Above - Thompson/Center .50 Strike - With 3-9x40mm Hi-Lux Optics TB-ML Muzzleloader Hunting Scope
North American Muzzleloader Hunting
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Above - Traditions .50 VORTEK StrikerFire LDR - With 3-9x40mm Hi-Lux Optics TB-ML Muzzleloader Hunting Scope
Not Exactly Identical Twins!
While the two rifles pictured above, the Thompson/Center Arms .50 Strike in the banner photo across the top of this page ... and ... the Traditions .50 VORTEK StrikerFire LDR directly above, may have a lot in common ... they are definitely NOT RELATED! Both are offered in .50 caliber only ... both are hammerless internal striker break open designs ... both require the internal striker (a.k.a. "firing pin") to be externally "cocked" for each shot ... both currently have a 1-in-28 rifling twist ... both feature No. 209 primer ignition ... and both, of these two rifles anyway, are now topped with one of the 3-9x40mm TB-ML muzzleloader hunting scopes from Hi-lux Optics. Other than that ... these two rifles are as different as night and day!
This article/report shares what makes these two rifles ... and the hammerless design they kind of share ... special. This page takes a look at the innovation found in each of the rifles ... and shares what NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING feels needs to be re-addressed to make the T/C Strike and the Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire more appealing to today's modern muzzleloading hunter.
This article/report shares what makes these two rifles ... and the hammerless design they kind of share ... special. This page takes a look at the innovation found in each of the rifles ... and shares what NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING feels needs to be re-addressed to make the T/C Strike and the Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire more appealing to today's modern muzzleloading hunter.
For our comparison testing of these two great rifles, for this round anyway, we chose to shoot charges of FFFg Triple Seven. Back before the development of Blackhorn 209, this was definitely my powder of choice. Loading charges of 110-grains of this carbon based black powder substitute, out of the 27- and 28-inch barreled rifles being shot ten years ago - the then new .451" diameter saboted 260-grain Scorpion PT Gold, from Harvester Muzzleloadng, averaged right at 1,900 f.p.s. at the muzzle (shooting our 27-inch barreled Knight .50 Long Range Hunter).
Shooting that rifle, and that charge of FFFg Triple Seven during the fall of 2006, I managed to take one very nice 10-point whitetail buck at 191 yards. The 260-grain polymer-tipped spire-point plowed home perfectly behind the facing shoulder ... and the deer went just 30 yards and went down in the fresh snow covering the ground. At the muzzle of the rifle's 27-inch Green Mountain barrel, the load generated right at 2,080 f.p.e. Out at nearly 200 yards, the bullet retained close to 1,350 f.p.s. - and that bullet had hit with 1,050 f.p.e.
Recoil with the load was very mild, yet it had the ability to retain nearly 30% more foot-pounds of energy than absolutely needed to produce a quick, clean kill of the big bodied buck that field dressed at just over 225 pounds. Recoil was indeed a factor in my "almost" choosing the 260-grain Scorpion PT Gold for a Nebraska hunt in December 2013. I was hunting with one of the 30-inch barreled VORTEK StrikerFire LDR rifles for the first time, and when shooting my usual 110-grain charge of Blackhorn 209 behind the heftier 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold, I truly found the recoil of the load and the light 6 3/4-pound rifle a bit objectionable. I had pulled a muscle in my shoulder helping a buddy drag out a deer during an earlier hunt, and 110-grains of powder behind the 300-grain bullet hurt to shoot. I ended up dropping the powder charge to 100-grains, and used the rifle to take a buck on the last day of my last hunt of the season.
Shooting that rifle, and that charge of FFFg Triple Seven during the fall of 2006, I managed to take one very nice 10-point whitetail buck at 191 yards. The 260-grain polymer-tipped spire-point plowed home perfectly behind the facing shoulder ... and the deer went just 30 yards and went down in the fresh snow covering the ground. At the muzzle of the rifle's 27-inch Green Mountain barrel, the load generated right at 2,080 f.p.e. Out at nearly 200 yards, the bullet retained close to 1,350 f.p.s. - and that bullet had hit with 1,050 f.p.e.
