CVA Hawken on the range

[Kentuckywindage]

This sucker can shoot!! I loaded up 90gr Pyrodex RS and then weighed them out on my scale. 66.4 grains weight. Homecast .490 round ball and .015 TC patches lubed with Wonder Lube..

Got all my ammo ready to took it out this evening and fired 6 shots. My first shot was perfect, reloaded and took another shot. #2 puzzled me until i found the patches.

I learned today that this rifle wants a cool barrel to shoot. If i just shoot and reload and shoot, the warm barrel tears up the patches badly. On a cool barrel, theres just a little bit of burn through that i can live with, Especially after the results from today!

Oops. would be good if i mentioned it was 113 yards laser ranged.

I marked shots 1 & 2. The other 4, well you can see where they landed :haha:

 

[lonehunter]

Thats some fine shootin there :thumbsup: Enjoy it while you can, One day you will get old and wont be able to see that far :haha: I would be happy with that at 50yrds. I dont understand how temp. of the barrel could cause a patch to tear.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

i have no clue either but the last 4 shots, the recovered patches were great. Maybe the fouling is stickier when the barrel is warm and causes them to catch and tear :hmm:

 

[Rogue River]

You might want to try an OP wad and see what happens!!! :grin:

 

[cowpoke1955]

I agree with Rogue. Try some Ox-Yoke Wonder Wads and see what happens. Also, try a different lube. I use Ballistol oil and can shoot all day without swabbing. It's like swabbing your barrel every time you ram that ball down. A friend of mine has a CVA .50 and a .54 Hawkens. They are shooters. Good going :thumbsup:

 

[rafterob]

The Pyrodex burns hotter than Black so that may be part of the equation. Are the patches pre-lubed? Are they old? Many here have reported failing patches with old prelubed patches. As oils become rancid they become acidic and this degrades the fabric. That is some great 100 yard shooting. Laser-ranged, is that laser sighted too?!

 

[Kentuckywindage]

i lubed the patches myself, i dont pay TC's price for their prelubed patches because they dont soak them good and charge a couple bucks more for poorly lubes patches.

 

[smokymtnsmokepole]

That's some good shooting. I have a CVA St. Louis Hawken that shoots a lot better than I do.

 

[PreglerD]

Hello from Germany!

You did some fine shooting with this smokepole. I have a Dikar Hawken in .50 with round stainless barrel and 1 in 32" ROT. It is a real shooter. Both with maxis and PRB and 75 grs Wano PP it shoots well.

Regards

Kirrmeister

 

[rafterob]

I would maybe try a thicker patch and a lower load. 70 grains seems to be a good load for these rifles from what others have posted and that is what I use in my Traditions, which is basically the same as yours. My theory on the thicker patch is this;the barrel heats up and expands slightly, allowing gases to escape around the edge of the patch. With the clean burn holes you are getting in the center of the patch, it couild be you are burning-and not tearing the edges of the patch. A thicker patch may make up for the expanding barrel. Just a theory, mind you.