a good youth load for close shots on deer (basically like a .44mag out of a handgun).

Anybody ever try just 1 50gr 777 pellet for plinking?

How do you know when your breach plug needs replaced?

And how do the 200gr 50cal Shockwaves compare to the 250gr? Again, I'm trying to keep recoil reasonable so my step-son and wife will enjoy shooting it too.

[smokepolehall]

You can get down to squib loads in it, 30 grs. to practice with. No problems just clean it good. I reckon 60 gr. load shooting accurately will kill a truck load of deer out to at least 50-75 yds. I use 70 grs. of Pyro P in my ML's as my mine deer load. Haven't worked up any loads, my Grey hawk and Blk. Dia. hit a playing card all day long at 50 yds. with that load. Have taken many a sassy Deer with them. Breech plug replacement when it gets where it doesn't thread good or you feel like its bothering you. 200 vs 250about 6 of one and half dz. of another. Reckon 250 will be better penetrating bullet.

[Redhawk1]

One pellet will work, but I would not go below 50 gr. if you intend on hunting with that load and keep shots under 75 yards.

[AndyHass]

The 200gr bullet works just fine, if you use 50gr I would limit the shots to 50 yds or so.  I killed a ton of deer with 240gr bullets and 85gr of powder back in the day.  I recovered a 200gr Shockwave from a 209 yd shot this year, probably similar energy to a light load at close range, and the bullet was fully expanded after punching through both shoulders and lodging under the offside skin.

[kb]

If you are looking to save some cash, use powder instead of pellets.  When you use powder you have the ability to fine tune your loads.  I use 80g pyro 'P', and can get a 1.5 inch group at 100 yards, using TC's cheap shots. 

kb

[rks1949]

The "lowest" powder charge I would use is 50gr. My gun will still shoot well @ 50 grs. of powder,but that's a light load,usedfor squirrel,or rabbits,or letting the kids rattle cans. Ron

[cinosbus]

Thanks for the help!

I'm going to try the 180XTPs and the 200gr Shockwaves and see what happens.

I've read a lot of good reviews on the .430" 180XTP out of carbines and long barreled pistols that were pushing them about the same speed as 2 pellets should out of my Encore.

The single pellet, 50gr loads or less, would be for plinking and familiarization only. All hunting loads would use 2 pellets or equivalent loose powder.

[cinosbus]

I tried the 200gr Shockwaves today. They are actually pretty pleasant over 2 pellets of 777. I was surprised at how mild. Much less than a .30-06 in a M700.

I got 13rds downrange in 2hrs, as this was my first time out with this gun. I was taking my time and being extra cautious as I've only shot a couple of old-timey muzzleloaders before. I was still trying to figure out if I needed to use a wet patch, dry patch, etc between shots. I got the first 6 shots downrange just using a dry patch and no lube on the sabots, then I had to get a bit of water for swabbing as the sabots became very difficult to seat. I think I'm going to try some bore-butter next time.

Accuracy was OK, and I was spending extra time sighting-in and checking out this Tasco World Class scope between shots with my bore-sighter. I need to sort the scope out, but I think this load will be the one I settle on, if it will shoot reasonable groups @100yds.

I swapped the 180xtps at the store for another box of these 200gr Shockwaves.

[smokepolehall]

Mix 50/50 91% rubbing alcohol and windshield washer fluid. Then i wet one patch clean bore and use a dry patch and reload. Always best to shoot groups or singe shots with clean bore. It gives you a true accuracy of your setup.

[cinosbus]

Plain water was working fine between shots with 777. Wet patch/dry patch, never had one that didn't go bang or accuracy that I could blame on the water. I did SOAK a patch and it took 2 dry patches before I felt it was dry enough, but otherwise no problems as long as I didn't use too much water on the first patch.

What does the alky/washer fluid do? Washer fluid is mostly water with a little bit of alky in it already....?

[Double 30]

For 4 years now a standard load in my daughter's( used to be mine) Traditions Tracker .50 cal inline has been a T/C Cheap Shot and 40grs of 3f T7.Chrono'd muzzle velocity is 1350 fps and 9 deer have fallen to that load at ranges of 15 ft to 115 yards. All but 2 were pass throughs( including the 115 yard shot).All were 1 shot kills as well.Accuracy is superb and recoil light.Its .44 mag pistol level loads and they kill VERY well. You dont need to pour 1/2 a can of powder down a barrel to kill a deer.

[30-06man]

Whoa 40 grains of T7 is pushing the limit at 60 yards. I wouldn't go past 75 with it. If you intend on hunting at 115 yards use at least 70 grains of t7. I wouldn't hunt that range with that little bit of powder due to just injuring the deer.

[cinosbus]

I would not argue with 9 straight 1 shot kills..... a lot of guys successfully take deer at 100yds, and some even further, with .44 mag handguns which have less practical accuracy than a scoped rifle. Deer are really not very hard to kill if you have good shot placement and a .45 cal ML/Handgun bullet starts out as big as some expanded centerfire rifle bullets.

The only reason I'm thinking of trying the bore butter is to see if it will keep fouling soft enough to allow 2-3 shots without wiping the bore, so i can practice like I'll hunt. With some luck I'll only need 1 shot and this will be a moot point.

I was using the Win 777 primers with the 777 50gr pellets and did not have a lot of fouling.

A couple of times I snapped a primer between shots, and had some regular Win 209 shotgun primers on hand too, since I had them from loading shotshells. I ran a dry patch after each primer. There was a pretty big difference in the amount and type of gunk in the bore after just snapping a primer, when comparing these 2 kinds.

[30-06man]

Why not be on the safe side and use a little more powder. Shot placement is not always perfect. As far a a 44mag I don't shoot past 50 because I don't think its all that ethical but in a lever rifle ill got out to 100.