I have a 45/70 Encore conversion and shooting 60 gr of H4198 and 195 BE. I think that I've been shooting this since 2013 without having to knurl or anything like that. Anyways, I shot my son's 7mm-08 this past Sunday before church to make sure it was on. I had a few extra minutes so decided to get the muzzleloaders out to shoot. They were still loaded from last year. I got mine, made sure the bullet was still seated good, and fired. I missed the entire target. Scratching my head, I couldn't figure out what happened. I then remembered that the last time I was out with it that I shot a buck at a fast walk after a doe and gut shot him. He stopped, I reloaded as fast as I could and then dropped him. I then reloaded again so the barrel had to be super hot and assumed that I had melted the sabot on the reload which I did one time before.
So fast forward to this afternoon, I decided to shoot again. Loaded up with powder premeasured from last year, fired, and missed the target again. This is a big target, and at that point, I am super, super frustrated. So, I moved the target to about 40 yards and made sure all my screws were tight on my scope mounts which they were. I waited a few minutes to let the barrel cool, loaded back with another load of powder from last year and fired again. I shot about 1" high and perfect left and right. Ok, that's great but not sure how to explain the target miss. Maybe still some plastic in the barrel, ?????
So, I had to go downstairs and measure some more powder. When I came back out, it was getting dark, and I could barely see. I moved the target back to 100 yards and fired again. I hit about 2" high and 2" left. I could have pulled the left as I couldn't see the target good. At that point, I was just hoping to hit somewhere close to the center of the target. I'm assuming right now that shot was me.
So, how did I miss the entire target??? Any ideas as I am stumped??? I don't think cleaning could throw it off that much. It just makes me lose confidence in a gun that has historical shot very well and killed several deer with. I will shoot a 3 shot group here in a day or two just to see what it does. I guess that if it shoots a good 3 shot group that I write it off as something crazy that I can't explain. I don't like that but can't fix it if it don't stay broke.
So fast forward to this afternoon, I decided to shoot again. Loaded up with powder premeasured from last year, fired, and missed the target again. This is a big target, and at that point, I am super, super frustrated. So, I moved the target to about 40 yards and made sure all my screws were tight on my scope mounts which they were. I waited a few minutes to let the barrel cool, loaded back with another load of powder from last year and fired again. I shot about 1" high and perfect left and right. Ok, that's great but not sure how to explain the target miss. Maybe still some plastic in the barrel, ?????
So, I had to go downstairs and measure some more powder. When I came back out, it was getting dark, and I could barely see. I moved the target back to 100 yards and fired again. I hit about 2" high and 2" left. I could have pulled the left as I couldn't see the target good. At that point, I was just hoping to hit somewhere close to the center of the target. I'm assuming right now that shot was me.
So, how did I miss the entire target??? Any ideas as I am stumped??? I don't think cleaning could throw it off that much. It just makes me lose confidence in a gun that has historical shot very well and killed several deer with. I will shoot a 3 shot group here in a day or two just to see what it does. I guess that if it shoots a good 3 shot group that I write it off as something crazy that I can't explain. I don't like that but can't fix it if it don't stay broke.
