.45 TC Hawken Ammo

[Rifleman557]

I am currently shooting .440 Hornady round balls with 90grains of powder, however I am having accuracy problems that I don't experience with other muzzleloader a I'm thinking about switching to Maxi Balls. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

 

[Brian6396]

I would suggest trying a smaller powder charge. My 40 cal rifle likes 50 grains of fff for target shooting.

 

[nchawkeye]

Welcome to the Forum!!!!!!!

There is a reason your gun doesn't group with round balls, why not figure it out???

We need much more info though, like what powder are you shooting, what patches, what lube, what do the spent patches look like???

Then we can get you on your way..

 

[Rat Trapper]

My TC Hawken in 45 cal will drive tacks with 70 grains of Triple Seven 2F and Hornady .440 ball with a 15 thousands patch. give that a try and see what happens. My rifle won't shoot with any conical that I have tried so far. My 50 & 54 Hawken rifles do well with Horandy great plains bullets but not the 45.

 

[mike3132]

My TC Hawken in 45 cal will drive tacks with 70 grains of Triple Seven 2F and Hornady .440 ball with a 15 thousands patch. give that a try and see what happens. My rifle won't shoot with any conical that I have tried so far. My 50 & 54 Hawken rifles do well with Horandy great plains bullets but not the 45.

Try 70grn Goex fff and a Maxi-ball lubed with bore butter with a felt wad between the Maxi and powder. On a good day my T/C Hawken .45 will shoot this load right at an inch @ 75 yards.

 

[azmntman]

90 grains sounds like ALOT of powder. Start even further back like 55 and play with patches, lubes and even cap brands. May want to try the light load with a .10 patch and a .495 ball? I had a .45 and it shot very well with 60 grains, pillow tick patch .490 and HOPPES # 9 patch lube. Didn't shoot well at all with other lubes. Each and every muzzleloader has a "sweet" load that shoots best and its by individual gun not manufacturer and caliber. Bought two Cabelas ,58s at same time, one shot a totally different set up than the other but both shot 2" groups at 90 yards on an "average day". Good luck.

 

[Jumpshot]

Have you tried lighter charges? 90 grains is a bit stiff for a .45. My .45 does okay with 90 grains of 3F, but it does much better with 60 grains.

 

[cynthialee]

I'll join the chorus. 90 grains of powder is too much for that .45

I'd drop down to 50 and work up from there. Somewhere around 55-65 grains it should tighten right up.

 

[ohio ramrod]

While each gun is different due to many factors that effect barrel harmonics. (like "tightness" of the barrel wedges. etc. ) None of the forty fives I have worked with shot there best groups with over 60 grain FF, and most like between 40 and 55 FFF. :idunno:

 

[Rifleman557]

I'm shooting .440 balls that were made sometime in the 60s will try the rifle with 60grains of pyrodex. Should I try a tighter ball or sabot?

 

[Jumpshot]

A patched .440 ball should do fine for now. Try one thing at a time. Go with a lighter powder charge first, see if you can find one the rifle likes (you might not get the ultimate in accuracy yet, but you'll probably find a charge that works at least a little better than what you're using now).

After you find the amount of powder that works best, then start trying other things, like different patches, projectiles, etc.

If you change more than one thing at a time, you won't know what was responsible for the change in accuracy.

 

[nchawkeye]

What about patching and lube???

 

[Idaho Ron]

Some guns like the conicals a lot better. Are you developing a hunting load? I would not shoot a deer with a light loaded 45. I have seen some very small whitetails and I still would not shoot deer with a light loaded 45. If your developing a hunting load try conical's and use an over powder wad. Ron

 

[mooman76]

Your gun was not designed to shoot sabot and we don't talk about those here.

 

[Rat Trapper]

90 grains sounds like ALOT of powder. Start even further back like 55 and play with patches, lubes and even cap brands. May want to try the light load with a .10 patch and a .495 ball? I had a .45 and it shot very well with 60 grains, pillow tick patch .490 and HOPPES # 9 patch lube. Didn't shoot well at all with other lubes. Good luck.

It would take a pretty big hammer to get those 50 caliber balls down the barrel of a 45 cailber barrel!

 

[Rat Trapper]

I'm shooting .440 balls that were made sometime in the 60s will try the rifle with 60grains of pyrodex. Should I try a tighter ball or sabot?

If it is not shooting the way you would like up the powder charge and try again.

 

[awebbersr]

I have been using .445 ball, with .010 patch with good luck over 45 grn of FFF Goex. :v

 

[Rifleman1776]

That is a hefty charge in a .45. I use .445" balls in a Douglas barrel for most shooting. For obsessive 'X' hunting I used .457" balls for many years.
In another .45 rifle I hunt with 65 gr. charges of real bp. Deer don't run and once ded they don't complain about light charges. 90 gr. was once tried and found to be excessive and ruins meat.

 

[frogwalking]

I sold my TC Hawkin years ago to buy parts for to make a rifle. I do remeber that it would shoot cloverleafs at 50 yards with the TC Maxiballs. I never could figgure that out as they were easy to load but, Lord, would they shoot. I don't remember the powder load, but I never shot anything other than real black powder and was never shy about putting it in there. (It was not a light charge.)

 

[410-er]

It should like a .440 or .445 with .015 or .018 patch and 70grs of FFFg.