Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders TC Pro Hunter FX pet loads?

I switched to a TC pro hunter FX last year and tried the Nosler 300 gr bullets on the advice of a friend and could not get consitant accuracy. Basically if all went well 2.5-3" at 100 yards with common fliers that would be 9-12" out in different directions. I tried two different poweders and had similar results with both. I was pulling my hair out with it. I have used power belts in other guns with decent results, but not had a lot of range time with this gun yet. I have been using pellet powder, both the 777 and IMR white hot. The barrel is twisted at 1:28". The sabots that come with the bullets are black and load like an SOB. I totally have to lean on them with all my weight to get them into the barrel. Any advice would be great to shorten my hunt down for a better load in this gun.

Give BH209 and Barnes TEZ 285 gr bullets a try...the ones with the blue sabots.110-120gr BH209 should get you where you want to be

Hows it going Dan....hope you got dug out of the snow ok..

I have a TC Encore. It shoots the factory sabot's stuff so-so.

I toss the factory sabots, and use harvester crush rib sabots with the Barnes 250 TMZ (I use the yellow CR sabots, the ones for boat tail bullets), and the black CR sabots with the TC 250 shockwave (hornady)bullets.They load way easier, and are very accurate.

I get about 1" with the TMZ, and just under 1" with the shockwave and BH209.

Tony

great. Thanks guys.

Im great Tony, I switched over from the TC 250 shockwave to the Barnes and get much better terminal performance with the Barnes

Salmonhead make sure you switch over to the BH209 its the only way to go in a TC

What he said....

thats very good to know. I will get some tomorrow if available. Is bh209 loose or pellet?

If you rifle is not shooting the heavier bullets give the T/C 200 grain shockwave for the .50 caliber rifles, it comes packed with the blue sabot. This bullet is just puts the smack down on whitetail.

Use BH-209 powder loading from 95.0 to 110.0 grain in 5 grain increments. You will notice about 20% less recoil with this bullet weight and 6-9 inches less bullet drop at 200 yards over a 250 gain bullet or heavier depending on your charge weight.

Doc

Can you guys explain the difference in the colors of sabots? Are the colors standardized between manufacturers for pressures or something?

There's no rhyme or reason to sabot colors.

MMP makes a red sabot for Hornady (HSLD) but the exact same MMP branded sabots (3PEZ) are black.

I have the bh209 powder on hand as well as 3 different bullets to try. Hopefully I find the right load. Will report back ifbibget time to try things out today.

*UPDATE*

Thank you for the advice, it really helped this time. With the comments here as well as two buddies at home here, I grabbed some BH209 and some Hornady SST-ML bullets with the Red sabots.
I also have a chronograph for the first time so I was able to shoot over that as well.

TC Pro Hunter FX, 26" barrel, twisted 1:28"
Grains listed are by volume:
250 Hornady SST-ML red sabot
102 yard target
Chrono 15 feet in front of barrel.
Groups were three shots

110 gr, avg velocity 2043, group 4"
115 gr, avg velocity 2094, group 2.5"
120 gr, avg velocity 2158, group 2.25" (two in same hole, one out 2")
120 gr, avg velocity 2188, group 1.25" (after zeroing scope and walking down range between shots)
(6 shot avg velocity 2173)

One shot with the 300 grain nosler partition, black sabot, 120 gr BH209 by volume, velocity 2099.

One shot with 250 grain Barnes hollow point, black sabot, 120 gr BH209 by volume, velocity 2197. and this printed within 1 inch of my hornady group.

Three shot group:
IMR white hot pellets, 2 for 150 grains by volume, 300 grain Nosler partition, black sabot, average velocity, 1600 fps, group 3".

So, needless to say, I am very happy with the results. not only have I finally found a muzzleloader/ load combination that I feel confident with in the field, but the velocity gains are incredible. Easily adding 500 fps with the same 300 grain bullet. Finally centerfire accuracy out of a muzzleloader. Everyone says the BH209 barks, but the chrony tells the story. 30% better velocity would explain that. Good stuff. And for the record, I never ran a single patch down the barrel while shooting the BH209 to test it. so my last group were my 10, 11, 12 shots and they printed that good. Then shot the single loads, then loaded up and went hunting. And for sake of argument, I was able to hand unscrew the breach plug as advertised. I am very happy with the powder.

I took the time to weigh my powder charges on my scale tonight to see how accurate my old school brass volume measurer really was. My 120 grain by volume loades that I had premeasured for in the field came in at 89.0, 89.1 and 88.6 gr on my RCBS digital scale. food for thought for those that dont have a scale. The way I measured was to top it off, flick the side a couple times then swing the nose cone over so it cut the top off the pile. I lost a couple grains each time, but was pretty fast and apparently fairly accurate for volume. I will pre weigh all charges down the road now that I have settled on a load.

Glad things worked out well for you

Agreed with others on BH-209. Barnes 250 gr with 105 gr of powder and the blue sabot. Consistently puts 3 shots under 1 inch and yet to have anything run when hit and I don't have to clean barrel every couple of shots.

You should stop hunting pets.

Took me a minute BarHunter, but that is funny. I would love there to be an open season in my neighborhood for dogs. Its crazy here. I live in the suburbs and I am completely surrounded by barking dogs. Its enough to drive a guy crazy.

I'm not a fan of barking dogs either. I've never heard my dog bark. As it should be.