I've never been happy with this gun...

[Tom A Hawk]

I built this .54 full stock Hawken in 2018. Ignition is nearly instantaneous and I am pleased with the wood, the finish and construction. However, its never shot as well as I thought it should.

My .54 percussion half stock rifle is capable of breaking clay pigeons at 100 yards with FF loads and that has greatly affected my accuracy expectations for the flinter. Over the past two years I have experimented considerably with patch thickness, various lubes and powder charges. Nothing seemed to make a significant difference. The Colerain barrel is bored a bit tighter than my half stock, forcing me to use thinner patches. Also, the twist rate is 1:56 where the halfstock is 1:66 and the rifling grooves are round bottomed. I had pretty much resolved myself to accept that "that's just how it is" and be content with mediocre performance.

Until now...

I have been using Swiss FF exclusively since that was working so well in the half stock. A couple of weeks ago I decided to try some FFF Swiss in the flintlock. I am surprised to report that with all other factors remaining the same, FFF powder is making a very significant improvement in accuracy. Now, after two years of experimenting we are back in the game with clay pigeons at 100 yards.

Here is my 100 yard target from this afternoon. Shot #3 was a high flier and I'll blame that on shooter error ( sun was in my eyes..etc. ). I have no complaints about the other three.

Moral of the story - Keep trying,

 

[TreeMan]

I built this .54 full stock Hawken in 2018. Ignition is nearly instantaneous and I am pleased with the wood, the finish and construction. However, its never shot as well as I thought it should.

View attachment 90118


My .54 percussion half stock rifle is capable of breaking clay pigeons at 100 yards with FF loads and that has greatly affected my accuracy expectations for the flinter. Over the past two years I have experimented considerably with patch thickness, various lubes and powder charges. Nothing seemed to make a significant difference. The Colerain barrel is bored a bit tighter than my half stock, forcing me to use thinner patches. Also, the twist rate is 1:56 where the halfstock is 1:66 and the rifling grooves are round bottomed. I had pretty much resolved myself to accept that "that's just how it is" and be content with mediocre performance.

Until now...

I have been using Swiss FF exclusively since that was working so well in the half stock. A couple of weeks ago I decided to try some FFF Swiss in the flintlock. I am surprised to report that with all other factors remaining the same, FFF powder is making a very significant improvement in accuracy. Now, after two years of experimenting we are back in the game with clay pigeons at 100 yards.

Here is my 100 yard target from this afternoon. Shot #3 was a high flier and I'll blame that on shooter error ( sun was in my eyes..etc. ). I have no complaints about the other three.

Moral of the story - Keep trying,

View attachment 90123

Just shows that all rifles are different. I had the exact opposite experience with two of my .54 rifles. I couldn’t get good groups at all with 3f. I tried 2F and they both fell right into line with accuracy.

 

[zerosprk]

Townsend Whelen was reported to have said "only accurate rifles are interesting." I'm glad to hear that your hawken is as interesting as it is good looking...

 

[Stykbow]

That’s a real beauty of a rifle. Glad it’s shooting good for you now.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

I was struggling with finding an accurate combination when I changed out the Swiss 3F and went to Goex 3F and Voila! there it was. Keep experimenting.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Have you tried a smaller ball so you could use a thicker patch?

 

[Grenadier1758]

The round bottom rifling means that you will probably do better with a thicker patch. This may mean that you will have to reduce the ball size by 0.005", but I think that will improve your accuracy. The 3fg powder with the higher ignition pressure helped to seal the bore. A thicker patch should really help.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

The round bottom rifling means that you will probably do better with a thicker patch. This may mean that you will have to reduce the ball size by 0.005", but I think that will improve your accuracy. The 3fg powder with the higher ignition pressure helped to seal the bore. A thicker patch should really help.

I had the same thought but have been unable to find a .525 mold. I did get some .525 balls from TOW last year and they made loading much easier with a .015" patch. I'd still like to find a good mold however.

 

[FishDFly]

Find someone going to Friendship next month, there is a guy there who has a good selection of used molds.

