Manual

23
CHARGING THE T/C ENCORE CONT’D
Loading Conical Lead Bullets or Sabots When Using loose
Black Powder or Granular Pyrodex
®
T
he procedures for loading sabots or conical bullets when using
loose Black Powder or loose Pyrodex
®
are basically the same.
Care should be taken to seat the bullet or sabot firmly against
the powder charge. Do not pound on it. Again, mark your ramrod
at the muzzle, ensuring that each time you seat a bullet on the
powder the projectile is seated to the same depth.
If you are loading an all-lead conical bullet like T/C’s Maxi-Ball
®
or Maxi-Hunter
®
, proceed as follows; do not use any kind of cloth
patch with these projectiles. They should be lubricated prior to
loading, and are designed to be shot as cast (not sized further).
T/C Maxi-Balls and Maxi-Hunters come from the factory prelubri-
cated. However, if you find some unlubricated bullets, we recom-
mend that you lubricate these bullets with an all-natural lubricant,
free of petroleum, like T/C Natural Lube 1000 Plus Bore Butter.
When loading a Maxi-Ball or Maxi-Hunter bullet into the muzzle,
you will note how only the forward most bearing band grooves to
the rifling when loading. The base of the bullet upsets (increases
in diameter) upon firing, causing it to fill the grooves, thus stabi-
lizing the projectile and aiding accuracy.
When loading sabots, do not lubricate them. They are intended to
be loaded into the muzzleloader just as they come from the pack-
age. In fact, for best results, it is recommended that all evidence
of oil or lubricant be removed from the bore before loading a
sabot - the drier the bore the better in terms of optimal accuracy.
Hold the rifle as pictured on
page 22 and pour your mea-
sured powder charge into the
barrel. Start the lubricated bul-
let or sabot into the bore with
your fingers. The base of the
projectile will enter the bore
easily with finger pressure.
Drive the projectile down about
four inches into the barrel with
the rod end of the bullet starter
(Figure 2). Using the ramrod,
push the projectile the remain-
der of the way down the barrel until it contacts the powder
charge. The sabot or conical bullet must be seated firmly against
the powder charge. Seat the projectile with exactly the same
pressure shot after shot to aid in accuracy
.
Remove the ramrod from the bore and return it to the thimbles
before you prime the firearm.
FIGURE 2