Recoil with the load was very mild, yet it had the ability to retain nearly 30% more foot-pounds of energy than absolutely needed to produce a quick, clean kill of the big bodied buck that field dressed at just over 225 pounds. Recoil was indeed a factor in my "almost" choosing the 260-grain Scorpion PT Gold for a Nebraska hunt in December 2013. I was hunting with one of the 30-inch barreled VORTEK StrikerFire LDR rifles for the first time, and when shooting my usual 110-grain charge of Blackhorn 209 behind the heftier 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold, I truly found the recoil of the load and the light 6 3/4-pound rifle a bit objectionable. I had pulled a muscle in my shoulder helping a buddy drag out a deer during an earlier hunt, and 110-grains of powder behind the 300-grain bullet hurt to shoot. I ended up dropping the powder charge to 100-grains, and used the rifle to take a buck on the last day of my last hunt of the season.
Hi-Lux Optics 3-9x40mm TB-ML Scope On The Traditions .50 VORTEK StrikerFire LDR
The Scorpion PT Gold bullets are definitely my favored saboted hunting and test bullets ... but the CNC machined all-copper Cutting Edge Bullets saboted .430" diameter MAXIMUS is quickly growing on me. So, for this testing, I chose to do some shooting with both the 260-grain Harvester Muzzleloading polymer-tipped spire-point and the 250-grain Cutting Edge Bullets spitzer hollow-point bullet - shooting 110- and 120-grain charges of FFFg Triple Seven.
Harvester Muzzleloading 260-Grain Scorpion PT Gold
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Cutting Edge Bullets 250-Grain MAXIMUS Bullet
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On The Bench - Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire LDR
Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire LDR - 260-Grain .45l" Scorpion PT Gold
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Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire LDR - 250-Grain .430" All-Copper MAXIMUS
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The 260-grain Scorpion PT Gold, loaded with Harvester's black .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot, shot best with the 110-grain charge of FFFg Triple Seven. The above left group was the best of three shot, and measures .524" center-to-center. The other two groups went .667" and .808". At the muzzle of the 30-inch barrel (29-inch working bore), the load was good for an average of 2,016 f.p.s. - with 2,343 f.p.e. At 200 yards, the .220 b.c. bullet would retain right at 1,400 f.p.s. and 1,130 f.p.e. The groups shot with the 120-grain charge of FFFg Triple Seven went .734" ... .927" ... 1.116". The average velocity of that charge ran 2,081 f.p.s. - with 2,499 f.p.e.
The 250-grain MAXIMUS turned in it's best accuracy when loaded ahead of 120-grains of FFFg Triple Seven - most likely due to the slightly heavier sleeves of the Harvester Muzzleloading green .50x.44 Crush Rib Sabot with which the bullet comes packaged. At the muzzle of the same VORTEK StrikerFire LDR, the load is good for 2,119 f.p.s. - with right at 2,495 f.p.s. Thanks to the higher .311 b.c., out at 200 yards, this bullet is still flying at around 1,640 f.p.s., retaining some 1,490 f.p.e. The group above right was the best shot with the rifle and load, measuring .625" center-to-center. The other two went .693" and .917" center-to-center. Shooting 110-grain charges, the groups punched with the 250-grain MAXIMUS went .866" ... .997" ... 1.211".
Note: The bore of the rifle was wiped with a saliva dampened patch after each shot. The patch was run down the bore ... pulled back out ... turned over and pushed down and pulled out once again. After each shot, the rifle was allowed to cool in the shade for approximately 7 minutes ... before the next shot was loaded.
The 250-grain MAXIMUS turned in it's best accuracy when loaded ahead of 120-grains of FFFg Triple Seven - most likely due to the slightly heavier sleeves of the Harvester Muzzleloading green .50x.44 Crush Rib Sabot with which the bullet comes packaged. At the muzzle of the same VORTEK StrikerFire LDR, the load is good for 2,119 f.p.s. - with right at 2,495 f.p.s. Thanks to the higher .311 b.c., out at 200 yards, this bullet is still flying at around 1,640 f.p.s., retaining some 1,490 f.p.e. The group above right was the best shot with the rifle and load, measuring .625" center-to-center. The other two went .693" and .917" center-to-center. Shooting 110-grain charges, the groups punched with the 250-grain MAXIMUS went .866" ... .997" ... 1.211".
Note: The bore of the rifle was wiped with a saliva dampened patch after each shot. The patch was run down the bore ... pulled back out ... turned over and pushed down and pulled out once again. After each shot, the rifle was allowed to cool in the shade for approximately 7 minutes ... before the next shot was loaded.
Hi-Lux Optics 3-9x40mm TB-ML Scope On The Thompson/Center Strike
In this reports, we're not really pitting the longer barreled .50 caliber VORTEK StrikerFire LDR against the shorter 24-inch barreled T/C Strike. As already pointed out, these two rifles are of very similar design. The biggest difference between the two is simply the barrel length - which in turn gives the longer barreled Traditions rifle a definite ballistics advantage. For this testing, we replaced the Hi-Lux Optics 1.5-6x Buck Country model scope that had been on the Strike with one of the 3-9x40mm TB-ML scopes - the same scope model used on the StrikerFire LDR rifle. All shooting with both rifles was done with the scopes set at 9x.
