TC PROHUNTER

[Buglemin]

I just received approval from the boss I can get a TC PROHUNTER this year. Upon reading some of the posts I am hearing that Pyrodex pellets are better to go with this muzzleloader than the 777 pellets? I had a knight before this one and shot the 777 pellets with no problem. Being this will be a new barrel I want to start off right of course, appreciate any information you can share....

Also has anyone used the new Leupold Ultimateslam scope, I am looking at pairing this up with the prohunter...

Buglemin

 

[jims]

I was in your situation last year and was super excited about the groups I got with my TC Prohunter (50 cal). I had super groups out to 200 yards with 150 grains of 777 powder, 250 grain TMZ Barnes sabots, and a shotgun primer. You may want to go to Barnes website to look at the ballistics...they are pretty incredible! Make sure to check whether they are legal where you are hunting as far as powder, bullets, scopes, etc!

Even though I could hit about a 4" group at 200 yards (w/1x spot scope) I was a little leery about shooting that range at an animal the size of an elk? I ended up shooting my bull 2 times at 218 yards. He just stood there after hitting him behind the shoulder with the first shot and after the 2nd shot he stumbled a few yards and layed down.

My sabots were only dropping 8" at 200 yards. If my memory is correct I had it so I held right on at 150 yards and was 2" or so high at 100. My unit was fairly open country so I had it set up for longer shots. I started off using the 290s but found that they dropped about 1 1/2 to 2" more than the 250s at 200 yards. I was using a dot-scope 1x scope and if if it would have been legal to use a power scope I likely could have shot even better!

I went through a lot of powder and bullets before coming up with that load but it seemed like it worked super well for me. The only draw-back I can see is how fouled up the barrel would get after 1 shot! It was nearly impossible to get many consecutive shots and sabots down the barrel. I cleaned between each shot (which took gobs of time) but was the best way to make sure everything was similar for each shot.

 

[dleonard3]

Triple Seven pellets are really quite clean burning. Most of the time when people complain about fouling when using 777, they're actually getting a sticky fouling from the dirty primer which makes the powder residue harder. I have a T/C PROHUNTER, and I have great success using three 777 50 gr. pellets. The trick is to use the cleanest primers you can find. My choice for 209's is CCI. But the cleanest I've found are the Veri-Flame 209 adapters using CCI standard pistol primers - very clean.

Also, a HUGE tip would be to treat the barrel with Bore Butter. It should be stored with a liberal coating of bore butter inside, but dry patch the bore before loading. After loading with powder and bullet, run a bore butter soaked patch down the bore to the bullet. Also, between shots, a wet patch followed by a dry patch (when you have the time) helps to keep it easy to load and consistent.

 

[jims]

dleonard3,
Although I am impressed with how my Prohunter shoots I am always looking for ways to improve! I have been using shotgun primers and that may be the problem with the fouling? Would the other primers shoot differently? I clean the barrel with all the things you mentioned between shots but it is super tough to load after 1 shot.

 

[dleonard3]

Ya, Triple Seven fouling is really easy to clean with just a wet patch, but shotgun primer residue is not. It is sticky and stubborn. Some people will dry fire a couple of primers to clear the flash hole before loading, but this is a bad idea. Doing this actually lays down a layer of sticky primer fouling for everything else to stick to. Just keep the breach plug clean, and use a nipple pick to clear the flash hole once in a while if needed.

Here is something for you to try. Completely clean and dry your gun inside and out. No lube, no bore butter, no oil, nothing, just a clean dry barrel. Now take a piece of plain white paper and hold it up against the muzzle and fire just a shotgun primer (do this in a safe manner). You'll be amazed at how much fouling you get from just the shotgun primer. Now try cleaning that primer crud out of your barrel. It's pretty tough and you might need to use a solvent. Once you get it clean and dry again, wipe the bore down good with Bore Butter. If you have a light layer of Bore Butter on the surface of the bore, the fouling doesn't stick as well, and usually flakes off when you seat another bullet (if you haven't wet wiped the bore).

So, now that we know that the primer fouling is what's causing our problems, try the CCI shotgun primers. They are still pretty dirty, but they seem to be better than the others (Winchester is the worst). If you can find them, the Veri-Flame primer adapters with CCI standard pistol primers are really the best I've found - by a large margin. I have never had a mis-fire or hang-fire. In fact, I was worried they weren't hot enough so I chronographed them. They shot exactly the same velocity and impacted in the same group as the shotgun primers, but there was practically no fouling - even with three 50 grain 777 pellets. I actually shoot 2"-3" average groups at 200 yards with a high power scope, and just about the same with my 1x Simmons.

