TC Encore 209x50 Magnum 20 inch Katahdin accuracy/velocity trade-offs

[RgrLW2012]

I just purchased a TC Encore 209x50 Magnum 20 inch Katahdin barrel and am having trouble finding any user feedback on accuracy/velocity trade-offs vs. the more common 26 and 28 inch barrels. Has anybody here used this barrel. What type of accuracy and effective range can I reasonably expect from it? Bought it mainly for Michigan deer hunting, but might try to use for ML elk in Colorado if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[ElDiablito]

Cool - always wanted one of those. Max loads tend to see bigger velocity lose with shorter barrels. From the tests I’ve seen you can expect to loose 10-25 fps per inch.

Shouldn’t be any accuracy issues, just some velocity loss. Shorter sight radius if using open sights but makes for a great handling rifle when the barrel is that short. I’ve got a TC Hawken with a short 20 or 22 inch barrel that I love.

 

[ninnie]

I also have the katahdin 209x50. My encore had the 28 inch originally. I bought it because of multiple states late season inline only hunting. That 28" barrel had some weight carrying and being a fan of short barrels I saw the katahdin and bought it. Much easier to carry and stalk with.
Accuracy is very good. I've only shot BH209 out of it. I use lighter bullets. Tcshockwave 200gr. I can keep it less than 1inch groups at 100. Have shot some very nice bucks with it and never recovered a bullet. I started using Hornady XTP as well. 200 and 240 gr. They both hit almost same spot as the Shockwave with same grouping. My 28" barrel liked around 90 grain of BH209 with the shockwaves. The katahdin likes 85 and 105 grains. I use 85 now because of powder cost and not being able to find bh209. Id start at low grains maybe 80 and work your way up to 110. Maybe little higher. I believe blackhorn gives stats and how to work up loads on their website. The xtp are 44 cals and I use the green harvester sabot that fit them. Much cheaper to use the xtp. This is one of my favorite guns and it is very accurate. I hunt whitetail mainly. For your elk hunt you can use heavier xtp's or the Shockwave would prob be fine. Hornady has a newer bore drive eldx that you might want to check out also that is made for reaching out. I have a pack but didn't get chance to shoot them yet. Best of luck this season.

 

[Novashooter]

Accuracy is unaffected by the shorter barrel. I've never shot a muzzleloader with exactly a 20" barrel. The TC white mountain carbine had a 21" barrel. I also used to have a TC new englander with 24" barrel. I still have a TC scout pistol with 10" barrel, although that one is 54 caliber. My TC Impact 50 caliber also has a 24 1/2" barrel which I cut down from 26" to remove the QLA muzzle. In that 21" to 26" range I found very little difference in velocity, less than a 100 fps change. My 10" 54 caliber scout pistol is about 200 fps slower than my 26" 54 caliber Renegade with the same load. I suspect this difference would be greater with a stronger load.

If you practice your loading technique and find a good shooting load, it wouldn't be that hard to make a 200 yard shot. You will likely find the accuracy is there for over 200 yards, but it gets a lot more tricky to make that shot under field conditions.