[Wild Bill Bucks]

I watched a guy yesterday, at the range, using a dipper to measure his powder for his Thompson Encore. I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to what he was doing, until I noticed, that he was shooting about a 6" spread at 100 yards.

I have owned an Encore for several years, and understand that they can be finicky, but I have never seen one that would not shoot at least 1 1/2" groups with the bullet and sabot combo that he was using.

I had never seen a 90 grain plastic dipper used before, as mine have always been brass measures, but I did notice that he would make one dip, and level it off with a scraper, one time, and then the next time would pack the powder down with the scraper the next time. I mentioned this to him that it might be a good idea to stay consistent with which ever method he wanted to do, since it probably made a 5 or 10 grain difference between each load.

He kind of got P.O'd that I even made the observation, making a mumble to the effect of minding my own business, so I left any more unsaid.

I just thought I would post this to some of the nubees, that consistency in muzzleloading is MANDATORY. It is not an Option. If all loading procedures are not followed as closely as possible, and repeated as exactly, as possible, then you are never going to achieve the potential that your rifle actually has.

Please, when you go to the range, listen and learn from other guys who have been shooting for more years than you have been alive. These guys learned everything they know by doing, and even if you are hearing something you already know, you will generally pick up a little something you didn't. We all have to learn from someone.