Anyone have pet loads with Encore 50 calibur they would like to share? I have 2 new ones and am just getting started with them. Would like to find a good hunting load. Thanks, 163bc

I use 348 grain Powerbelt Aerotips for elk, pushed by 100 grains granular 777. I tried heavier charges but accuracy decreased. I also tried the 405 grain Powerbelts and they weren't as accurate as the 348s in my gun, anyway. A friend of mine just got an Encore and his gun likes this load also.

I've heard people say that these bullets aren't tough enough for elk but I haven't seen it. The one I shot last year went through both shoulders and I recovered the bullet just under the hide on the off side.

Mine shoots real nice with 260 grain Dead Centers over 130 grains of 777 pellets. They work darn good on game too.

Mine likes the 295 gr HP Powerbelt over two 50 gr pellets of Pyrodex.

I shoot an Omega stainless, very similar.

130 777 pellets, 300 Hornady SST, Harvester short sabot. Wet swabbed between shots.

Shot yesterday, two groups of three, one group was a real 1" group with two touching. The other group was about 1 1/2". Shot off the bench at 100 yards. My best load combo.

I have tried quite a few loads in my encore, some good and some bad. Right now the two loads i use are 300gr Barnes Exp.Muzzloader over 100grs of 2FF Triple Seven and 405gr Powerbelt over the same charge. The Barnes shoot very well from my rifle, an honest inch or better scoped at 100Yards. The 405's will shoot around an 1 1/4" sometimes better.
I havent had very good luck with the pellets but know some people that swear by them.
Good Luck Karry

Looks like a lot of 300 grain loads for accuracy?? Thanks, 163bc

415 gr. hornady GP. and 105 gr T7

250 grain Shockwave over 3 pyro or T7 50 grain pellets. My Pro Hunter Encore averages an inch at 100 yards all day long with this load.

quote:

Originally posted by Omega:
250 grain Shockwave over 3 pyro or T7 50 grain pellets. My Pro Hunter Encore averages an inch at 100 yards all day long with this load.

That sounds close to my load that I use in my Pro-hunter, except I use 120 gr. of loose triple7. 1 inch groups at 100 yards, I am also using the new Nikon Omega scope and have great accuracy at 200 yards also. I was not able to try the 225 and 250 yard BC on the scope.

My 50 encore will do ~1 inch(+ or - 1/4) groups @100yds consistantly with 250 shockwaves and 100 grains of 777 pellets. Barrel twist rate formulas for factory 50 cal encores reccomend 240-260 grain bullets (not a rule for all but is a good place to start) Remember to keep your game in mind as far as bullet performance/design. With my experience limited to whitetails and hogs the 250 shockwaves are devastating and probably work just as well on most medium game.

Anybody have any results on elk with these???

250 grain Barnes expanders in front of 120 grains of loose 777. sub-moa and consistent 2216fps.

My Encore and my wife's Encore do very well with the following load!

44 cal, 240 gr. Cast SWC (sized to .427)
T/C Mag Express sabot
Two 50 grain Pyrodex pellets

These shoot about 3/4 inch groups in both rifles at 50 yards, around 2 inches at 100 yards! We sight in about 2 inches high at 50 yards!

If you want to use a 200 gr bullet you can try these:
200 xtp 40 caliber
sst or sw 200
195 barnes
all with 100 to 120 grs of pyro-select and a reg cci primer.You also need a 40 to 50 cal sabot.The barnes didn't leave a blood trail(don't think it opened up)so I wouldn't use it any more.The sst or sw left a blood trail that a blind man could follow,but the deer dropped in sight.Haven't tried the xtp on game but sure it would work well.
The holes on the bottom of the first target are zeroing the scope.

