Hey all
Going way back to 2012, I bought a T/C Encore Muzzleloader. I was hoping to make it a Colorado/Nevada/Utah/Arizona gun but I never could get the accuracy out of the .50 cal stock barrel (4" groups), so I moved on to other rifles.
When Arrowhead Rifles came on as a sponsor, I was super happy to see owner Luke Horak offered a .45 cal (my fav muzz caliber) upgrade for the Encore platform. Although Luke's a sponsor, I paid for this barrel with a writer's discount. (Arrowhead also makes their own muzzleloader, you can follow @Travis Bertrand review on that gun here)
I received the barrel last week, minus the ramrod/jag which arrived just two days ago. I'd watched the videos Luke has on Arrowhead's site, sent a few texts back and forth with Luke and one 10-minute phone call and I was ready for the range this morning (it just so happens to be the 4th of July--what a way to
celebrate!)
.
Luke's replacement barrel is rated for smokeless powder, but I'm running Blackhorn 209 as the state I might be hunting doesn't allow smokeless. I'm also running Luke's breechplug with magnum CCI 250 rifle primers behind his 275 gr, .45 Cal XLD Bullet. Using a Lee Hand press with a 45-70 Gov't shell holder, I primed Arrowhead's proprietary module that holds the primers.
This bullet also requires pre-sizing and Luke includes the LEE handpress.
Once I understood the sizing process, it was simple to prep for the range and once there, found the bullets loaded with hand pressure--no bullet starter needed as with most conicals require. These bullets load as easily as a sabot. It might seem like a hassle to have to pre-prime, pre-weigh, and pre-size, but if you want extreme accuracy, it's hardly a bother to a guy like me.
I had bore sited the gun at home, so at the range I fired the first shot at 50 yards and was on paper. I made some scope adjustments and moved to 100 yards.
I shoot two-shot groups for muzzleloader for obvious reasons. The first (2) two-shot groups out of the gun were 0.625" and <0.5" (with a full bore .45" bullet!!!) Just five shots into the new barrel, and I'm sub-MOA. That is the fastest I've ever achieved sub-MOA with any muzzleloader ever!
(nearly two bullets in the same hole!)
As far as charge, I put the 275 XLD on top of 95 grains BY WEIGHT of Blackhorn 209. The gun can take up to 105 grains of Blackhorn BY WEIGHT (that's like 140 grains by volume) but I don't need to push this gun any further with that kind of accuracy. And with not wanting to run the brake, 95 grains is putting out enough recoil for me.
The first group was with Luke's muzzlebrake. It tames the gun well. But I don't like to hunt with brakes (I don't like fiddling with earplugs, plus you need a funnel to load through the brake or you spill powder) so I was very happy to see that 2nd group without the brake come in at 0.5"!!!. And yes, it did kick! But still not as bad as the the 450 grain conicals I've shot in 50 cal.
My velocities are shown below in the video, but I'm averaging 2374 fps with an ES of 20 fps and SD of 15.
I'm beyond excited to be shooting this gun. Now if I can find a buck to hunt with it.
Next trip to the range will be with a peep in the hopes of hunting with the gun this fall. If I was hunting Utah, New Mexico, or Arizona (and a bunch of mid-western states), I'd be good already with the Vortex Light Hunter 1.5-8x. I'd guess the bottom hash mark in that scope would be in that 350+ yard range with no dialing. Lots of guys are shooting this gun with dialable scopes to beyond 500 yards. With a peep, I'm betting 200 is very doable, and even further. We'll see. Short video below summing up the range performance.
Going way back to 2012, I bought a T/C Encore Muzzleloader. I was hoping to make it a Colorado/Nevada/Utah/Arizona gun but I never could get the accuracy out of the .50 cal stock barrel (4" groups), so I moved on to other rifles.
When Arrowhead Rifles came on as a sponsor, I was super happy to see owner Luke Horak offered a .45 cal (my fav muzz caliber) upgrade for the Encore platform. Although Luke's a sponsor, I paid for this barrel with a writer's discount. (Arrowhead also makes their own muzzleloader, you can follow @Travis Bertrand review on that gun here)
I received the barrel last week, minus the ramrod/jag which arrived just two days ago. I'd watched the videos Luke has on Arrowhead's site, sent a few texts back and forth with Luke and one 10-minute phone call and I was ready for the range this morning (it just so happens to be the 4th of July--what a way to
celebrate!)
.
Luke's replacement barrel is rated for smokeless powder, but I'm running Blackhorn 209 as the state I might be hunting doesn't allow smokeless. I'm also running Luke's breechplug with magnum CCI 250 rifle primers behind his 275 gr, .45 Cal XLD Bullet. Using a Lee Hand press with a 45-70 Gov't shell holder, I primed Arrowhead's proprietary module that holds the primers.
This bullet also requires pre-sizing and Luke includes the LEE handpress.
Once I understood the sizing process, it was simple to prep for the range and once there, found the bullets loaded with hand pressure--no bullet starter needed as with most conicals require. These bullets load as easily as a sabot. It might seem like a hassle to have to pre-prime, pre-weigh, and pre-size, but if you want extreme accuracy, it's hardly a bother to a guy like me.
I had bore sited the gun at home, so at the range I fired the first shot at 50 yards and was on paper. I made some scope adjustments and moved to 100 yards.
I shoot two-shot groups for muzzleloader for obvious reasons. The first (2) two-shot groups out of the gun were 0.625" and <0.5" (with a full bore .45" bullet!!!) Just five shots into the new barrel, and I'm sub-MOA. That is the fastest I've ever achieved sub-MOA with any muzzleloader ever!
(nearly two bullets in the same hole!)
As far as charge, I put the 275 XLD on top of 95 grains BY WEIGHT of Blackhorn 209. The gun can take up to 105 grains of Blackhorn BY WEIGHT (that's like 140 grains by volume) but I don't need to push this gun any further with that kind of accuracy. And with not wanting to run the brake, 95 grains is putting out enough recoil for me.
The first group was with Luke's muzzlebrake. It tames the gun well. But I don't like to hunt with brakes (I don't like fiddling with earplugs, plus you need a funnel to load through the brake or you spill powder) so I was very happy to see that 2nd group without the brake come in at 0.5"!!!. And yes, it did kick! But still not as bad as the the 450 grain conicals I've shot in 50 cal.
My velocities are shown below in the video, but I'm averaging 2374 fps with an ES of 20 fps and SD of 15.
I'm beyond excited to be shooting this gun. Now if I can find a buck to hunt with it.
Next trip to the range will be with a peep in the hopes of hunting with the gun this fall. If I was hunting Utah, New Mexico, or Arizona (and a bunch of mid-western states), I'd be good already with the Vortex Light Hunter 1.5-8x. I'd guess the bottom hash mark in that scope would be in that 350+ yard range with no dialing. Lots of guys are shooting this gun with dialable scopes to beyond 500 yards. With a peep, I'm betting 200 is very doable, and even further. We'll see. Short video below summing up the range performance.
Last edited:
