I bought a TC Encore this past summer and was more interested in getting the 280 Rem. sighted in rather than the 50 cal muzzle stuffer. Now, I'm interested. I have tried Hornady full bores, SST's, and Barnes TMZ's. Let me say, it's way more expensive than reloading rifle cartridges. One can send a small fortune down their barrel with every pull of the trigger. I have had decent groups with the SST's and Barnes but I know that I should be able to do better than a baseball sized group at 100 yards. So, because I want to shoot.........and I'm cheap.........I started looking for a more economical to shoot more and more often. In short, I just ordered some Hornady .430 265 gr FTX ( the Lever Revolution stuff ) and some Hornady bulk sabots. Yep, 50 of each for 33 bucks.......way better than 30 bucks for 24 Barnes TMZ's. The bullet is actually made for a 444 Marlin but, it's this size I need for the sabot I have available and the flex tip to me is really no different than any other ballistic tip. I know this is a stretch but, has anyone else tried their own bullet sabot combo that is a little off the norm? What did you try? What results did you have? Suggestions? Oh and I can't wait to post the results.......unless they suck....in which case I will probably delete my post as I tuck my tail betwix my legs.