First experiences with my new (to me) "Springfield Hawken"

[gbeauvin]

About a week ago I bought a left-handed Traditions "Springfield Hawken" off a fellow I met on a local hunting forum. In spite of the cold, I got out to the range yesterday to give my first muzzle-loading rifle a whirl! The range is rather informal (a large backstop made of railroad ties in the woods), so I wasn't able to bench it to really work on finding what load she likes. I was using .490 swaged balls from track, and 100% cotton "heavy pillow ticking" from hancock's for patches, with a water/ballistol mixture as lube (I don't remember the ratio, I mixed it up awhile ago for use with my black powder revolver).

The first ball loaded fairly easily, but not surprisingly the rest weren't quite as easy! I forgot to swab after the first shot, but I started swabbing between shots thereafter (just took one of my damp shooting patches and the cleaning jag, ran it down/up, flipped the patch, and ran it down/up once more). It struck me as odd that the crud on the patches was kind of greenish, but I just went with it .

With 50 grains at 50 yards, my off-hand pattern leaves something to be desired but I'm sure the nut behind the buttstock is to blame for that. I also tried 30 grains at 25 yards, leaning on a tree to get some idea of it's small-game potential -- much better! I'm sure most of you shoot one-hole at 25 yards, but I was happy to get a 3-shot group of touching holes. I definitely needed the short starter (and am starting to regret the decision to get a "t-handle" one instead of a round ball handle one), I think perhaps I should try a thinner patch though.

When I got home to clean though I hit a few surprises! The wedge does NOT want to come out, I'm guessing the previous owner bent it and hammered it in. I don't have a brass punch and I did not feel right going at it with a screwdriver and a hammer, so I just cleaned with the barrel in.

Surprise 2 -- my nipple wrench doesn't fit! I figured a #11 nipple was a #11 nipple, but no such luck. Guess I need to order a "rifle" nipple wrench (I assumed the one for my revolver would work).

So I just squirted a bunch of moose milk down the barrel and ran a patch down (shooting dirty moose milk out the nipple). After cleaning the barrel I'm trying to clean around the nipple and decide this will be easier if I take the lock off. I unscrew the screws on the backside, but the lock won't budge! Is this normal?

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I had a blast and I'm so happy to finally have a smokepole. Plan moving forward : Get a new nipple wrench that fits, replace or straighten the wedge, get some thinner patching, and go to a "real" range where I can get a solid rest and learn what kind of powder charge she likes!

Any advice for the newbie is always appreciated.

-GB

 

[gbeauvin]

The less than impressive off-hand "group" (with a gratuitous shot of the rifle) :



And the slightly better supported 25yd group (the aiming point was a triangle of 3 black dots, but the top-left one fell off when it got hit. I learned from the 50-yard shooting that a single 3/4" fluorescent dot is HARD to see!)

 

[Canute Rex]

Congrats on your new smoke pole.

I'd recommend that you try bigger powder charges. I shoot my 50 cal rifle with 75 grains of 3F, and that isn't a heavy charge as they go. Figure out a rest and shoot some 5 shot patterns with increasing charges.

25 yards is a good range to figure out generally where your sights are, but you should really try 50 yards to see what powder charge keeps the shots grouped.

The paradox of the difficult ramming could be that your ball/patch combination is too loose. I don't know what your actual patch thickness is, but you should have some patch compression when you ram the ball down. That way the first ball takes a little bit of effort, but the subsequent balls take no more effort. Try 495 balls as well - it might work better.

Every rifle has its own preferences. Have fun experimenting!

 

[gbeauvin]

Thanks, Canute. Once I got it short-started it wasn't too bad getting it the rest of the way down, but bottoming out the button was quite difficult (I was wishing I had a wooden mallet), and then bottoming the "long" leg of the short starter was easier than the button (yet still difficult), but I think that's due to the better grip on the T-handle.

