I booked a hunt in Steuben County, NY for a late muzzeloader hunt for this Dec. I am excited about this hunt primarily because of the track record of Steuben county producing big bucks in the N/E buck club magazine every year. I have another post specifically regarding the county's statistics elsewhere on this BLOG. Suffice it to say, the Steuben county is at or near the top of the deer density and specifically buck density numbers per square mile in the state of NY, year after year.
In any event, because of this hunt I have been doing some range time regarding the Encore to try and nail down the best powder, sabot and primer combination for accuracy out to around 150 yards. If you look at my article concerning Encore 209/50 accuracy tips on my website, I go into detail there along with photos specifically concerning the Encore.
I have pretty much settled on Pyrodex RS loose powder or the 50 grain/.50 caliber Pyrodex pellets for the best accuracy out of my gun. Your's may differ and the only real way to answer that, is to spend some time at the bench experimenting. I have found probably a dozen load combinations that will shoot under 2 inches at 100 yards, and in reality, that is good for 90% of any N/E deer hunting one is likely to encounter. Most muzzleloaders shoot really nice groups (under 1 inch /100 yards) with only one or possibly two specific loads. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as the bullet you are using is accurate and capable of doing the job at the range you restrict your shots to. It is one thing to be able to group 3-4 inches off the bench at 200 yards on a cool, calm day with no wind and plenty of time to take the shot, and quite another on a cold, snowy, windy day with a makeshift rest or off hand when you have a 2 or 3 second window of opportunity.
You will rarely find a benchrest and sandbags while still hunting. I use the bench and bags a lot for SIGHTING IN and working up a specific load, and then I try to practice with practical field shooting positions and limiting my time for the shot.
I have narrowed down my choices for this fall to either two pyrodex 50 grain pellets or 110 grains pyrodex loose powder behind a TC 250 grain Shockwave bullet or the Barnes 245 Grain saboted Spitzer. Suprisingly both of these combinations shoot to almost idential points of impact and groups size is very close. I am leaning towards the Shockwave as it is slightly more consistent than the Barnes. I have a lot of faith in the Barnes bullet and the Buck posted on my website was taken with a Ruger Mdl77/50 using a Barnes 250 grain MZ load.
I have also tried Winchester 209 primers, along with the Remington Kleen Bore 209 and Triple 777 primers. I do not see much difference in group size, however my notes indicate the triple 777 primers are extremely messy and after a few shots the entire breech end of the gun, is covered in a black gooey mess. I like the Winchester 209's the best and there seems to be a slight accuracy advantage to using them. The Remington Kleen Bore is my second choice and I do not think I will buying the 777 primers again. I don't use 777 powder so the infamous "crud ring" is of no concern to me personally.
I have posted targets here showing two groups at 75 yards. One the left is 2/50 grain pellets behind the 250 grain shockwave and on the right 110 grains loose pyrodex RS with the same bullet. Group size is close and about 3 inches high. Both groups are around 1.5 inches.
In any event, because of this hunt I have been doing some range time regarding the Encore to try and nail down the best powder, sabot and primer combination for accuracy out to around 150 yards. If you look at my article concerning Encore 209/50 accuracy tips on my website, I go into detail there along with photos specifically concerning the Encore.
I have pretty much settled on Pyrodex RS loose powder or the 50 grain/.50 caliber Pyrodex pellets for the best accuracy out of my gun. Your's may differ and the only real way to answer that, is to spend some time at the bench experimenting. I have found probably a dozen load combinations that will shoot under 2 inches at 100 yards, and in reality, that is good for 90% of any N/E deer hunting one is likely to encounter. Most muzzleloaders shoot really nice groups (under 1 inch /100 yards) with only one or possibly two specific loads. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as the bullet you are using is accurate and capable of doing the job at the range you restrict your shots to. It is one thing to be able to group 3-4 inches off the bench at 200 yards on a cool, calm day with no wind and plenty of time to take the shot, and quite another on a cold, snowy, windy day with a makeshift rest or off hand when you have a 2 or 3 second window of opportunity.
You will rarely find a benchrest and sandbags while still hunting. I use the bench and bags a lot for SIGHTING IN and working up a specific load, and then I try to practice with practical field shooting positions and limiting my time for the shot.
I have narrowed down my choices for this fall to either two pyrodex 50 grain pellets or 110 grains pyrodex loose powder behind a TC 250 grain Shockwave bullet or the Barnes 245 Grain saboted Spitzer. Suprisingly both of these combinations shoot to almost idential points of impact and groups size is very close. I am leaning towards the Shockwave as it is slightly more consistent than the Barnes. I have a lot of faith in the Barnes bullet and the Buck posted on my website was taken with a Ruger Mdl77/50 using a Barnes 250 grain MZ load.
I have also tried Winchester 209 primers, along with the Remington Kleen Bore 209 and Triple 777 primers. I do not see much difference in group size, however my notes indicate the triple 777 primers are extremely messy and after a few shots the entire breech end of the gun, is covered in a black gooey mess. I like the Winchester 209's the best and there seems to be a slight accuracy advantage to using them. The Remington Kleen Bore is my second choice and I do not think I will buying the 777 primers again. I don't use 777 powder so the infamous "crud ring" is of no concern to me personally.
I have posted targets here showing two groups at 75 yards. One the left is 2/50 grain pellets behind the 250 grain shockwave and on the right 110 grains loose pyrodex RS with the same bullet. Group size is close and about 3 inches high. Both groups are around 1.5 inches.
The second target is a one shot follow up at a lasered 150 yards. Shot is dead center and about 1 inch high. I have thouroughly cleaned the gun, including removal of the flex tip extractor and running pipe cleaners into the hole to clean it. The 777 primers as indicated are very messy. I have used this same combination with the Win 209 primers and had groups in the 3/4 inch range.
Now that this gun is dialed in, I will be taking the laminated thumbhole stocked Omega and repeating the process. My son-in-law is going with us to Steuben county and has yet to take his first deer. I am going to let him use the Omega and will be working up a load for that rifle.
I welcome any comments concerning your own pet loads and what has worked and not worked for you on deer.
Dan
www.deer-hunting-information.com
No comments:
Post a Comment