I use the 300 grain T/C Shock Wave Super Glide Sabots because they're cheap, accurate, flat shooting, and easier to load. And if you're planning a Muzzle Loader Elk Hunt, you could use the Bonded versions for extra confidence.

I sound like a salesman, but I'm not. These things work great for me, and they should work great for you too.

 

[APBT]

Bore butter is crap. I only use it on patches in my flintlocks.

Use a good gun oil down the barrel when storing it.



www.GandersPowerbeltForu.Powerguild.net

 

[hntbambi]

Hey we finally agree on something. Bore butter is crap. My sabot guns will never see bore butter.

If you want to do things the right way, use BlackHorn 209 powder. I wish this stuff was out when I had my Remington 700 ML custom barreled. It's more of a smokeless powder that has additives to make it smoke. Minimum fouling, great velocity, no crud ring.

 

[Buglemin]

Thanks All for your input, I really appreciate it.

Dleonard- where might I find the veri-flame 209 adapters and also the smaller primers..?

Jims- I live here in New Mexico, sabots and scopes are legal.. I am curious where did you go hunting last year. Also I have heard alot about those Barnes bullets, I had a knight previously and never could really get those to group well...I have seen some that people have receovered from their elk or deer and I really liked how they mushroomed.. Were you able to recover both from your bull last year, are you planning on staying with the same weight combo?

Also Some people have mentioned that two pellets work well versus the three, saying you waste due to not gewtting a complete burn..??

Thanks again you guys are all great...

Buglemin

 

[jims]

I hunted in Utah last year. I didn't find either of the sabots in my elk because I boned out the meat. I did find a bunch of sabots after they were shot into the backstop (dirt) when I was practicing. I was super impressed with how they held together and mushroomed. My bull didn't take a step after my first shot and only about 10 steps after my 2nd shot into the boiler room. He definitely didn't drop right away like a rifle shot but the sabots performed pretty well at 218 yards!

I shot both the 250s and 290s a lot before my hunt and liked the 250s because there was 2" less drop at 200 yards. I can't remember the muzzle velocity but it is very impressive! They have all the ballistics available on the Barnes website. I definitely plan on staying with the 250's on this years antelope hunt. The worst part of about the Barnes sabots is that they are so dad-gum expensive!

I didn't use pellets but used 150 grains of 777 powder. At the time I bought the powder I didn't know exactly how much would work the best in my TC and didn't want to be stuck with increments of 50.

I have heard the same thing from several guys about the shotgun primer making a mess in the barrel. The toughest part to re-load a 2nd round of sabots is the very top when it first starts and then about the last 6" at the bottom. At first I thought it might be the plastic part of the sabot melting but from the sound of it this likely isn't the case?

 

[dleonard3]

Cabelas has the VariFlame primer adapter kit for $24.99. Here's a link - http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat20819&hasJS=true

The kit comes with 10 adapters and tools to insert and remove the primers. They seem expensive, but they're worth every cent.

 

[dleonard3]

I've been told that any kind of petroleum based oil or solvent is a NO-NO for muzzle loaders because the oil will contaminate the powder which will cause inconsistencies from shot to shot. You'll never know where the bullet will hit if some of the powder is rendered inert by the oil, especially if you load the gun at the start of the season and leave the same load in the gun for several days giving the oil lots of time to seep in.

APBT, you seem to have a strong negative opinion of Bore Butter. I would like to hear the specific reasons why.

 

[APBT]

Great patch lube, Its water based and always rusted my bores when i tried using it for storage protection. Rem oil is a lot better, A hell of a lot easier to clean out when you do shoot it! Plus bore butter over time gunks up in your bore.

I was shooting maxiballs lubed with BB and the last 5 to 6 inches in my omegas bore was nothing but solid crud all the way down. I switched to powerbelts, that horrible fouling was gone!

Its a great patch lube but, for anything else, i wont use it.

www.GandersPowerbeltForu.Powerguild.net

 

[Buglemin]

dleonard-

Thanks for the info on the veriflame adapters, I noticed reading the reviews on the Cabela web page, a couple of complaints of the TC prohunter not locking when using these adapters, did you have this problem with your prohunter?

 

[dleonard3]

Nope, mine fit fine. You might need to make double sure that the breech plug is good and tight and the primers are seated all the way in to the adapters. If you still had a problem, I'm sure you could sand a little off the small end, or contact the manufacturer to see if they'll send you some others.

You also have to remember that these are re-usable, so don't get in the habit of just tossing your spent primers onto the ground. I lost a couple because I wasn't thinking.