Hello, I am new to this site. This looks like a great site and everyone seems very knowledgeable about guns which is why i joined, because i could use some expertise. My question is, does anyone have, or know anything about the Thompson Center encore pro hunter with the 20'' Katahdin muzzleloader barrel? I am considering buying it because i really like the look of it and really like the encore pro hunter rifle system. Thanks
Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter
- Thread starter NDBlake09
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Olympus
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I own an Encore Pro Hunter but I can't speak to the Katahdin barrel though. I use the factory barrel on mine and I couldn't be more pleased. It shoots just as good as rifle in my opinion. I don't see spending $300 on a special barrel will get you much more accuracy than the factory barrel...at least not $300 worth of accuracy. But that's just me. Being a muzzleloader, I believe the larger barrel can only help it's accuracy. But I absolutely love mine! It's a great gun. I just bougt a 300 Win Mag barrel for it at the end of last year so I'm hoping to get to use it this year for the first time.
wanderinwalker
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The 20" Katahdin barrel is a standard factory offering, not a special-order barrel. I have two, actually, a muzzleloader and a .45-70.
As far as accuracy goes, mine has been fussy. Treat it right and feed it what it wants, and it will shoot one-hole groups at 50 yards, and under 2" at 100. The best sabot/pellet combinations seem to produce right around 1.5-1.75" at 50 yards, and around 3" at 100. It only gives up about 150-fps from a 26-28" barrel and is quite a bit handier, IMO. Even with a 3-pellet charge, it will break 2000-2100-fps with a 250gr sabot.
The .45-70 is every bit as accurate, if a bit harder kicking IMO. The biggest issue with the .45-70 is that the ProHunter forend is pretty thin and cheap and doesn't seem to want to hold up to the recoil is you hold the forend. I'm on my second forend, and afraid it has already started to warp.
And no, mine is NOT scoped!
As far as accuracy goes, mine has been fussy. Treat it right and feed it what it wants, and it will shoot one-hole groups at 50 yards, and under 2" at 100. The best sabot/pellet combinations seem to produce right around 1.5-1.75" at 50 yards, and around 3" at 100. It only gives up about 150-fps from a 26-28" barrel and is quite a bit handier, IMO. Even with a 3-pellet charge, it will break 2000-2100-fps with a 250gr sabot.
The .45-70 is every bit as accurate, if a bit harder kicking IMO. The biggest issue with the .45-70 is that the ProHunter forend is pretty thin and cheap and doesn't seem to want to hold up to the recoil is you hold the forend. I'm on my second forend, and afraid it has already started to warp.
And no, mine is NOT scoped!
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I didn't mean that the Katahdin barrel wasn't a factory barrel. I just mean that it doesn't come on the rifle from the factory. It has to be purchased seperate. As far as accuracy, every muzzleloader I've ever seen in a little tempermental. They all have different ammo that they prefer more than others. When I bought my Encore, I bought Shockwave sabots, Hornady SSTs, and Powerbelts. Mine actually shot the Shockwaves a lot tighter than I thought with the SSTs being very similar. One thing mine doesn't like is the Powerbelts. Wouldn't group them for nothing. Just experiment.
wanderinwalker
Member
I got the same impression when I looked at the catalogue, but mine was on the rack at the gunshop in that configuration. I was a little shocked! Actually, the shop had the one muzzleloader and 2 .45-70s. They have also had a number of .460 S&Ws as well. Honestly, I've only seen three (3) set up as muzzleloaders, between 5-6 different shops, and the shop I bought mine at seems to be the only one stocking them with the short barrels.
And I noticed the same thing; mine won't group Powerbelts to save its life. Well, if I shot loose powder, it would. But I can make ANYTHING go into one hole (at 50 yards) when using loose powder in my barrel. It's much more tempermental when using pellets.
Actually, quick case-in-point. I finally discovered that it likes Shockwaves in the SuperGlide sabots and 2 50/50 777 pellets. 1.5-2" at 50, not bragging, but I'll take it for the convenience. I picked up some Hornady SSTs in the Low Drag sabots, figured they'd swap right out. Ooops, no group there. Swapped the 777 pellets for 2 50/50 Pyrodex pellets and it went to shooting right. Go figure!
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