American Hunter – August 2019

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MUZZLELOADERS

hardware

Thompson/Center

Impact!SB

By Brad Fitzpatrick

O

ver the last two decades, in-line

muzzleloaders have become

increasingly sophisticated and

user-friendly, and Thompson/Center

has been one of the leaders in modern

muzzleloader innovation. The compa-

ny’s newest .-caliber smokepole, the

Impact! , is easy to operate, accurate

and, with a starting  of just    , it’s

also an excellent bargain.

The Impact! utilizes a break-action

design that incorporates an ambidextrous

sliding hood. The hood surrounds the top

of the breech and, when retracted, allows

the barrel to pivot downward, providing

easy access to the breech plug for loading,

unloading and cleaning.

Another key feature of the Impact!

rifle is / ’s Speed Breech system. The

breech plug is equipped with triple lead

threads that require only five turns to

fully insert and are designed to prevent

seizing. By simply removing the breech

plug, it’s easy to clean the rifle’s bore,

removing corrosive black powder residue,

which improves accuracy. The Impact!

is designed to function with  primers

and a breech-plug wrench is included,

though it likely won’t be required if you

stick to a routine cleaning regimen.

There are five different Impact!

models currently available, all of which

are equipped with -inch, :-inch-

twist barrels and synthetic stocks. Blued

Accuracy Results* Thompson/Center Impact!SB .50 Cal.

Weight Velocity Group Size (inches)

Load (grs.) (fps) Smallest Average Largest

T/C Shockwave *  . . .

Remington Premier AccuTip **  . . .

Traditions Smackdown ***  . . .

Outdoors | Sandbags |  Yards | -Shot Group, * grs. Blackhorn  loose, ** grs. Blackhorn  loose, *** grs. Pyrodex pellets

unloading and cleaning. twist barrels and synthetic stocks. Blued

Accuracy Results* Thompson/Center Impact!SB