# 100 or 150 grains of Triple 7?



## J.W. (Mar 17, 2007)

I just upgraded to the T/C Encore and was wondering how many guys are shooting 2 pellets or 3 and why. I'm shooting tight groups at 100 yards with a 250 grain bullet and 2) 50 grain pellets. I know there is much more kinetic energy and velocity with 3 but do I really need it for deer in the Ohio woods? I only used 2 pellets in my prior muzzleloader but figured I'd be open to new thoughts with the new muzzleloader.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I have an encore and have always used 3. got great groups from the start with 3 and never tried it with 2. if you don't plan on 150 yrds or over and your grouping good with 2 why would you want to change anything?
sherman


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

100 is plenty . If you want to try 150 go for it but for 125 yds and closer 100 is plenty.
Accuracy may suffer with more powder .


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## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

You will be just fine with a 100
grains. Before I moved over to blackhorn I shot 90 grains in my encore with no problems at all. You’ll kill deer just as dead with 100 grains.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

I use just 100 grains in my Thompson center encore.....Shoots pretty flat at 100 yards. I feel like anything more than 100 gr. is just getting blown out the end of the barrel.


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

2 pellets is about equal to 80 grs loose powder never put 150 of loose in a gun you will blow it up 120 max 3 pellets are really only 120 grn my 9 yr old killed 2 deer last yr with my ml which is an Encore since he is little I only loaded 50 grn of blackhorn did the job at 50-60 yrds my brother n law shoots 80 in his Remington and has taken deer out to 150 yrds more is not always better but each gun is different


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

I’ve killed piles of deer shooting 60-100 grains. I tried heavier loads on the range, but accuracy decreased with heavier loads. 
60 grains of powder and a round ball kill deer as well as anything out there.


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## J.W. (Mar 17, 2007)

Thanks guys. I've always shot 100 grains in the past and have never even tried 150 grains of pellets. I am aware that there is a percentage lose from loose to pellet form. With all the literature bragging about magnum loads, I wanted to know what real life people are doing and their actual experiences. Thanks!


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

You've received some great advice as far as 100 grns being plenty to kill deer. Especially here in Ohio where a long shot is usually considered out to 200yds and 99% of shots are most likely 125yds or less. With all the latest marketing hoopla about the need to shoot magnum charges, you would think deer had hides of a rhino.
Fact is, we all know deer are thin skinned animals that are not hard to kill and accuracy is way more important than the hoopla about using magnum charges.
Also, fact is, every rifle is different and learning the charge/load a particular rifle likes is way more important for accuracy.
Shooting two 50grn pellets, it's not hard to get MOD(minute of deer) with most bbls today having the twist rate they do. Want to ring out the accuracy,IMO, going to loose powder is a must since powder can be measured/weighed more accurately and at different volumes than pellets offer. It's sometimes very surprising what +or- 5-10 grns of powder can do.


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## MikeG1 (Jul 25, 2009)

With 3 pellets my round "tumbled", I could tell by the profile of the hole in the paper. Accuracy was also not as good. With 2 pellets, I had better groups and round holes in the paper. 

Just my experience with my system. Try both and see what works for you.


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