Getting started

[ARFLY]

Yesterday I picked up a TC Hawken .50 cal. It came with a couple of new nipples, 300 #11 caps, nipple wrench, ball starter (if that is what it is called). As far as projectiles, patches, and powder, what do I need to get? The local Cabelas has .50 cal. round balls, .010 pre lubed patches and Pyrodex. Will that work for my gun? Please advise on what I need to buy to shoot my gun safely. Thanks

 

[rafterob]

Most start with a .490 round ball and .015 patch. Typically a .010 patch is a little thin. You can go to a fabric store and ask about Pillow ticking which is a heavy weave cloth material usually with blue stripes, maybe red. That can be cut into patches. Pyrodex should work fine, rule of thumb is to start with same number of grains of powder as your caliber (50) and then start adding 5 grains to see what load will give you the best groups.

 

[azmntman]

Id pick up a powder measure, ball puller, patch puller, cleaning jag/patches/solvent (or use soapy water), shooting glasses and a snickers bar too.

It gets expensive starting up, I would bet my collection of gadgets would top $500.00 easy but i been addicted for 40 years or so.

 

[ARFLY]

Id pick up a powder measure, ball puller, patch puller, cleaning jag/patches/solvent (or use soapy water), shooting glasses and a snickers bar too.

It gets expensive starting up, I would bet my collection of gadgets would top $500.00 easy but i been addicted for 40 years or so.

I do have the powder measure, ball puller, patch puller and cleaning jag. I forgot to mention those also came with the gun.

 

[crockett]

I think you are pretty well good to go. Make sure it is Pyrodex- suitable in black powder firearms. I may think about some.018 patches as well- harder to load but may be a little more accurate.

 

[Dave K]

JMHO, don't do anything about cleaning it or shooting it until you get a range rod. The other things that the others have posted are right on. But, you break your ram rod, you are screwed until you get another one. That includes your dirty bore is now rusting. GET a range rod and bore guide, please.

 

[cynthialee]

Solid advice on the range rod. A good brass rod won't snap on you and impale you with a splinter! I only use the one on the gun for looks.

 

[Snakebite]

If you go to a store that sells fabric, you might think about getting some baby flannel, it makes great cleaning patches. Just cut into sqares and use what ever you're using for a cleaning solution.

 

[ARFLY]

OK, I will get a range rod. I looked at them today. They are around $25. Is the brass rod the one to go with?

 

[cynthialee]

I use a brass range rod kit from Traditions. Has a bore guide, jag, patch worm, and some other stuff in the kit with it.
Worth the $20-25 I paid for it.

 

[satx78247]

EXACTLY so.

yours, satx

 

[OldNo7]

Solid advice on the range rod. A good brass rod won't snap on you and impale you with a splinter! I only use the one on the gun for looks.

Check out the solid brass ramrods on ebay from seller "ramblinman211". Ben has a nice store on there with a good variety of blackpowder accessories, and some nice custom-turned jags and rods.

I just got one of his .50 jags and it got out fouling the standard T/C jag missed! As his was a few thous' over the T/C size -- just enough to still fit, but do a much better job of cleaning.

I am also a fan of using a solid brass ramrod, so you don't splinter a wood rod while loading wherever, and/or putting a broken rod through your hand while way out hunting in the woods either... Hasn't happened to me, but it has happened to others.

The extra weight can help "hold" better too (or at least that's what I tell myself...). :thumbsup:

Tight groups.

Old No7

 

[Spikebuck]

After 14 years of just using my gun's ramrod I got a brass range rod last summer. Man...I was over a decade late doing that!

The only other accessory that is nice (though not "required") with a percussion gun is a cap dispenser of some kind so you don't have to fumble around with those little things at the range with your bare hands. Ted Cash makes nice ones and Cabela's even carries them. Also like Ted's ratching nipple wrench.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Sho...nknown;cat104792580;cat104701680;cat104436180

 

[ohio ramrod]

WARNING! WARNING! Black powder shooting is highly addictive. There is no cure! Only treatment which consists of more guns, more powder, more time at the range. Etc. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[don hepler]

Get some anti-seize grease, (like choke tube grease), and using a tooth pic, put some on the nipple threads. When get back from the range, tap the barrel wedge out, and remove the nipple. Take the lock out and clean, all around the hammer, and up in the recess of the hammer. Use the range rod and a plastic bucket of water, to pump water up and down in the barrel, to clean it. Run patches in the barrel, and check for fowling. Then run lightly oiled patch, in the barrel. Clean the nipple, put grease back on the threads, and snug it down, with a nipple wrench. Over tightening, is unnecessary, and will put more wear on threads. Wipe stock down with something like Johnsons paste wax, and the rifle will last for years. Run a patch down the barrel, and check for rust, for a couple of days, and then once a week, and then once a month, or until you use it again. To keep it from being such a chore, I will often clean the barrel, nipple, and lock, then leave it until the next day. You'll develop a routine, and it will get easier. I hate rust, did I mention that.

 

[awebbersr]

This is my second time getting into black powder shooting. I quit the first time because cleaning after shooting Pyrodex stank and was a real pain. This time I'm using real black powder and find it shoots more accurately and cleans easier without the rotten egg smell. The bigger smoke is cool too. :v

 

[MSW]

sounds like you're getting a pretty good handle on things .... the advice about cleaning the bore more than once is good- -you should heed it ... also, if you don't have ono already, you'll probably end up with a fishing tackle box or a range box of some sort (depends on your budget) ... this will hold all the non traditional stuff like a stapler, some spare target dots, some ball expeller, you can of blackness, your tube of elbow grease, and the double rendered newt tallow ... is that where the smell was coming from??!!

make good smoke!

 

[azmntman]

I like the rotten egg smell,,,,and eat anchovies and jalapeno pizza too :grin: . I never thought pyrodex was any harder OR smellier during clean up than BP though.

I really like the smell of the car the following morning after bringing back 4-5 guns just shot! :shocked2:

 

[ARFLY]

Thanks for the tips on cleaning and thanks to everyone else for all the tips . It will probably be Tuesday before I can get out to shoot it.

 

[nymtber]

I like the rotten egg smell,,,,and eat anchovies and jalapeno pizza too :grin: . I never thought pyrodex was any harder OR smellier during clean up than BP though.

I really like the smell of the car the following morning after bringing back 4-5 guns just shot! :shocked2:

A girl I dated years ago, after going skeet shooting with me, says to me "They should make a burnt gunpowder scented car air freshener!" Its only too bad we just didn't get along in the long run... :idunno: It was Hodgdon Titewad burnt powder in remington plastic 12ga hulls (good smell).

I'm getting started myself. Build a Lyman GPR and now need weather to warm up again so I can go shoot it! I have a nylon/fiberglass CVA range rod, the factory wood rod is just for looks/hunting. I might make up a wooden handle for the range rod! A capper is a very good idea, those caps are small... I never had a problem cleaning the revolver I had (Pyrodex P) with HOT water and dawn dish soap. Worked great, and Ballistol after kept it from rusting.