.460 encore

[tubb_ooh_lard]

i have a problem with my .460 encore and could use some advice on where to look for the problem

they other day i went out and shot a few rounds and for some reason a load ive had good luck with before went south on me .. as in out of of 25 rounds fired nearly half failed to hit the 3 ft square piece of cardboard i was using for a target backer at 100 yds and previously the same load would shoot better then my ability with 4-5 inch groups .

details ...

factory tc 15 inch .460 s&w barrel
load .. hornaday cases , federal match lr primers , hornaday j word 200 grn ftx bullet , and 28 grns of 2400

at firing the first round i noticed the primer was just starting to flatten , primers hadnt showed any signs of flowing before , so i took 5 random rounds and pulled the bullets to check the powder charge , both my beam and digital scales showed exactly 28 grns . so i fired the rest of the loads , all showed the same slightly flattened primer .

so where do i look for a problem i made zero changes , same oal , same batch of cases bullets primers and powder as i loaded before .

[stubshaft]

Broken scope? sights? erratic ignition? That is a relatively fast powder for such a large case, especially when downloaded. I mean no offense when saying this but, 4" to 5" at 100 yds is not very good accuracy from a 15" Encore unless you are shooting irons from an unsupported rest.

[tubb_ooh_lard]

stub shaft

i dont take any offense to that at all , 4-5 inches just happens to be all the better i can personaly shoot at 100 yds with the iron sights ( honestly i cant do a whole lot better with a scope ) , and i can not find any issues with anything mechanical , sights are tight with no movement , lockup is good and the hinge pin is tight with no play .

is 28 grns of 2400 realy downloading in the .460 the alliant website and my manual both show this as a starting load .

eratic ignition ,.. im not sure exactly how to rule this out , but ignition seems to be good to me i cant feel anydifferance as in recoil and no perceptable hesitation between the hammer falling and the gun going off ... ill also note that i get a very nice clean burn with zero powder residue

its perplexing how a load that worked for better then 100 rounds suddenly goes south

i loaded up the last of the hornaday ftx bullets this morning, if it quits raining im going to try again this afternoon

[stubshaft]

Normally 2400 is not position sensitive, but try holding the muzzle up before firing each shot and see if it helps. I would be pulling out my hair too if I had the same problem.

[tubb_ooh_lard]

uhhg , positioning the powder sure didnt help any .
i dont have a clue what the problem is , i moved the target up to 50 yds thinking maybe i had stability issues .
no change , 4 out of 20 rounds missed the same 3ft square cardboard completely , the other 16 holes all look nice and round , would make a good pattern for a shotgun .

i guess im just going to change the program a bit , instead of light and fast bullets .
ill try what seems to work for the revolver guys , heavy boolits

[LUCKYDAWG13]

my Encore 454 did the same thing once the screw in my grip was lose just a little bit
good luck

[tubb_ooh_lard]

:goodpost: dear god i almost cant believe it was that simple .
luckydawg ,.. where can i send the beer to , i cant say with 100% certinty that that was my problem but the bolt wasnt nearly as tight as i would have liked it to be ... you sir may just be a life saver

[LUCKYDAWG13]

your welcome i hope that was it don't get that screw to tight