Montana Capper

[Steve Wagner]

Greetings and Merry Christmas Smokepolers,
New to this endeavor and wondering why it took me so long. Lifelong hunter and shooter. Reloader for multiple centerfire cartridges and always interested in percussions and flints, but just recently have been enticed into this realm. How so ? Seems my son in law inherited a functional, but overly 'loved' 50 cal. stainless Hawken style percussion rifle. Loved by crescent wrenches, vises, drill bits and even a hacksaw that removed about an inch of barrel to [probably] get the sight out of the way for a scope. For all the hacking, someone, at some point, managed to cut a very clean and helpful, funnel style crown on the barrel. At any rate, this inheritance coincided with Montana's first muzzleloader season so I suggested that we get her up and running. Soon I found a used set of TC Hawken sights [no scopes allowed here] online and had our smith cut a new dovetail for the front end and install it. [Yes, he also inspected it.] Next, off to the local sporting good store for all the paraphernalia we might need. Then, I spent multiple evenings researching how to safely operate the weapon. That is where this forum showed up. And big ! So many kind and helpful folks here with great advice made my first experimental trip to the target woods pretty darned successful. Armed with some .490 rb's, a box of Hornady Great Plains 385's and some 2f T-7 powder I was able to get her hunting accurate very quickly and my son in law was able to take a nice buck with the rifle. Apologies to the pure at heart for the T-7, it is all we can get here locally.
When I get more up to speed in using the forum I will post a picture of the rifle that lead me to this domain. In searching, I found a thread on a mysterious stainless TC Hawken that never got fully solved. New twist: same rifle here except the barrel is half octagonal, half round.
Thanks again to all who contribute such helpful advice. Now hooked. Steve

 

[kelljp]

Welcome from East TN

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Never heard of a T/C Hawken in stainless and the only half-octagon I ever saw from them was the White Mountain Carbine. They did make the Greyhawk, which was a very nice hunting gun in stainless steel. Can't speak for others here, but I am curious and would like to see a picture or two if you get a chance.

Some have had pretty reliable results with T7 in a side-hammer gun. I have not. In these times of black powder shortages, I typically put seven grains of actual black powder down the bore ahead the main charge of T7. This improved my ignition quite a bit. Others have gone to 209 primers and musket caps... something I haven't tried yet.

You'll find that we are all kind of opinionated I think, and there is more than one way to skin a cat in this game. Find what works.

Stainless steel is something that not everyone in this game approves of as it is definitely not "historically accurate", though they were working on it quite early on. I think you will find, though, that it has a significant advantage over carbon steels in terms of rust resistance, which is more important with black powder than it is with T7. Bear in mind though, that despite claims to the contrary, it IS possible to get stainless steel to rust. Clean it with hot soapy water (I recommend Murphy's Oil Soap) just as you would with any carbon steel barrels and you'll have no issues with rust.

Get some stainless nipples if you can, but put some kind of anti-seize on the threads to prevent rust and galling. Galling should not be an issue, but some folks get carried away with torquing that nipple on and I have seen a few stuck pretty badly.

There are online sources for black powder.... though the supply has been unreliable of late... but you have to buy in quantity because of the hazmat charges. I typically buy at least ten pounds at a time. Some folks make their own black powder with good results. I looked at a few recipes and videos and decided that it was just a bit too much trouble for me, so I am waiting for Goex to go back into production just like about half the people here.... though if they don't get things going pretty soon I am gonna hafta buy some Swiss or Scheutzen at least to tide me over for a while. Ten pounds of powder, though, will likely last me for the rest of my life and then some.

 

[thomas]

Welcome to the forum.
Thomas

 

[VA Hawken]

Welcome from Winchester, VA!

 

[ord sgt]

Welcome from the Socialist state of NJ. Well, as for powder, burn whatever you can get. If it works for you, that's what matters. Meat in the freezer is a good thing. Be sure to give the bore a good cleaning after shooting.

 

[Old Timer 48]

Welcome!

 

[nit wit]

Welcome from Maine
Nit Wit

 

[t_carlyle]

Welcome from Minnesota, it’s always been a pleasure to hunt antelope out on the eastern plains of your great state.

 

[Eutycus]

Howdy and Welcome from Texas!