On The Bench - Thompson/Center Strike
T/C Strike - 260-Grain .451" Scorpion PT Gold
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T/C Strike - 250-Grain .430" All-Copper MAXIMUS
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The T/C Strike turned in it's best performance with the 260-grain Scorpion PT Gold when shooting the 110-grain charge of FFFg Triple Seven as well. The best of three groups shot with the load is shown above left. Center-to-center, the group goes .677". The other two went .836" and .871" center-to-center. At the muzzle of the 24-inch (23" working bore) Green Mountain barrel, the load is good for an average of 1,957 f.p.s. - with 2,210 f.p.e. At 200 yards, this bullet would slow to around 1,290 f.p.s., retaining right at 960 f.p.e. While still above the 800 f.p.e. minimum for taking deer-sized game ... this very same load shot out of the longer 30-inch Traditions barrel will produce 170 additional foot pounds of energy at 200 yards. With the heftier 120-grain charge, velocity inched up to 1,968 f.p.s. - and the groups went .922" ... .997" and 1.154".
Again with this rifle, the Cutting Edge Bullets .430" all-copper MAXIMUS bullet produced its best accuracy when powered by a stouter 120-grain charge of FFFg Triple Seven. The .519" group shown above right was the best of three groups ... measuring .519" center-to-center. The other two went .647" and .718" center-to-center. (Best overall accuracy during the two morning test shoot.) At the muzzle of the short barrel, the load is good for 2,019 f.p.s., with 2,262 f.p.e. Again, thanks to the higher .311 b.c. of the smaller diameter and longer length 250-grain MAXMUS, the bullet does a better job of retaining velocity and energy at 200 yards. At that distance the bullet is still moving along at around 1,530 f.p.s., with around 1,300 f.p.e.
Our feeling is that the lighter 110-grain powder charge simply did not allow the short barrel to produce enough velocity to force the heavier sleeved Harvester Muzzleloading .50x.44 Crush Rib Sabot to open quickly and separate from the bullet. The three groups shot with that charge, with a velocity of around 1,930 f.p.s., ran 1.041" ... 1.179" and 1.214".
Note: The bore of this rifle was wiped the same as described above after each shot, and the rifle was allowed to cool in the shade for around 7 minutes before being loaded for the next shot.
Again with this rifle, the Cutting Edge Bullets .430" all-copper MAXIMUS bullet produced its best accuracy when powered by a stouter 120-grain charge of FFFg Triple Seven. The .519" group shown above right was the best of three groups ... measuring .519" center-to-center. The other two went .647" and .718" center-to-center. (Best overall accuracy during the two morning test shoot.) At the muzzle of the short barrel, the load is good for 2,019 f.p.s., with 2,262 f.p.e. Again, thanks to the higher .311 b.c. of the smaller diameter and longer length 250-grain MAXMUS, the bullet does a better job of retaining velocity and energy at 200 yards. At that distance the bullet is still moving along at around 1,530 f.p.s., with around 1,300 f.p.e.
Our feeling is that the lighter 110-grain powder charge simply did not allow the short barrel to produce enough velocity to force the heavier sleeved Harvester Muzzleloading .50x.44 Crush Rib Sabot to open quickly and separate from the bullet. The three groups shot with that charge, with a velocity of around 1,930 f.p.s., ran 1.041" ... 1.179" and 1.214".
Note: The bore of this rifle was wiped the same as described above after each shot, and the rifle was allowed to cool in the shade for around 7 minutes before being loaded for the next shot.
T/C Strike With A Montana Whitetail Buck & Doe
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Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire LDR With A Nebraska Buck
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The advantage of the coil spring powered internal striker vs. a swinging external hammer is faster lock time - and that typically means better accuracy down range. That showed in the 7 to 8 hours we put in during two morning shooting sessions. Of the 12 groups shot, our worst went 1.214" center-to-center.
Both the T/C Strike (above left) and the Traditions VORTEK StrkerFire LDR (above right) are great ultra-modern No. 209 primer in-line ignition muzzleloading hunting rifles ... which I have successfully hunted with. Still, I have minor issues with each of these rifles. And ... I wouldn't be fair to the followers of this website or to either of these two great sponsors if I did not share what needs to be re-addressed with these rifles.
