.54 cal

[martin12961]

I bought a.54 cal t/c hawken I have never had this calber before what would be a good load for deer and hogs useing round ball or maxi ball

 

[jethro224]

Every gun is different but somewhere between 70-90 grains should get 'er done with a patched round ball. Let your gun tell you what load to use for best accuracy. Start at 70-75 grains and work your way up in 5 grain increments. Your groups should tighten up when you find what the gun likes. Try both 2F and 3F powder if possible.

My .54 Lyman GPR likes 80 grains of 3F Goex under a .530 ball. Killed several deer with that load. All pass-thru shots.
My .54 flinter seems to like 85 grains of 3F.
Couldn't say about Maxi's. :idunno:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I'm also using 85 gr FFFg as my main charge and priming with FFFg with my .54 flinter. My .54 cap gun I use 90 gr FFg.

Both with patched round balls.

 

[sdhunter]

My .54 gpr likes 90 grns of goex 2fg behind a prb. If your hawken has a faster twist like 1-48 you might have to use a slightly lower powder charge with a round ball to get accuracy out of it.

 

[rawhide]

my hunting load is 90grn. of FFFg 777 with a 380 grn. real bullet. for elk. for targets I shoot 40 grns of FFFg 777 a .530 cast ball. and a .015 pillow ticking patch.

 

[longrifle346]

Don't say where you hunt but down south in Feral Pigland most of your hog shots are close, inside 50 yards as a rule, and a 54 roundball will do a deed, even on a big hog. The key (for me) is to either head shoot them at real close range or get'em quartering away(on a boar) to get in behind that gristle-plated shoulder armor. I tried hitting one with a 50 caliber in that plate at less than thirty yards and twenty minutes later he still had enough horsepower to challenge me to a footrace!

85 grains of 777 FFFG over a 1/8" fiber wad and an .018 patched .530 works very well in my Renegade. It'll usually drop a hog without so much as an oink and a deer's shoulder is like butter to that load. I can only tell you what I've done....

 

[William O.]

Start with 55 grains and work up the most accurate load for your rifle. My .54 shoots round ball well enough with 85 grains of 2f Goex and a .018 lubed patch and is a 1:48 rate of twist. It handles Maxi type conicals okay, just not as well as PRB and a 54 caliber lead ball is all I need for the game I hunt.

 

[Rat Trapper]

My hunting buddy uses 90 grains of Goex 2f with a patched round ball. I like Tripple Seven 2f with a Hornady 390 grain great plains bullet using an ox yoke felt wad over powder. For powder charge start at 90 grains and work up if needed.

 

[bangfxr]

My .54 likes FFg over FFFg and I get good results with 65 to 70 grains using 530 RB and pillow ticking patch.

 

[FRJ]

The replys stating 90 gr FF in a 54 GPR are spot on in my GPR also but I go up to 110 gr with TOW mink oil as a patch lubricant. Had to as groups got unacceptably big with only 90.Every rifle and component is a rule unto itself and you will have to do the tuning to know exactly what works in your rifle. FRJ

 

[Rat Trapper]

My TC 54 caliber Hawken shoots best with 120 grains of 2F Tripple Seven, felt wad over powder and 390 grain Hornady great plains bullet. I know that's pretty hot and may be too much for some guns. I called TC and they told me it would be ok in their rifles. The groups just kept getting better as I raised the powder charge. This load has worked very well on Wisconsin Whitetails. The felt wad from Ox Yoke improves groups too.

 

[martin12961]

thanks to all for the help I ordered some round balls in .530 and tickler patches to start with will start at 50 gr. and work up from there.I can not fine anyone that has 390 great plains
thanks martin

 

[buttonbuck]

I got some great groups with maxi hunters 90g 2f goex. Really any conical I shot. I now just use PRB 70g 3f goex I hunt deer not hogs yet. I get the same point of impact with these 2 loads and tight groups.

 

[Rafsob]

I bought a.54 cal t/c hawken I have never had this calber before what would be a good load for deer and hogs useing round ball or maxi ball

Without knowing the twist rate of the barrel, all would be useless speculation. Any rate under 1 in 48" would not be a good barrel for PRBs. What is the twist rate of your gun?

 

[rr11]

As others have said each rifle has its likes and dislikes. I have two 54s and the one I hunt with uses 75gr of 3F the other is best with 90gr of 2F. The only way you will know is to shoot the rifle. Oh well it gives a excuse to go shooting.

 

[William O.]

thanks to all for the help I ordered some round balls in .530 and tickler patches to start with will start at 50 gr. and work up from there.I can not fine anyone that has 390 great plains thanks martin

If your .54 has a 1:48 rate of twist it may shoot both patched round ball and lead conicals equally well but in most cases it will be more accurate with one or the other. Sometimes it will be either or and no in between, shooting one well and the other at right angles from the muzzle (well, almost it seems). Once you have worked up a fairly accurate load, try swithing to another granulation and see if it tightens up your groups. Mine definitely prefers 2f but yours may like 3f better, but just start with one until you get a farily tight group, then try the other just to make sure.

 

[wahkahchimaol.com]

My .54 shoots a 2" group point of aim at 25 yards with 75 grains of FFFG. But then it opens up dramatically to about 14 inches at 125 yards. Can a group at 25 yards be tight and then open up like that at 125 yards due to the gun or the load? Gotta be me, right?

 

[Mad Professor]

Go to TC website and download a manual, that will get you started for loads

P.S. Big hogs? I'd use my lyman 58 w/525 gr Honaday GP bullet over felt wad, 90 gr FFg. I've killed deer with that and the trees behind them! OWCH!!!! Kicks worse than my 300 Win Mag.

The 425 gr in 54 should also work well if it shoots in your barrel?

 

[slumlord44]

125 yards is a long way with iron sights and a frontloader. How does it group at 100? To me 100 yards is the outer limit for me with a frontloader and iron sights. Prefer 75 or under. Maybe some of the guys here are better shots and expect more than I do.

 

[Walks with fire]

I don't know if this is what is going on with your rifle but I have one that cut the patch because the lands were so sharp when it was new. It would shoot well at 50 and open up alot at 100 yards. After two boxes of balls with the same 90 grain charges and patch it tighted up groups at 100 yards and no more patch cutting.

At any rate inspect the patches fired from your rifle; they can tell you a great deal about how the load is working in your barrel. Also; if you are getting 2" groups at 25 yards you should expect groups of around 8" at 100 depending on the effects of wind of course. Roundball is influenced a great deal by the wind. If it's a very windy day I switch out barrels to my conical barrel or except shorter shooting distances for the day with the ball barrel.