15 INCH ENCORE 50 X 209

[HappyHunter]

I am finnally getting my Encore 15 inch muzzle loader to shoot...somewhat.

Today I got 2.5 inch groups at 25 yards,  not steller performance but enough to continue with this barrel and not get rid of it.  I was shooting 230 grain 452 jhp in knight sabots, tripple 7 at 70 grains.  This is against a fence post with iron sights.  

My problem is that the groups are centered for windage but 7 inches high.  This is the range that I will be shooting whitetail.  The sight is maxed out and will not lower groups any further.  Sights are tru glow original to barrel.

Any suggestions other than holding low on target?  

Thanks

Fred

[contender85]

Fred,
I had the same problem with a 357 barrel I have, what I did was pull the front sight blade(not sure if you can on the tru glo) and drilled another hole (lower) in it for the roll pin and reinstalled, this raised the front blade high enough to get me centered on target.........may work for you as well.
Good luck,
Mark

[KYODE]

you might try more powder. if it's's faster it should strike lower on target. at least thats the way a 44mag handgun will do. faster, lighter loads print lower on target, as compared to heavy bullet, slower loads. as the gun recoils, the barrel is up more with slower bullet. a lighter bullet(faster) leaves the muzzle quicker before recoil brings the barrel as high on target. hope i made sense with that. :?

[gunoil]

mine likes 80 and 90 gr of select and mag sabots ex the ones wal mart has. they come in 30 fore about 10 bucks the sabots are  1" long..  the short was is junk......    gunoil

[Rog]

I ordered my 209x50 pistol barrel today from Ed's TC.  He's said he'd ship it right out today.  It's the custom shop stainless version.

Can't wait to get it.  I have taken 8 deer with the 209x50 rifle barrel since I got the ML rifle in 1997, and have always wanted to try doing so with the pistol version, since I prefer pistols to rifles.  In fact, I've yet to take a deer with a true rifle, other than the ML.

Anyone shooting T7 out of a pistol version?

I intend to use T7, and some of the newer bullets available (I've had good luck with the T/C PTX 250 gr. - just hope the new Shock Wave shoots...)

 :-)
Rog

[HappyHunter]

More powder had little effect, just blows excess out barrel and burns on ground.  I have decided to shim the front sight with black plastic cut to the shape of sight.

Thanks for suggestions.

Fred

[Rog]

I have only had my 209x50 handgun barrel about a week now.  I haven't had time to get to the gun range, but I have managed to get it sighted in at a place near my house.

I've had good results with 2-50 gr. Pyrodex pellets pushing a Hornady 0.452" 250 gr. XTP bullet wrapped in a Knight high pressure sabot (black).

I haven't actually shot for groups yet, just sighted it in so that point of aim would coincide with bullet impact.  This combo seems to hold a high probability of decent accuracy since scope adjustments after each shot seemed to move bullet impact just as expected (I've had some muzzleloaders that weren't accurate enough to base a scope adjustment on just one shot).

I'm using the Burris 2x-7x Posi-Lock LER scope (I really like this Burris; it's the second Burris I've owned - the first was a non-Posi-lock version - liked them both.  I've got a Leupold 2.5-8x as well, plus I've owned a Bushnell Trophy 2-6x - So far, I prefer the Burris).

I plan on hunting with this ML handgun during our modern firearms season here in Oklahoma next week.

Regards,

Rog

[rp]

Trying to post a pic here is a no go it seems :cry: [/url]

[Branch]

Bought my Encore 209X50 about 2.5 yrs ago and shot about every powder charge and bullet there is.  What with cleaning the barrel and trying to keep all the options recorded as I tested, it took me on heck of a long time to finally find the best combo.  Here is the recipe that shoots the best and is most consistent of anything I experimented with.


80 gr cleanshot FFFG powder
winchester 209 primers
round 50 cal ball  
dry cotton patch (bought them from Cabela"s)

I was surprised to find such a simple combo workedso well, but I don't know why I was surprised because simpler is often the best isn't it? Try this and it may work as well for you too.

[444encore]

Accuracy can be increased shooting sabots by smearing bore butter on the sabot before insertion.