I figured that my post would generate a little emotion in some traditionalists. I have to agree with ALL of these replies. This was an extremely long shot, and I would NOT recommend anyone else attempt a shot like this unless they have 110% confidence in their ability to make the shot. And I mean REAL confidence, not "I think I can" confidence. You need to test yourself and your equipment frequently and regularly to develope this sense of true confidence. I have spent years (literally) trying to find the "perfect" gun that was capable of shooting with the degree of accuracy I needed. I have burned up what seems like a ton of powder and 5 tons of bullets in my testing in an attempt to find the most accurate and consistent combinations. I have run into one problem after another with nearly every combination of gun, powder, bullet, and ignition systems. About two years ago, I purchased a T/C Encore 50 cal and proceeded to run through my testing to see what it was capable of. I started with two triple 7 pellets, then tried three (which is NOT recommended by the manufacturer) with a T/C Shockwave 300 gr. bullet/sabot and Winchester 209 primers. I got fairly good accuracy that averaged around 1 1/2" groups at 100 meters. The velocity averaged around 2110 fps, but there seemed to be a little too much variation in velocity from shot to shot and the groups seemed to be more vertical than horizontal so I felt that I might be able to get more consistency using a little colder primer. I tried CCI's primers and WOW!!!! The average group size went down to around an inch and there was nearly no fouling in the bore. Just a light crud ring where the pellets burned. Triple 7 fouling is completely water soluable, so after every shot I scrubbed the bore with both sides of a damp patch, followed by both sides of a dry patch. Then I scrubbed the bore with a patch saturated with Bore Butter. I do this consistently so every shot comes from a clean barrel. After a little more testing, I decided that I had found the right combination that had exceptional accuracy and phenominal consistency. Then I went on to develop a bullet drop compensator for my scope. I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you that I tested this ALOT to make sure that it worked as I expected it to. You may have been wondering why I called out the distance in meters instead of yards. I have a rino GPS/Radio that I use to help me find downed game after a long shot. It has a digital compass and is capable of locking in a bearing and projecting a waypoint to where the deer was - if I enter the distance. The GPS can be set to kilometers or miles. My rangefinder can be set to meters or yards. I didn't want to do any math in the field, so I set everything up metric. When my rangefinder says 310 meters, I can enter the distance as 0.310 kilometers. I sit on a good vantage point and use 20x80 giant binoculars mounted on a tripod to spot deer and watch them until they bed down or stop to feed in one place. I use a GPS, a laser range finder, and a slope indicator. All of this may seem like a techno geek gone nuts, but believe me, it is completely out of desperation that I have gone to this extreme in my hunting techniques. I have been bow hunting, muzzle loader hunting, and rifle hunting the traditional way for 26 years and every big buck I have seen has escaped my attempts. The buck I harvested this year is the biggest buck I have ever shot and I am very proud of him. I have a great respect for big, old bucks. I have seen very few, tried for even fewer, and would love to harvest at least one before I die of old age. As long as the law allows my way of hunting, I will keep trying until I am successful. If the law changes, I will adapt and find the best way to compensate. I am not making a scratch in the buck population in my area by using these methods, but I finally got a decent buck. Anyone who suggests that a muzzle loader shouldn't be shot beyond 100 yards may as well be making the statement that a man should not travel to the moon unless he can do it using a big sling shot. There will always be people like me that are looking for an improvement or a better way, but I would like to go on record as saying this: If you can't make the shot, don't take the shot. I welcome any and all opinions.
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