Hello everyone. I'm new to this site and have been reading here for about 2 weeks. I have been shooting BP off and on for about 40 years. I recently got back into it when I picked up a little Transitions deerhunter at a yard sale for $35.00 I still had a lee mold that throws .492 round balls and am a firm believer in pillow ticking and crisco with 70gr of pyrodex. Well the little gun is great,able to shoot 4in group out to 75 yards off a rest. Now with my old eyes,thats not bad for me and I'm happy with this. Now here is my concern. I went out and bought a new TC 50cal hawken. I have stuffed about 3-4 hundred balls down It's throat using the same combi as above and I'll be darned if I can get any better than 6in groups out to 50 yards with it. The patches look great and I've tried 50 to 80 graines with not much difference. I'm a little concered that I spent so much only to get showed up by my $35.00 land marker. I think I might be missing something???? Thanks for any ideas.
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Back in it again!
- Thread starter 1in48
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I would try a different lube, try a .490 ball if you can. Try different patch thicknesses. What ever you do just change one thing at a time until you find what your gun likes.
And welcome to the forum. :thumbsup:
And welcome to the forum. :thumbsup:
Little Wattsy
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With your T/C you might try going through the ENTIRE process of "working up a load". My .50 T/C prefers a .490 ball, .015 prelubed patch, and 90grains of Pyrodex RS....
There are at least TWO differant ball sizes to try (.490 & .495), 3 or more patch thickness (.015, .018, .020), powder charges to 100 grains (from 70 to 100 in 5 grain increments - 3 shot groups), and maybe a couple of differant types of powder (Pyrodex, 777, Real Blacl, FFg, FFFg)
That gun SHOULD be capable of virtual one hole groups at 50 yards.
Hang in there. :hatsoff:
There are at least TWO differant ball sizes to try (.490 & .495), 3 or more patch thickness (.015, .018, .020), powder charges to 100 grains (from 70 to 100 in 5 grain increments - 3 shot groups), and maybe a couple of differant types of powder (Pyrodex, 777, Real Blacl, FFg, FFFg)
That gun SHOULD be capable of virtual one hole groups at 50 yards.
Hang in there. :hatsoff:
I would use:
.490 Hornady RB
.018 Pillow Patches with Bore Butter
80 grs of Pyrodex RS
CCI or Remington caps
I am shooting the same gun as you. Mine is not very particular what it shoots but this is a very good load in it. I have found wetter is better than dryer with your patches.
.490 Hornady RB
.018 Pillow Patches with Bore Butter
80 grs of Pyrodex RS
CCI or Remington caps
I am shooting the same gun as you. Mine is not very particular what it shoots but this is a very good load in it. I have found wetter is better than dryer with your patches.
Wattsy has good advice about working up an accurate load. My .50 absolutely prefers 3f and is very accurate at 50 yards using just 55 grains of Goex. Past that it needs more powder, so 80 grains in yours may not be quite enough. Max loads are 90 grains of 3f & 110 of 2f using PRB, so I would see if more powder tightens your groups, along with different patch thickness and/or lubes.
Thanks for all the ideas. I forgot to mention that the one load i found was .490 ball,.015 oiled patch and 50 grs of pyrodex. this seemed to do pretty good but any more powder than that and everything went to he@@. I wouldn't mind this load but I want to be able to use it for deer out to 75 yrds. And not sure it would do the job.
Tom Compton
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IMO .490 w/ .015 patch is too loose for use with more robust loads and will allow the ball/patch to strip the rifling. Accuracy then suffers.
TC
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Are you reading your spent patches? Sounds like patch failure to me. But you won't know for sure unless you look at your patches to tell. Your lube may not be holding up with higher charges.
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40 Flint said:
Yeah, I really don't like using anything less than .018 pillow ticking in most guns myself.
Patches look great with no burn at all. I have been using .018 ticking,.492 RBs, and loads of pyrodex from50 to 75grs. shots go right to left about 6inches at 50 yards. elevation about the same. This is the first 50cal I have ever had trouble with.
You might check the sights to see if they are loose.
Strings in the horizontal plane are usually caused by something like this.
The front sight probably won't be loose but because the rear sight is attached to the barrel by two screws it can move around a bit if the screws are loose.
At 50 yards range a movement of the rear sight of 1/32 of an inch will change the point of impact 3 inches.
If the sights are tight, the horizontal stringing might also be caused by the barrel moving sideways in the stock during recoil.
Check to make sure it is a snug fit with the wood and also check the hooked breech to make sure it is hooked up with the tang.
Side slop in that area can also allow the barrel to move during recoil.
Strings in the horizontal plane are usually caused by something like this.
The front sight probably won't be loose but because the rear sight is attached to the barrel by two screws it can move around a bit if the screws are loose.
At 50 yards range a movement of the rear sight of 1/32 of an inch will change the point of impact 3 inches.
If the sights are tight, the horizontal stringing might also be caused by the barrel moving sideways in the stock during recoil.
Check to make sure it is a snug fit with the wood and also check the hooked breech to make sure it is hooked up with the tang.
Side slop in that area can also allow the barrel to move during recoil.
Ft. Jefferson
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I agree with the loose barrel idea. Make sure the wedge pin is a (strong press fit) putting down pressure on the barrel.
Thank you so much! I checked the site and it was indeed loose. Who would have though? I tightened it and went back to the range and the gun is perfect. Im now shooting under 2in at 50 yrds and with my old eyes thats better than I could have ever hoped for. Again thanks to all of you. You see you can teach an old dog new tricks!
That is great to hear! :grin: Let us know when you work up a hunting load for it.