88 grains by weight, 2f T7 (roughly 120 grains by volume)
300 grain Hornady XTP MAG.
HPH24 MMP sabot.
Loads easy in my Pro-Hunter, shoots like a dream, failed miserably on the only deer I've shot w/it.
Medium sized Ut Mulie, 70-80 yards, quartering to. The buck was knocked off his feet at the shot, but was up and gone by the time the smoke cleared. I found substantial blood at the point of impact and a good trail for perhaps 5-10 yards, then nothing. I called in some help and we eventually found more blood where the deer started traveling down-hill. As soon as he started back up-hill the blood quit again. Shortly we saw the buck lying in some brush. As soon as he knew that we knew, he was up and gone again. I missed as the buck rounded a big quakie, but luckily my buddy didn't, and the deer was down for good.
My bullet hit squarely on the point of the shoulder, right where the shoulder blade meets the "leg-bone". I found several shards of jacket material just under the hide and a 25- 30 caliber chunk of lead against the hide, behind the ribs, on the off side. One lobe of the off-side lung and the liver were damaged. So.............it stands to reason that the deer would have died eventually. But not as soon as if the bullet would have stayed together.(IMHO)
Maybe I am asking too much!?!?!?! Anyway Thats my story. I hope it helps someone avoid my mistakes.

geezer, sorry, but one bullet does not a failure make. It appears you followed up on a poorly hit animal sooner than you should have and paid the price. Not the bullet's fault.

I'm with owensby and the rest that have had good luck with the xtp after shooting MANY deer with them...excellent performance overall and the price is certainly right. But then, I don't shoot the ML past 100 yards.

Larry,

Wow! Do you mean-mouth all the new guys? I mean really Larr, "poorly hit"? Please qualify that statement. You say "Not the bullets fault"? It lost 85% of its mass in the first two inches of penetration! I didn't intend to offend you or any other XTP shooter. All I wanted was to help a brother out by relating an actual account.


I love Hornady bullets and as you indicate, the price is right.It's obvious that you have much more experience than I w/XTPs. But on another thread you indicate that you use .429s. Do/have you used the .452s?
I may be pushing them too hard? I don't have a chrono so I can't say what the velocity is. I might be wrong to assume that this bullet is capable of doing structural damage and retaining more than 15% of the original weight? I did no expansion/penetration tests of my own so there's another obvious mistake on my part. But I assumed that based on Hornady's actuall performance in my hunting, that they were tough enough. Assumptions are dangerous things! Even with these and possibly other failures on my part the fact remains, THIS particular bullet FAILED in THIS particular incident.

I've used a T/C 209x50 since first year production. I've taken fox, many deer and bear w/ one particular rifle. Early on I started using a 240 grain 44 caliber XTP w/ 120 grains Goex FFg. This combination gave me 1750fps and worked well on non-raking shots w/ out any substantial bone. This combination has proven very reliable for me inside 150 yards. But, this combination has proven to be inconsistent on raking shots where any substantial bone is struck. As a result of this I've tried different combinations of XTP bullets up to 300 grain 45 caliber. None of these have proven reliable for me on raking shots when striking bone. A caveat for my old 240XTP is that it has been 100% reliable for me on base of the neck shots on deer even w/out direct CNS impact. This proved to cause the least damage to edible meat saving the heart.

I'm now looking at the Barnes MZ for raking shots w/ my T/C. I've worked up a load that shoots the long 300grain MZ exceptionally well on paper and hopefully will stabilize and perform well on deer and bear out of the 1:28 twist. If bear were not in the equation, I'd be looking at the 250gr MZ.

GVA

GaryVA: would you care to share your load with us? thanks Les

Les,

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=473103255#473103255

Keep in mind that I've yet to use the 300MZ on a game animal and that Barnes does not recommend using the long 300MZ out of the factory 209x50 barrel or any barrel slower than 1:26". Most standard length jacketed lead bullets shoot pretty well out of my 1:28" but the 300MZ was finiky and I suspect it is just barely stabilizing thru air and paper. Just changing to a 3rd generation breechplug or changing 209 primers will open my groups up approx 2MOA. I will test it out on a deer culling next month and see how it does thru vitals broadside and thru both shoulders.

GVA