 

[2 shots]

welcome from n.y.

 

[Steve Wagner]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome and much useful advice. Dale, I appreciate the wisdom and help you offer. While obviously still a novice at this, I had been reading about Thompson Center Hawkens for years and hoped to someday acquire one. I had never heard of a ss/wood stock one either and, in trying to figure out what I was dealing with, stumbled into the Forum. I thought I was probably handling some homemade hybrid like a Greyhawk put into a trad TC Hawken stock until I saw the photo I mentioned on this site. Still not sure. It is definitely stainless and showed up with a stainless nipple. I did buy a couple of ss TC Hot Shot nipples to have some extras and tried them out. They did not work at all and I will talk about that where the kind moderator would deem most appropriate at some point. Still learning the proper Forum etiquette and don't want to screw up. The T-7 is working well with CCI#11's as long as my between shot swabs don't go past load height and plug the drum. When it does and misfires I remove the nipple and add T-7 directly [empty drum] and it fires. I also cleared the channel several times by blowing a cap after swabbing, but hate wasting caps in these lean times. No hangfires so far. It has been very cold here so I have been leaving the rifle locked in my truck so that it does not warm up and condensate. At the end of our season I left it uncapped but loaded for 4 days before being able to shoot it. That day I kept it outside as well. It was 10 degrees and fired instantly. Probably, from what I read, I fit into the "better lucky than good" category. I can note that the flash hole in the nipple it came with is considerably larger than the Hot Shots. I will post some pics of the rifle at the appropriate thread [mysterious stainless Hawken ?] when my technical advisors have trained me.
I welcome opinions and facts offered charitably and think that deep down all interesting people are somewhat opinionated. When I hear the accusation used insultingly I merely believe the accuser is hearing an opinion he or she does not like because it does not square with their own. So many possible causes as to what went right or wrong in muzzleloading that charity ruling the discussion can help everyone improve. I also agree with ord sgt [and have felt his NJ pain] that there is a spirit to muzzleloading that should allow for some utilitarian considerations. Flinters and cappers should not, and mostly don't, let the perfect become the enemy of the good. I am not using T-7 for some kind of advantage in a trad rifle. [a modest 70 grains for my son in law's buck] It is what I could find. I have to go through the same motions to use it. If it turns out to be less corrosive and easier to clean I will gladly reap the windfall. If not, I will move on. And I won't be posting any videos of shooting an Antelope at 700 yards with T-7 in a scoped inline. I have centerfire rifles for that and have always thought it a bit opposed to the spirit I speak of to 'out tech' muzzleloader seasons. If I do go long range with a muzzleloader it will be in the general season. As of now, it does not capture my imagination. To those who enjoy the modern muzzleloader trend, I say heartily enjoy and ignore my own preferences. To each his own.
Yes MN T Car, MT antelope hunts are as fun as it gets when you can draw a tag.
As a finale to all this blather of mine it should be noted that anything I have succeeded at in my new learning curve is due almost entirely to gleaning the wisdom of the many members of this Forum. Thanks again.

 

[toot]

Welcome.

 

[LSLibelo]

Welcome from California.

 

[Billy Boy]

Never heard of a T/C Hawken in stainless and the only half-octagon I ever saw from them was the White Mountain Carbine. They did make the Greyhawk, which was a very nice hunting gun in stainless steel. Can't speak for others here, but I am curious and would like to see a picture or two if you get a chance.

Some have had pretty reliable results with T7 in a side-hammer gun. I have not. In these times of black powder shortages, I typically put seven grains of actual black powder down the bore ahead the main charge of T7. This improved my ignition quite a bit. Others have gone to 209 primers and musket caps... something I haven't tried yet.

You'll find that we are all kind of opinionated I think, and there is more than one way to skin a cat in this game. Find what works.

Stainless steel is something that not everyone in this game approves of as it is definitely not "historically accurate", though they were working on it quite early on. I think you will find, though, that it has a significant advantage over carbon steels in terms of rust resistance, which is more important with black powder than it is with T7. Bear in mind though, that despite claims to the contrary, it IS possible to get stainless steel to rust. Clean it with hot soapy water (I recommend Murphy's Oil Soap) just as you would with any carbon steel barrels and you'll have no issues with rust.

