TC Prohunter advise?

[squirrellsfearme]

Hi all, I just got my Thompson Pro Hunter barrell and fore end in the mail. set it up with my encore frame, had a Leupold 3x9 and a redfield base and dovetail rings laying aroung (made for encore) so I put it on.

Went to the local gun shop and, as per the advise of the owner, bought:

Pyrodrx .50 cal 50 grain pellets
Fusion 300 gr. .50 cal sabots
209 primers
assorted cleaning stuff

Went out to shoot it this afternoon, pulled out the breech plug and "bore sighted it" and took a 100gr. shot at 50 yds. - 18" low.
Started dialing up the scope and, surprise!, ran out of elevation.
I have used this base rings and scope on another Encore barrell with no problem.

Took another shot and , as expected, hit 12" low with no more elevation left in scope. Wass ready to throw in the towell for the day but had promised my 10 year old son a chance to shoot it. He was a little nervous so I loaded 50 gr load and took a shot to reassure him. the bullet impacted 6" high!?
He took a shot and it too impacted 6" high.

Called it a day, frustrated with scope thing.

Why the eratic pattern with 50 gr vs 100 gr. charge?
Why 18" higher with a smaller load?

Anyway, put iron sights back on and hope for a better start tomorrow.

Suggestions for a good startup load - bullet/powder combo,base/rings - for this setup would be appreciated as would any other advise for a greenhorn looking to hunt open country deer with it next season.

Thanks, sorry for lengthy post.

PS. just cleaned gun in the kitchen, wife is ******!! How do I get rid of the smell!?

 

[shortwave]

Welcome to TFL.

Why the erratic pattern...

Think you need to shoot more to classify a 'pattern'.
Are you sure scope is tight?

Suggestions for a good startup load

Start with 80grns. loose powder working your way up in 5grn. increments finding sweet spot of rifle.
May I suggest the 250grn. Hornady SST sabot`s?

just cleaned gun in the kitchen, wife is *****!!

I strongly suggest marriage counseling/brow beating til wife succumbs to you shooting bp out of kitchen window.

How do I get rid of the smell?

Have wife bake you a HOMEMADE apple pie.

 

[BigV]

First off you need to shoot at least a 3 shot group before moving anything on your scope.

Pellets are “easy”, but not consistant. Expect up to a 10% variation in preformed pellets.

Loose powder is the way to go. I have use 777, Pyrodex and Buckhorn 209 and the Buckhorn out performs the other two by a lot (based on my personal experience).

Try switching the rings around front to the rear and rear to the front and see if that helps.

I like the Honaday 250 grain SST's as well and with the combination of 100 grains of Blackhorn 209 powder, Winchester W209 primers and Hornady SST 250 grain sabots I can hold sub 1” groups at 100 yards all day (from a bench).

Good luck!

 

[squirrellsfearme]

Thanks guys for the advise.

heading back out for another shoot this weekend, as per your advise:

Lose the scope
Loose powder vs pellets
a little more patience
clean the gun outside
Buy my wife a fresh baked pie (shes still ******)

Ill keep you posted