some background…

26” 1:28 barrel.

100 grains of pellet triple 7(two pellets)
223 grain powerbelt aero tip

When I shove the bullet down the barrel with the “gentle” push it comes to a stop. But if I push hard on it, I can feel it smash down another couple inches.
After each shot it got harder and harder to get it down to that same position but if I really laid into it…it would go.

When I did this, this seemed to give me the best/most accurate grouping.
Am I suppose to be pushing this hard? Is this normal? Am I crushing something like the plastic skirt on the bullet or the pellet????

Heres what my dad does. With the barrel empty put the ram rod down the barrel and mark the ram rod at the end of the muzzle. Then measure the length of your two pellets and the sabot. Mark the ram rod that distance up from your original mark. When loaded properly then your second mark should be flush with the end of the muzzle when everything is installed and seated properly.

Ya I did all that.....but is it normal to have the last two inches HARD to push?

I'm just wondering if I'm crushing something?

I don't think there should be any extra resistance in the last couple inches. You do not want to have any space between your breechplug, pellets and bullet but I doubt it is good to crush the pellets either. Double check the depth of the pellets/sabot/bullet load and the mark on your ramrod.

After every two or three shots put a cleaning jag on your ramrod and run a few patches through the bore. It should clean out enough of the blackpowder crud to make it easier to load.
This is not meant to replace regular cleaning but too make it more consistent while shooting between cleanings. How many shots have you fired between thorough cleanings? I might be time to scrub the bore.

definitely the crud ring - you need to get that out of there before shooting/reloading again, is it there after every shot or just after a few shots?

I checked with a clean gun and measured with a charge and bullet on my rod.

I think I'm crushing the powerbelt skirt or its forcing the pellet up into the skirt.
It was very consistent and accurate doing this???????

you wrote:

When I shove the bullet down the barrel with the “gentle” push it comes to a stop. But if I push hard on it, I can feel it smash down another couple inches.


The skirt aint gonna give you that much (two inches), maybe a half inch.

perhaps measuring it shed more light on the issue ?

-bubba

Bubba has a point. There is a ring of burned powder that builds up near the seating area of the bullet.
Also it is normal after 2 to 5 shots that it becomes more difficult to get the last couple of inches. You do however want to make sure the skirt comes in contact with the pellets. The Power points are just undersized and will go down the barrel quite easily till you reach that, as Bubba calls it "crude ring" As long as you can push it all the way down you are fine. I only shoot about 6 rounds before I pull the plug and clean my TC Encore. That is not because it can't be loaded but that when I do that it loads easier.

Other than what's been said..

If your really curious to see if the pellets or bullet is being crushed/deformed just take out the breach plug and let the pellets out and than push the bullet out the rest of the way and inspect it.



With that said, my omega is pretty tough to load after about the 3rd shot because of this crud ring and I really have to put some pressure on it to get my load the last inch or so.

Other than leaving no space between the load/bullet, for the best accuracy you want to be as consistant as possible with the pressure you apply while loading.

its normal for it to be hard to push down and dont think its really possible to break trip 7 pellets by pushing to hard. the more shots u tak the harder it get your supposed to clean after every shot cause its most acurate when clean but i usually dont clean it till i cant push anymore and it works fine