# Question for TC shooters.



## LanceColeman (Dec 14, 2015)

I recently acquired a new to me TC encore. I'm not new to handguns, but handguns in rifle calibers are something a bit different to me. In my 480 Ruger I can pick middle of the road size bullets (325grs) and still be throwing a massive chunk of lead.

As far as bullet weight in rifle caliber hand guns, which way do most of you guys lean?? Do you lean towards the lighter weights or do you lean towards the heavier weights of the caliber?

Mine is a 260 Rem. And it came with several boxes of 120gr nosler ballistic tips. Which are towards the lighter end weights for this cailber. But it groups absolutely fantastic long range with them. And in all honesty it doesn't any excuse to kick any harder than it already does (and some of yall think a 480 kicks?? LOL!) 

Coming from the big bore revolver side, I'm just slightly concerned about the smaller bullet. But I must say adding the long range spectrum to handgun hunting is pretty fun!

What do you guys shoot?


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## carver (Dec 14, 2015)

I find 150 to 180g will do anything I need to do


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## jmoser (Dec 14, 2015)

If its accurate I am sure the deer wont know the difference.
My personal preference is for heavier bullets in all calibers but deer just aren't that hard to kill.

Of course be aware that the ballistic tip bullet is not very forgiving on bad angle shots;  not sure what velocity you get from a 15" bbl but the BTs can fragment violently and are not the best for thru-bone shots.  Aim for the lungs and watch 'em flop.


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## steveus (Dec 14, 2015)

I tend toward the lighter weights for more velocity with less recoil.  For instance, I shoot 125 and 130gr in .30-30 and .30-30 AI.  They work great. I don't shoot the 260, but sounds like the 120s should be fine.


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## LanceColeman (Dec 14, 2015)

jmoser said:


> If its accurate I am sure the deer wont know the difference.
> My personal preference is for heavier bullets in all calibers but deer just aren't that hard to kill.
> 
> Of course be aware that the ballistic tip bullet is not very forgiving on bad angle shots;  not sure what velocity you get from a 15" bbl but the BTs can fragment violently and are not the best for thru-bone shots.  Aim for the lungs and watch 'em flop.



Yea I wasn't expecting exit wounds with it. But I was pretty sure if I can get it in the chest cavity it should turn everything in there to cherry jello. Was going to switch to fusion hollow points once these were gone. But 3 new boxes?? shooting good groups?? sort of hard to just put them in the gun safe and start over.

As far as velocity?? I dunno... I do know through the super 14.. it has a great deal of it though.

Oh I was looking for a dirty thirty when I came across this one.


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## SCDieselDawg (Dec 14, 2015)

I'm new to the rifle cartridge in a pistol platform as well. About to pick up a 7mm-08 barrel for my encore. (Currently in .454). Im thinking of running 120 gr soft points or ballistic tips in it. I'm also in the works for a contender in .30-30. I'm going to start off with hand loaded 130gr b-tips in it.


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## LanceColeman (Dec 14, 2015)

I shoot 7-08 in rifles... love that caliber


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## T.P. (Dec 15, 2015)

I shot 125 grains in the 30-30 and 130 grains in the 30-06. Deer didn't like them at all.


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## GunnSmokeer (Dec 16, 2015)

*medium weight*

I think that "in theory" a heavier bullet load (which requires a smaller powder charge both in volume and power) will burn a greater percentage of its gunpowder in the barrel behind the bullet instead of in the air in front of the muzzle.

That being said, when I owned a .30-30 Win barrel for my T/C Contender, I used it with the exact same 150 grain ammo that I shot out of Winchester and Marlin lever action rifles.  Recoil wasn't bad.  The muzzle blast was something, though. And the noise!

If I wanted bigger and heavier bullets, I would not hesitate to shoot 170 grain slugs out of that T/C.  I also had a .44 Magnum barrel if I wanted to  chuck big rock-sized hunks of lead at the target!


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## rosewood (Dec 16, 2015)

I have found that in the contender/encore pistol barrels with rifle calibers, using light bullets with fast burning powder gets you less recoil and less muzzle blast.  I used H380 in the .270 15" bbl, sounds like a cannon going off.  Cut back to H335 and it is much more bearable.  I also found that I got more velocity in the 14" 223 with H322 instead of H335.  I believe as Gunn said, the slower powders are burning outside the barrel which is lost energy.  If you can find a powder that burns completely up in the short barrel, it will be more efficient and less boom.  Also anytime you reduce the powder weight, you reduce recoil.  A 120 grain in the .260 should be plenty for hunting in Georgia.