As most of you already know, the Strike actually started life as the LHR Redemption, about three years before it was added to the Thompson/Center Arms muzzleloading line. We've been shooting one of these rifles here at NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING for more than three years now. Back when this innovative design was introduced by former T/C employees as the Redemption, I questioned and challenged the decision for going with such a short 24-inch barrel. Sorry, but that's 1980's in-line technology. Every other feature of the Strike is extremely advanced, and what's honestly holding back the sales of this excellent in-line muzzleloader is that short and stubby velocity robbing barrel. If this rifle is to ever have an honest chance in today's performance driven modern muzzleloader market, T/C must take the barrel length to at least 28 inches ... to tap the performance of today's advanced black powder substitutes and higher b.c. saboted bullets.
Barrel length is certainly no problem with the VORTEK StrikerFire LDR - a 30-inch barrel seems to be an optimum length for today's most popular loading components. I'm sure the company went to great lengths to design this rifle to produce the lightest possible hunting rifle. But ... in my book, they went a bit too far ... just to produce a very hollowed out buttstock that incorporates a "snap on" butt pad to offer easy access to a small storage area ... a storage space that is too small to really carry anything of any consequence. Yet, that light and thinner walled buttstock makes this rifle just a bit too painful to shoot with hotter charges of FFFg Triple Seven or Blackhorn 209 ... when loading a heavier and harder hitting high b.c. saboted 300-grain bullet. The company needs to offer this rifle in a slightly heavier model, without that light walled overly hollow butt stock. I can carry more stuff in one jacket pocket than what can be stored in the present storage compartment of the StrikerFire LDR models. Shooting Comfort Is More Important Than Storing Stuff In A Rifle Buttstock!
Also, both companies seriously need to look at getting away from the late 1980's 1-in-28 rifling twist as well ... and go with a faster 1-in-24 rifling twist. Whoever is first to offer a 1-in-24 twist 28- to 30-inch barreled .50 caliber No. 209 primer in-line muzzleloader will own the in-line rifle market ... until all the others catch up. - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
Published 8-1-17
Both the T/C Strike (above left) and the Traditions VORTEK StrkerFire LDR (above right) are great ultra-modern No. 209 primer in-line ignition muzzleloading hunting rifles ... which I have successfully hunted with. Still, I have minor issues with each of these rifles. And ... I wouldn't be fair to the followers of this website or to either of these two great sponsors if I did not share what needs to be re-addressed with these rifles.
As most of you already know, the Strike actually started life as the LHR Redemption, about three years before it was added to the Thompson/Center Arms muzzleloading line. We've been shooting one of these rifles here at NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING for more than three years now. Back when this innovative design was introduced by former T/C employees as the Redemption, I questioned and challenged the decision for going with such a short 24-inch barrel. Sorry, but that's 1980's in-line technology. Every other feature of the Strike is extremely advanced, and what's honestly holding back the sales of this excellent in-line muzzleloader is that short and stubby velocity robbing barrel. If this rifle is to ever have an honest chance in today's performance driven modern muzzleloader market, T/C must take the barrel length to at least 28 inches ... to tap the performance of today's advanced black powder substitutes and higher b.c. saboted bullets.
Barrel length is certainly no problem with the VORTEK StrikerFire LDR - a 30-inch barrel seems to be an optimum length for today's most popular loading components. I'm sure the company went to great lengths to design this rifle to produce the lightest possible hunting rifle. But ... in my book, they went a bit too far ... just to produce a very hollowed out buttstock that incorporates a "snap on" butt pad to offer easy access to a small storage area ... a storage space that is too small to really carry anything of any consequence. Yet, that light and thinner walled buttstock makes this rifle just a bit too painful to shoot with hotter charges of FFFg Triple Seven or Blackhorn 209 ... when loading a heavier and harder hitting high b.c. saboted 300-grain bullet. The company needs to offer this rifle in a slightly heavier model, without that light walled overly hollow butt stock. I can carry more stuff in one jacket pocket than what can be stored in the present storage compartment of the StrikerFire LDR models. Shooting Comfort Is More Important Than Storing Stuff In A Rifle Buttstock!
Also, both companies seriously need to look at getting away from the late 1980's 1-in-28 rifling twist as well ... and go with a faster 1-in-24 rifling twist. Whoever is first to offer a 1-in-24 twist 28- to 30-inch barreled .50 caliber No. 209 primer in-line muzzleloader will own the in-line rifle market ... until all the others catch up. - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
Published 8-1-17
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