 

[Treestalker]

Follow the guru Britsmoothy's advice and go to 4fg Goex and all your problems will be over.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Your choice is probably limited to Tanner Ball Moulds or Larry Callahan's bag molds.

Ball Mould .185″ – .600″ (ballmoulds.com) for Tanner Ball Moulds. Don't be put off by the fact this is an English Company.

Callahan Bagmolds - Products Page 1 for Larry Callahan who will likely have to make a custom mold.

Track of the Wolf has the 0.526" round balls in stock.
Balls & shot for muzzle loading guns - Track of the Wolf

 

[bldtrailer]

I have a .50 with that twist1/56 I had to use swiss 3f and drop the load to 60 grns insted of the 70 for all my other .50s

50&100yds

 

[4575wcf]

I have always used 3f in my .54 Mountain rifle, simply because I use it to hunt big game and is shoots so much harder. 120 grains is my normal, I have gone up to 150, but it begins to hit pretty hard on both ends. The reduced ball size and the thicker patch became necessary, anything short of greased ticking would not stand up to the fire and heat. With the .526 Lyman ball and .015 pillow ticking I have a reasonably easy load to put down in the field, and power hanging.

 

[toot]

it seams that any gun is capable of shooting better than the one / person behind it!

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Well...I just discovered that Brownells offers a .526 Lee mold on a special order basis. Will continue the experiments when it arrives in a few weeks.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I would be perfectly happy with that accuracy at 50 yards. I strive for acceptable deer killing accuracy, and your target fills the bill perfectly.

I don't ever care what people think of my acceptable accuracy levels. If I can put 3 shots into a baseball from a rest at 50 yards, that's enough to reliably kill a deer from a rest at that same distance. And that's all I care about.

Now if you're out to win a shooting contest by all means go for the tightest shot you can.

 

[Lippy984]

That’s a confidence booster…I’ve been trying to find the right load for my Lyman GPR for years…I’m close, but time is my biggest enemy

 

[R.J.Bruce]

When I started in muzzleloading I purchased fffg black powder for the .44 caliber percussion cap & ball revolver that was my first gun.

When the. 45 caliber flint longrifle (GAA Douglas barrel) showed up in the mail right after my 17th birthday, that's what I used, with great success, and stellar accuracy.

Nobody told me in the years to come, that fffg Goex black powder was incorrect for Getz .50 caliber & .62 caliber barrels. So, I continued to use fffg black powder in both barrels, with equal success, and equally stunning accuracy.

All three rifles could keep 5 shots under a silver dollar at 100 yards all day long. Off the bench, or offhand.

 

[TFoley]

Your choice is probably limited to Tanner Ball Moulds or Larry Callahan's bag molds.

Ball Mould .185″ – .600″ (ballmoulds.com) for Tanner Ball Moulds. Don't be put off by the fact this is an English Company.

Callahan Bagmolds - Products Page 1 for Larry Callahan who will likely have to make a custom mold.

Track of the Wolf has the 0.526" round balls in stock.
Balls & shot for muzzle loading guns - Track of the Wolf

English companies are quite good at making guns and accoutrements - after all, they've been making guns since the 1300's.

Don't forget that L.E.M. is THE current British mould maker. Call glenn.mcquire2[at]mail.com

 

[flntlokr]

I would be perfectly happy with that accuracy at 50 yards. I strive for acceptable deer killing accuracy, and your target fills the bill perfectly.

I don't ever care what people think of my acceptable accuracy levels. If I can put 3 shots into a baseball from a rest at 50 yards, that's enough to reliably kill a deer from a rest at that same distance. And that's all I care about.

Now if you're out to win a shooting contest by all means go for the tightest shot you can.

I agree with you. We all tend to get really focussed on tiny groups, when the reality i that any shot group 6" or less around the POA will result in a good kill. Target sports are a whole 'nother game. I have watched infernal item shooters burn up several boxes of ammo trying to get single hole groups, when the rifle probably wasn't capable of that level of accuracy, let alone the shooter.