encore - triple seven

[admiral]

a buddy of mine has recently gotten into muzzle-loading and baught a t/c encore 209. he has been shooting 2 triple seven pellets (50-grain i assume) with poor accuracy. this charge has been combined with a saboted 240 grain .430 xtp... 100 grain seems like too much for this? am i wrong?

would appreciate any info you can give... i'm an "old school" guy that shoots round ball out of a hawken and cant offer him much help.

favorite 777 recipes appreciated for 50 cal.

 

[RCL]

Two fifty grain pellets, whether they be Pyrodex or Triple 7, seems to be the standard inline load. I would be more inclined to a change in projectiles than powder. When I was developing a load for my Knight, I found much greater accuracy when I switched to a larger, .45 caliber bullet/sabot combo (in my case a .45 cal 300 grain XTP and it's sabot). I had read where the thinner plastic, larger bullet combo grabbed the rifling better. Anyway, it worked for me. There are a lot of bullets out there, you may have to find out what works best in that gun.
I've gone back to the "old school" myself, picked up a .54 T/C caplock a month ago, shooting 110 grains of 2F black under a Great Plains bullet. Dropped a doe in her tracks on Monday, the opener here. Going to start looking for a flinter for Pennsylvania next.

 

[smokemaker]

My .50 Omega also shoots .452 bullets better than .429 bullets. ML's with 1-28 twist, like the Encore and Omega, seem to like longer, heavier bullets. My guns won't shoot worth a hoot with 250 grain and lighter bullets, but get to 300 grains and up and the gun really shines. I tried several "44" caliber bullets but they all shot like they were scared of the bull's eye. Switched to .45 cal... real .45's instead of .43's, and accuracy improved. My 200 yard load is 3 pyrodex pellets and a Buffalo 375 grain SSB (.452) and one of my new favorite loads is a hornady 300 grain SST (also .452) in front of two 777 pellets. Not rippin' fast, but very accurate and plenty of energy for deer.
There's my $.02