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Started off with 80gr of Hodgon's FFg under a Hornady .530" round ball and a 0.10" flannel patch lubed with mink oil. The 1st 3 went high and wide to the right. They're not in the photo. Another shooter at the range, more experienced with BP than myself, suggested a starting charge of 65gr. He told me he's learned the sweet spot for the T/C Hawken tends to be in the 60 - 75gr range.
So...I lowered the charge to 65gr and "Voila!!"
As you can see from the photo...this little charcoal burner is definitely "minute-of-deer" at 50 yards.
Some people just need a sympathetic pat on the head.....with a hammer. Repeatedly.
Because I Can, and Have
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USAF-72-76
God Bless America.
Disclaimer, not responsible for anyone copying or building anything i make.
Always consult an expert first.
now if you can get it to go 'boom' in the snow, you are good. mine tends to misfire in january at -40 in the blowing snow and howling wind. I had yo go to an inline.
Stew, sounds like your on the right path. I have the same rifle, but I haven't done a lot of load development with it. I have two problems with mine. One is inconsistent ignition and the other is hard loading after two or three shots. I've used different nipples and still seem to have the problem. The hard loading is from the fouled barrel and I think I need to back off my charge because if memory serves me right I'm around 90 grains of FF. Like I said I haven't done a lot of load development.
I use 3F in my 50 Renegade and can shoot up to 8 or 9 shots at the range between swabbing. I load 60 gr for a target load which helps with the fowling a lot. My hunting load is 70gr and fowls the bore more but can still get 6 shots before I have to swab the bore.
Good shooting with the 54 round ball loads are just a ton of fun to shoot.
Jeremy
GySgt USMC Ret
To err is human, To forgive is devine, Neither of which is Marine Corps policy Semper Fidelis
Old Savage,I use 80 gr. of FFF black powder or the same amount of Pyrodex in pistol granulation.Nothing but PRB and the PRB's are swaged with no sprue.I get 1" to 1-1/2" at 100 yards.
Stan in SC
The more I listen,the more I hear....and vice versa.
That photo reminded me of the one I had thirty years ago and my extremely eventful first muzzleloader hunt in a Florida wildlife management area.
Florida is a very humid place.
I scouted out a spot way back in the woods that showed a lot of sign. On the morning of the hunt, I went through the check station, drove miles, parked, walked at least a mile, and set up my tree stand in the pre-dawn darkness.
Went to load the rifle. Tried to pull the ramrod out from its carrier under the barrel. It wouldn't budge. Did I mention that Florida is a very humid place?
The wooden ramrod had somehow swelled and no amount of muscle would budge it. I then walked back to the truck and found a pair of pliers. Fought with the rod for a while. No dice!
Then I drove all the way back to the check station. There were several guys hanging around and everybody took a turn at it. As I recall, we finally ended up holding the rifle barrel over a hot stove for a while and that shrunk the wood enough to finally yank it out.
By the time I got back to my stand, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Disgusted, I took my stand off the tree and went home.
Once I got back to Pensacola, I bought a brass ramrod and threw that wooden monstrosity into the trash.
Ain't it funny how the simplest things can ruin a hunt?
Stan we are pretty close. I use 80gr of the 3f or P and a .495 RB with the sprue straight up if it has one when I load with a .015 prelubed T/C patch. I start the ball with a plastic hammer and the best I have got is a 5 shot 2 1/2" group all in the black. I think the velocity was about 1750 IIRC. I will check my records.
In the High Desert of Southern Calif. ..."on the cutting edge of going back in time"...
You've got a good start there. What did your patches look like? Did they burn through or were they hard to load? with a .010 patch I would think they loaded easy even in a fouled bore. I have two .54's and they both like different powders and projectiles. Both of my .54's prefer a .015 pillow ticking patch. I use "moose milk" for my patch lube. The Renegade likes .530 balls 3F Goex. 80gr. with prb's. The Cabelas Hawken Hunter prefers 2F 90gr with .530 prb's. Were I you, I'd try a bit thicker pillow ticking patch and see if you get even tighter grouping. Depending on your barrel you may even try a .535 ball and a .010 or .012 ticking patch. half the fun is try ing to find just the right powder patch ball for your rifle. Good luck and have fun with it!
Old Savage,Several years ago I acquired about 300 of the very last of the Uncle Mike's "Poly Patches" which I like very much.I've used them for years and years and hated to see them cease manufacture.So I do not used any cloth type of patch.
I hope Stew71 has as good success with the .54 as I have had with mine.I used a .50 White Mountain carbine for a lot of years until I happened upon my .54.The .54 just seems to be a whole different ball game.
Stan in SC
The more I listen,the more I hear....and vice versa.
Stan in SC wrote:What model is yours?I have a .54 New Englander that shoots super accurate.
Stan in SC
same one, new englander .54 -- shoots accurately just not well in the january cold and blowing snow. i went to a .54 remington 700 stainless inline with shotgun primer conversion kit.
You have the same sweet spot that I have on my .54 Renegade...I also have one with 120gr Pyrodex P...about 1900fps with the RB. Forty gr of Pyrodex P was a real nice plinking, bunny, squill load and shot into one hole at 25yd.
The Rotten Fruit Always Hits The Ground First
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I bought my .54 TC Hawkins in 1984 and have been hunting Mule Deer with it since. I'm a round ball shooter and the first few years I could not get it to shoot accurately with heavy loads. The stock barrel was set up to shoot conical/maxi balls. I did some research back then and found a barrel that was made just for round balls and have never looked back. I think it is a Green Mountain barrel, sorry my memory has faded on the particulars
I can shoot very accurately with an 120 grain load, which is a great advantage for range and velocity, hunting Mule Deer.
I use Ox-Yoke Wonder Patches .015 and if the loading gets sticky I just run one through the barrel to clean it up. I find I do need a couple of fowling shots for accuracy afterwords though. I changed the nipple to a Hot Shot nipple and it cured any ignition problems. Also I changed to Pyrodex, it gave me more shots between swabbing's than black did.
Have fun with your Hawkins, they are wonderful smoke poles!
ScottS
"No arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."
-- Ronald Reagan
Scott, I think you hit the nail on the head with the TC Hawken's. I think I've got one of those middle of the road bbl.'s. It's not directly for a rb or a conical. I've thought about getting a Green Mountain and think I should pursue that further.
Nath wrote:Guy's, trouble with ignition! Make sure those nipples have a hole of .040", if not drill them and never look back
1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 guns later I know it works
Nath.
I had the same issue with inconsistent ignition. So....
1) Make sure that channel between the breech and the nipple touch-hole is nice and clean.
2) Drilled out the nipple flash hole.
3) Swab the bore every 3 or 4 shots.
Goes bang everytime. I haven't yet recovered a fired patch so I don't know how it looks. The same gentlemen who helped me with the charges also suggested using Triple 7. He gets less fouling and so spends less time cleaning and more time shooting. Which, if memory serves, is the whole point of the game!
Some people just need a sympathetic pat on the head.....with a hammer. Repeatedly.