Get some stainless nipples if you can, but put some kind of anti-seize on the threads to prevent rust and galling. Galling should not be an issue, but some folks get carried away with torquing that nipple on and I have seen a few stuck pretty badly.

There are online sources for black powder.... though the supply has been unreliable of late... but you have to buy in quantity because of the hazmat charges. I typically buy at least ten pounds at a time. Some folks make their own black powder with good results. I looked at a few recipes and videos and decided that it was just a bit too much trouble for me, so I am waiting for Goex to go back into production just like about half the people here.... though if they don't get things going pretty soon I am gonna hafta buy some Swiss or Scheutzen at least to tide me over for a while. Ten pounds of powder, though, will likely last me for the rest of my life and then some.

I haven’t had any problems with 777 in a bunch if sidehammers, with std. caps, but it seems to me that the condition of the nipple is more critical when using it. Mid-life nipples seem to produce more’delay’ fires.

 

[Redturd Reloader]

Welcome from a Bitterrooter.

 

[jackpine54]

Welcome from Michigan. I hope to come hunt your heritage season next year.

 

[Eterry]

Greetings and Merry Christmas Smokepolers,
New to this endeavor and wondering why it took me so long. Lifelong hunter and shooter. Reloader for multiple centerfire cartridges and always interested in percussions and flints, but just recently have been enticed into this realm. How so ? Seems my son in law inherited a functional, but overly 'loved' 50 cal. stainless Hawken style percussion rifle. Loved by crescent wrenches, vises, drill bits and even a hacksaw that removed about an inch of barrel to [probably] get the sight out of the way for a scope. For all the hacking, someone, at some point, managed to cut a very clean and helpful, funnel style crown on the barrel. At any rate, this inheritance coincided with Montana's first muzzleloader season so I suggested that we get her up and running. Soon I found a used set of TC Hawken sights [no scopes allowed here] online and had our smith cut a new dovetail for the front end and install it. [Yes, he also inspected it.] Next, off to the local sporting good store for all the paraphernalia we might need. Then, I spent multiple evenings researching how to safely operate the weapon. That is where this forum showed up. And big ! So many kind and helpful folks here with great advice made my first experimental trip to the target woods pretty darned successful. Armed with some .490 rb's, a box of Hornady Great Plains 385's and some 2f T-7 powder I was able to get her hunting accurate very quickly and my son in law was able to take a nice buck with the rifle. Apologies to the pure at heart for the T-7, it is all we can get here locally.
When I get more up to speed in using the forum I will post a picture of the rifle that lead me to this domain. In searching, I found a thread on a mysterious stainless TC Hawken that never got fully solved. New twist: same rifle here except the barrel is half octagonal, half round.
Thanks again to all who contribute such helpful advice. Now hooked. Steve

Howdy from North Texas and welcome to the forum. I'm glad we could help in some way to get you in the Muzzleloading sport.

Feel free to post a thread about your SS Hawken in the percussion section, and even recall the hunt your family member recently went on in the hunting section.

 

[UndeadPoet]

Welcome, and a late Merry Christmas, from North Carolina!

 

[Steve Wagner]

Howdy from North Texas and welcome to the forum. I'm glad we could help in some way to get you in the Muzzleloading sport.

Feel free to post a thread about your SS Hawken in the percussion section, and even recall the hunt your family member recently went on in the hunting section.

Thanks for the welcome, Eterry. And sorry for the delayed response. Have not had time yet to post pics of that rifle. I will get get to it. I also have some pics of the 385 grn. Hornady Great Plains bullet we recovered from that deer if you think anyone would be interested. Would those be best to post w the rifle pics or at another thread ? The hunt itself was a fairly tame affair for both of us. The deer was definitely plenty wild but we had permission to hunt on a small piece of private land where the whitetails are fairly used to human activity. Throw in a dose of rut hormone induced buck foolishness and you can gather that we did not have to get our usual workout to find a buck. Neither of us have had many opportunities to hunt private turf here in MT. We have always hunted public land and this seemed almost too easy. Good eating though. So not really a MT 'wilderness' experience, but it was still remarkable as our 1st ML hunt and it seems we are hooked. Thanks again. SW