Black powder or Pyrodex?

Well your Encore and old CVA are two different types of rifles. Roundball are not going to work real well for you in the Encore. As for powders, you could try Triple Seven 2f, or BlackHorn 209 if you want a cleaner powder. Triple Seven can clean up with simple water. Blackhorn 209 requires a solvent to clean it up. In fact water is not recommended to be used with it at all.

A good projectile might be a 200 grain .40cal XTP or Shockwave in a blue sabot, a 250 grain .452 Shockwave in the black short sabot, Barnes projectiles, 300 grain Hornady XTP's in the proper sabot and loads of powder between 100-120 grain. It should work well. If you shoot BlackHorn load 90-110 grains and try that. Be sure to use a good primer and swab the bore between shots. Good luck.

cayugad said:

Well your Encore and old CVA are two different types of rifles. Roundball are not going to work real well for you in the Encore. As for powders, you could try Triple Seven 2f, or BlackHorn 209 if you want a cleaner powder. Triple Seven can clean up with simple water. Blackhorn 209 requires a solvent to clean it up. In fact water is not recommended to be used with it at all.

A good projectile might be a 200 grain .40cal XTP or Shockwave in a blue sabot, a 250 grain .452 Shockwave in the black short sabot, Barnes projectiles, 300 grain Hornady XTP's in the proper sabot and loads of powder between 100-120 grain. It should work well. If you shoot BlackHorn load 90-110 grains and try that. Be sure to use a good primer and swab the bore between shots. Good luck.

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Thanks for your fast reply.....You didn't comment about pyrodex.

You mentioned you wanted a clean burning powder. Pyrodex is as dirty as black powder. Although the fouling is soft, it cleans up with soap and water, and is a very consistent powder for shooting. Something I do when a rifle will not shoot is normally try Pyrodex RS. Remember, Pyrodex is the most corrosive of all the sub powders. So if you shoot it, don't let the rifle sit for a few days as it might start to rust. Pyrodex is a very good powder.

Another powder to consider is Pinnacle and American Pioneer. Both of them clean up easy, no swabbing to mention until you get a few shots under them, and some rifles like them some rifles do not. I tried Pinnacle in a Knight Wolverine and shot 12 rounds of XTPs without swabbing the bore. I could have shot more, but ran out of bullets. I had very good luck with Pinnacle and lighter projectiles.

Be very careful with Pyrodex, I use it and have used it extensively, but have also had some experiences with good firearms I would not want to repeat. Pyrodex needs to be cleaned the same as black powder, then it needs to be cleaned with a really good brushing, lots of hot water. If you have used Pyrodex, check the bores of anything you fired it in no less than once a month. In pistols I found it leaving a residue, barely detectable at first in the edges of the grooves that then attracted moisture and I came very close to damaging those barrels, fortunately, I was trying a lead removal cloth, and found the problem in time to correct it.
I use 777 and like it in the pistols and in my GMB roundball rifle.

If you use Blackhorn 209, you do not need to swab. They recommend that you do not swab, keeping the bore condition the same for every shot. If you have the Encore Endeavor, be sure to get a spare breech plug and drill it out to .040" for good ignition with the Blackhorn powder. Also Federal or CCI MAGNUM primers are a must.

For bullets with this rifle and the Blackhorn powder, Harvester sabots and Scorpion bullets are about the best out there.

http://www.harvestermuzzleloading.c...let-combo-for-your-bore&catid=6:toby&Itemid=7

Read up here also....

http://www.chuckhawks.com/index2h.muzzleloader.htm