In the .284, the 120 Nosler BT is considered one of the toughest bullets around and is held in high regard for hunting in the 7mm pistol calibers.  The heavier weight .284 BTs do not have the same reputation.  I do not know if the .264 120 Nosler BT has the same reputation or not.

One other thing, sometimes the muzzle blast gives you the perception of more recoil.  That shockwave hitting you in the face makes recoil seem a lot more also.  I have taken two loads, one with more muzzle blast where the calculated recoil is near identical, and it seems that the recoil is much greater when the boom is bigger.  I think the factory loads in .260 use a slow burning powder and that may be making it seem more than the .480.  

Rosewood


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## LanceColeman (Dec 16, 2015)

Thanks Rosewood! Thats some great info! I appreciate it.

I've killed a truck load with my 480 and have probably shot 1,000 rds through it. Trust me, I dunno wether it's grip design or caliber... but the 260 is felt much much more in my hand than the 480. And it may be just that because it's way easier to get a solid 60/40 grip on the SRH than it is the Encore. Personally I think it's the amount of pressure they build up. In all seriousness the 480 isn't any worse than a hot 44 mag. She's no where near the recoil ball park of a 454 or 475. 

Either way it's not enough to scare me away. I like it!


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## rosewood (Dec 16, 2015)

Pressure has nothing to do with the recoil calculation.  Recoil is calculated by the bullet weight, powder weight, velocity and the weight of the gun.  If you have a Hodgdon manual, it has the equation in the shotgun section.  The encores and contenders will achieve higher velocity than the revolvers as they don't have that cylinder gap.

The worst ones I have shot in the Encore was the 460 S&W and the 375 JDJ in the Contender.  They are not pleasant at all.  Also, the .44mag in the 10" contender was quite punishing, guess because it was so light.  The .270 and 7mm-08 in the encore both are tolerable to me.  I would imagine the .260 would be a bit less than the 7mm-08. 

You better watch it, once you get started, the TC addiction is for life.

Rosewood


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## rosewood (Dec 16, 2015)

If you want to have fun, load up some really slow burning rifle powders and keep them on hand when at the range.  If you get an obnoxious person next to you, fire a couple of your cannon loads.  It will get their attention.  When I was shooting the H380 in the .270, a guy at the range asked me to warn him before shooting it.  I first loaded up RL10X in the 10" 7TCU and when I shot it, a kid there with his parents went and hid behind the truck.  I found that IMR4227 and 2400 get the same velocity as 10X but with significant less muzzle blast.

Rosewood


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## LanceColeman (Dec 22, 2015)

Would you guys switch from the Nosler ballistic tip to a 120 hollow point??


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## SCDieselDawg (Dec 22, 2015)

LanceColeman said:


> Would you guys switch from the Nosler ballistic tip to a 120 hollow point??



Depends on the bullet.  If the NBTs shot good I would be hard pressed to switch.  I'd give the 140 core lokt a try just to see how the heavier weight shot.


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## rosewood (Dec 22, 2015)

If the HP is a varmint bullet, I wouldn't use it.  However, if it is designed for big game, go for it.  HP's tend to be for varmints, but I think there are a few big game HP's available, not sure if in the .264 or not.


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## LanceColeman (Dec 23, 2015)

It's the Fusion HP. And yes the Nosler BTs shoot absolutely amazing out of the pistol. Very VERY tight groups at 100yds. They are way more accurate than I am.

I only ask because I'm heading to La. to hunt with my family for a week. And those Swamp living, Bean field eating bayou bucks have MASSIVE bodies compared to our N. Ga. bucks.


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## SCDieselDawg (Dec 23, 2015)

I looked up the 120 fusion load on Midway's website. With it being a fusion you know it'll work on deer. I did notice that they weren't advertising it as a hollow point. They have it labeled as a spitzer boat tail. Either way I'm sure it'll perform like you want it to.


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## rharp (Dec 29, 2015)

The 120 bt will work fine in the 15'' barrel.Long as you are not moving them over 3000 fps they usually will not blow up and you are probably in the 26-2700 fps range. They are better now than when Nosler first started with the BT.


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## LanceColeman (Jan 3, 2016)

rharp said:


> The 120 bt will work fine in the 15'' barrel.Long as you are not moving them over 3000 fps they usually will not blow up and you are probably in the 26-2700 fps range. They are better now than when Nosler first started with the BT.



Yea I think the box says 2,850fps, and you know that would be out of a rifle length barrel. I've not chronoed it yet but if I had to guess I would say 2500.

Wouldn't you know it, carried it every day but ONE hoping something with horns would come out in range and enough shooting light. And of course the ONE day I didn't carry it, the big cow horn spike my folks want culled walks out at 100yds on the nose and poses for 3 minutes.


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