Shooting Maxi ball / cast bullets or maxi hunters .50 Encore

[Encorepete]

I recently came across a great deal on 777 powder and pyrodex pellets at wal mart. I was using Precision Rifle bullets/sabots in my 209x50 encore. Now that I have a stock of powder, I'd like to shoot more often, but the price of the PR stuff is prohibitive. I have seen websites offering lead cast bullets at a pretty reasonable price. I was thinking about trying the Maxi ball style cast bullet in 275 or 250 grain, in .50 caliber. Is anyone using these types of bullets in their encore? What results are you seeing at the range and in the field? I appreciate the ease of loading the PR sabots offer and would also like to know how easily the cast bullets will load. Do the lead projectiles foul the barrel with lead? I swab with a spit patch between shots. It really seems to help a lot with cleaning and loading. Thanks. Pete

[Bob_K]

275 grains seems kind of light for a maxiball in .50 caliber.  TC has two maxiballs, one is 370 grains, the other is 460 grains (I think).  I've only used the 370 grain, and that is also the weight of the two cavity Lyman and four cavity SAECO moulds I have.  They shoot great in my Knight BK92 but I haven't gotten around to trying them in my Encore.  Maybe Lee has a mould that comes out that light.

[Snowshoe]

You can try the 370g maxi or the Lee R.E.A.L. bullet which weighs 320g. I have had good groups with these 2 bullets, but I have a 1 in 48" twist. It is a lot of fun shooting bullets you make yourself. I am now working on the Lee 370g Mini and paper patching it.
http://members.shaw.ca/bobschewe/
  I have not tried it yet but am going to give it a go.

[TennSquire]

I tried the 270 grain Maxi-hunter conicals in my 50 cal. Encore but couldn't get groups any better than 2-3 inches at 50 yards.  I tried Pyrodex RS Select and 777 powder.  Guesss with the fast twist that's about as good as it gets with the lighter conical.  I switched to Hornady 300 grain XTP bullets in MMP sabots and with 100 grains of Pyrodex RS Select I can put 3 shots into one ragged hole at 100 yards with the open sights.  I'm sticking to that load for now.

TennSquire

[ihookem]

I bought a Lee mold in365 gr. 50 cal. for my Encore. I shoot 70 to 80 gr. of clean shot. It shoots pretty good for two shots and after that the accuracy goes bad real quick because of lead fouling.  Clean the barrel and two more good shots and thats it!  If I could find a way to stop it from leading up I would be fine. I have put alox on the bullets with no luck. I might try something like a cotton wad between the powder and bullet... (Can I do that?) I might fill the back hollow cavity with alox but don't know if it will help.  I would like to know if any of my ideas work or even make sence.

[Triple Se7en]

Encorepete

You are already shooting the best (Precsion) for long-range hunting, so you may as well stick with their market brands. Did you know that Precision makes the Colorado Conical? For your 1-28" twist Encore, I would suggest ordering the 400 grains. 100 grains of powder with these babies should group well out to 100 yards. They retail 20 for $8.99 at Cabelas.com.

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