Thompson/Center's Strike Muzzleloader Part II

Winds were gusting to 25 knots, temps dropped to single digits, ice covered snow as far as the eyes could see. Today was definitely a long johns, break out the forced air heaters and warm up the chronograph batteries kind of range day.

Very little was required to prep the Thompson / Center Strike. A moderate magnification Leupold scope was mounted with Warne rings and secured to the Strike’s included Weaver mount and the bore and breech were cleared of factory preservative.

Tools? The tools included with the T/C Strike are appropriate for cleaning and removing or installing the primer adapter retaining collar. They will work for starting and driving home a sabot mounted bullet, but I would add a better starter/ramrod handle for longer term use. The Strike is a tight bore muzzle loader, so something that better protects and forms to the hand under a lot of pressure would be useful. In fact, Thompson / Center makes a variety of these enhanced tools and accessories.

Two types / weights of sabot mounted bullets were shot with two and three pellet charges of 50/50 Hodgdon Triple Seven. All primers were Winchester 209. The Remington Accutip 250 grain has a deeply recessed base, the 300 Grain Hornady has a moderately recessed base, the difference puts more air volume between powder and sabot and has an influence on pressure.

At the time of shooting, me, the rifle and ammunition were checked at 2°F ambient to approximate local hunting season temperatures, but the chronograph was brought to a stable 35°F, just above its lower operating temperature limit, for the sake of accurate readings. The chronograph was placed 10′ from the Strike’s muzzle.

Shooting Observations

Performance was very good, both power and accuracy. Looking at the three pellet Remington AccuTip load, point blank range on a 3″ ordinate is 177 yards with only an 8″ drop out to 250 yards and the bullet is still holding onto approximately 1,000 ft-lbs of energy. 150 grain charges produced ballistics comparable to modern high pressure 45-70 loads fired from a 18.5″ barrel. 100 grain charges were easier to shoot, at least easier on the shoulder and a bit more accurate. Could accuracy have been better? At 2°F, the problem is the guy behind the trigger, so I believe it could be in a less hostile environment. Run this range session on the Spring with 50°F temps and the outcome could have been measurably better.

The Thompson / Center Strike has an excellent, light, crisp trigger. I did not measure pull as the Strike should not be dry fired, however I would estimate high 3 lbs to low 4 lbs. The action locked up tightly, the cocking slide effort was light and decocking was a simple process. The bore was very tight, which is probably why loads yielded better velocity than often seen with 26″ barrel muzzleloaders. Probably due to the very low temps and less than pliable sabots, I was not able to load some some Barnes sabot products with two hands and a mallet. Both the Remington and Hornady sabot reduced the effort to load to manageable, but a black powder solvent soaked patch was run through the bore every couple of rounds. This effort seemed to ease up with use, so perhaps within fifty rounds or so this would not be an issue.