-GB

 

[bob308]

you are on the right track. I use 55 gr 3f in my .50 cal. lyman gpr for target and groundhogs.

after you get it on the bench try your 50 gr. load then go up 5gr. at a time.

 

[bpd303]

The best way to remove a tight lock, is to back the lock screws out several turns then tap on the screw heads to loosen the lock from the mortise then back them out some more and tap again. For removing a stubborn wedge pin I use a wood Popsicle stick to tap it out. What type of powder are you using? Did you clean the bore with alcohol before shooting?

 

[gbeauvin]

I'm definitely planning to work my way up from 50 when I get to a bench, though I'm also hoping to find a real light load it likes.

I'll give the tap-on-screws a whirl. I tried pushing on them with my fingers after backing them out 1/4" (which is about where they let go of the threads and I can remove them), but no joy. I need to invest in a little brass hammer. When removing a percussion lock, does it matter what position the hammer is in? I had it at half-cock so it would clear the nipple.

I'm using Goex 3F (because it's what I have on hand for my revolver), I plan to get a pound of 2F and see which it likes better when I can bench it.

I did not clean it with alchohol before shooting, oops! I'll make sure to do that before I shoot again. I cleaned with moose-milk (water/ballistol) and ran a single patch damped with remOil down the barrel (and then back out again) when I got done. Do you recommend the 90% stuff or is 70% sufficient?

-GB

 

[Don]

GB, I have the same rifle in right hand configuration. Mine didn't seem to like patched ball but did very well with hornaday Penn. conicals which are very much like the buffalo ball-ets. Keep experimenting and update us if you find a good combination. Every muzzleloader is different so don't give up.

Don

 

[bpd303]

70% rubbing alcohol works fine or denatured if you have some. I'm thinking the green stuff was from oil in the bore although the ballistol should have removed it. FFFG Goex will be just fine, just have to find the charge your rifle likes. Most of my 50s like 65-70 grains.

BTW nipple wrenches are easy to make if you have a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel and some 1/4 drive sockets you don't mind cutting up. Mine are 10 times better than any commercial made ones. http://i60.tinypic.com/n318ow.jpg

 

[Trot]

I am not sure about your rifle, but on some the barrel must be removed before the lock will come out. Also be careful about bending the wedge, it should be pretty snug so that it doesn't fall out.

 

[William O.]

Try loosening the tang screw, then try and get the wedge key out. The bore is much easier to clean by submerging the breech end in water with a drop or two of liquid soap and pumping the water in and out using your ramrod and cleaning jag with patch on it. Better to remove the nipple beforehand as well.

 

[gbeauvin]

Thanks guys. I was messing with the rifle a little this morning, and was able to get the key out without too much trouble (used a fairly wide flat bit from my driver set and just tapped it lightly with the handle). I didn't have time to take the lock off though, so I'll give that a whirl tonight.

This will make cleaning more pleasant, as my wife gets cranky when I use ballistol in the living room.

I'm also trying to find a way to rig a peep sight for load development. I should probably break down and just buy one, but I'd rather spend those pennies on more powder (I'm waiting for Dutch's system to show up in the mail, I'm hoping that was money well spent).

It looks like the rear sight is held on with a screw rather than a dovetail, I fear that might bode poorly for easily replacing the fibreoptic sight with something more traditional looking. For load development I want whatever will let me get the best bench groups (be it the fiber optic sight that's on there now or a peep rear with the existing orange front sight), but eventually I'd like to be able to take this to a rendezvous or NMLRA event without hanging my head in shame .

-GB

 

[William O.]

Glad to hear you're making progress. You can always have a dovetail cut in place of where the rear sight screws into the barrel, or have the dovetail put somewhere else and then put the old screw in the hole, cut it off flush and then file it flat, then re-blue. Lots of options to think about down the road, let's first get you shooting more and once you read Dutch's paper you'll know how to work up an accurate load for your rifle. It is money well spent.