First Muzzleloader - any advice? T/C Hawken

[rnrichie]

I've been interested in traditional muzzleloaders for some time now. To date I've only used centerfire w/ scope. Recently I was given a .50 cal T/C Hawken percussion which is in great condition. I plan to do all of my whitetail hunting 100yds and under with it from now on.

I'm thinking to shoot 90gr pyrodex with either the t/c maxi-hunter 275 or 350gr or maxi-ball 325 or 375gr, or hornady great plains 385gr.

Anyone shoot this cal/gun with any of those rounds?

As far as round balls, I'm shooting Hornady .495. For patches I'm temporarily using Hoppe's 12 gauge cleaning patches which work quite well. What would be a good patch size for these round balls? .010" or .015"? I plan to start lubing them.

This is the most beautiful gun I've ever seen. It is a beauty to shoot.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I have a TC Hawken .50 cal also. I shoot .490 ball with plain old pillow ticking for the patch. No need to overload the rifle. Find what load is most accurate for the job. Shoot from a sand bag rest to help figure things out. Depending on the distance, you could shoot anything from 50 to 75 or 80 gr FFFG. :hmm:

 

[don hepler]

I shoot 50 cal. TC Hawken, in flintlock and I have two caplock rifles. All my rifles are like new. I shoot 65 grs. of 3f and .495 ball with .018 patch. The depth of the rifling and the style of sights, vary, depending on time of manufacture. The rear sight holes have different spacing, based on time of manufacture. Some older guns had a extra threaded hole in the tang, for mounting a peep sight.

I think the combination you're using will be fine. You might have to experiment.

With the 1 in 48 twist the maxi ball and maxi hunter might be the most accurate.

The TC Hawken is a well built rifle, best of luck.

Don't be afraid to reduce the charge, my best groups came when I backed off of the charge. If you read up, on this forum you find several people using lighter charges, and still getting the job done on whitetails.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I have A 50 CAL TC Hawken rifle as well. It likes 90 grains of Triple Seven 2F with Hornady 385 grain great plains bullets and a felt wad under the bullet. I use hot shot nipples and CCI mag caps. It has also shot well with round balls.

 

[mtmeredith]

In my T/C Hawken I get the best results with 60-70 grains of 777 FFF with a .49 ball and a .015 patch. 777 burns a lot cleaner than anything else I've tried. It gives good consistant results. Its also expensive.

 

[roundball]

.50 cal T/C Hawken and whitetail hunting 100yds and under

The heavy Conicals will get it done if that's something you prefer.
But its worth pointing out that for whitetails to 100 yards, the .180grn lead ball is more than enough, more traditional, much less expensive, and much easier in the recoil department.
Have taken a number of deer with the following deer load in my .50cal T/C Hawkens:

90grs Pyrodex RS T/C Hawken caplocks
(then 90grns Goex 3F in T/C Hawken Flintlocks)
Oxyoke prelubed "wonderwad" over powder
.018" T/C pillow ticking patch
Hornady .490"/180grn ball

As an example, each taken at about 50yds one morning:

 

[redneck]

i suggest u use swiss or shutzen powder. cleaner burning easier to clean. no muck in humid weather' . also try rb. been killin game for centueies :grin:

 

[cynthialee]

We have the same gun.


I have only put about 50 rounds through mine but I have noticed that patched round ball and the 275 grain maxi hunter are the best bullets to use.

So far I use 60 grains of 3f for PRB and 70 for the 275 maxi hunter. I am still experimenting with the load.

When I shot the 375 grain bullet I used 90 grains of 2f.....I will not be doing that again any time soon. Took 2 weeks for the bruise to heal up.
:haha:

 

[crv]

I was in major pain after 10 shots with lyman 50 kal maxi balls and 80 grains off 2 ff triple seven.in my 5o kal TC Hawken.They hit right on the spot but but thats the max of powder and bullit weight for me

 

[Sperit de bois]

Round Ball FFF Powder,much nicer on the shooter.

 

[don hepler]

Hey Roundball, that's a couple nice bucks with a TC Hawken. Nice picture too.

I hope, I can get a deer with my traditional guns this year. I missed two does last year with the flintlock. I use to hunt with traditional guns, and am just now getting back to using them. I think I flinched last year, so I might start off with a percussion rifle, this year, to get back in the groove.

Continued good luck to you.

 

[roundball]

That was a beautiful stocked T/C...picked up a 70's vintage Hawken at an estate sale...still new, gorgeous wood with longer LOP which was the norm back then...swapped that stock with a more plain jane I had, and sold off the plain jane.
Lucked out that morning during the rut...first time I'd hunted that rifle and had a buck come poking along right at first gray light looking for a Doe...it was so early that I decided to stay for a couple more hours and to my complete surprise another one came along about an hour later.

 

[rnrichie]

.50 cal T/C Hawken and whitetail hunting 100yds and under

The heavy Conicals will get it done if that's something you prefer.
But its worth pointing out that for whitetails to 100 yards, the .180grn lead ball is more than enough, more traditional, much less expensive, and much easier in the recoil department.
Have taken a number of deer with the following deer load in my .50cal T/C Hawkens:

90grs Pyrodex RS T/C Hawken caplocks
(then 90grns Goex 3F in T/C Hawken Flintlocks)
Oxyoke prelubed "wonderwad" over powder
.018" T/C pillow ticking patch
Hornady .490"/180grn ball

As an example, each taken at about 50yds one morning:

Great info. Thanks for sharing. From what I had read it seemed that the conicals were more accurate than the rb, but I need to go shoot and see what I can do with rb before shelling out money on conicals. If I can hold a 5" group out to 100yds with rb then I may just go with that.

 

[cynthialee]

some conicals work just fine in my TC Hawkin, mainly the shorter ones, long conicals in the 1:48 barrel aren't as good

I am becomeing a PRB convert. The conicals are nice for easy loading but the balls are functioning much better for me in the acuracy department. (which is the most important part) There is nothing alive that can survive a round ball through the heart and or lungs.

 

[CrackStock]

I have 4 T/Cs in .50 cal that I have handed off to relatives and all take deer fairly often.

Buy some .015 pillow ticking and wash it twice before cutting into strips or punching into patches so that you get the stiff sizing out.

I found the Hornady Great Plain bullets in the red boxes do well in T/Cs.

CS