New rifle trials - 1:48" round balls

[roundball]

Those of you with "the sickness" will understand when I say I stumbled across what appeared to be an unfired .50cal TC Hawken Flintlock at an estate sale, priced so low I HAD to buy it....standard TC Hawken with 1:48" twist.

I upgraded the lock with the new style parts and went to the range this morning in the rain...just got back.
Began breaking it in with 40 target loads of 50grns Goex FFFg, pillow ticking, & Hornady balls, and it just ate out the center of the bullseyes at 50yds.

Then before leaving, I decided to try a couple groups at 100yds using my full power hunting loads I normally use in my 1:66" round ball barrels as follows:

90grns Goex FFFg (3F)
Oxyoke wonderwad (.54cal in a .50)
TC .018" prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .490

Cleaned the barrel, shot the two groups off the bench and measured the holes from center to center...one was 2+3/8" and the other was 1+7/8"...not too shabby for an off the shelf TC Hawken 1:48" barrel with max round ball hunting loads.

Life is good...
:redthumb:

 

[jim gray]

T/C makes a pretty good muzzleloader. I'm not surprised by your results. Congratulations on your purchase.

 

[Rebel]

Yea, and congratulations on still being able to see the target at 100 yds. :: Gets harder all the time it seems.

 

[Rat]

That's because you keep getting that hot soapy, dirty water in yer eyes.

:blah:

 

[Rebel]

Yea, but i don't use HOt soapy water, just warm water. And it don't burn the eyes near as bad as all them chemical solvents you insist on using so your guns won't shrink. :crackup:

 

[roundball]

Yea, and congratulations on still being able to see the target at 100 yds. :: Gets harder all the time it seems.

I used a suggestion by somebody on this forum...I used sheets of paper folded and trimmed the shape of a large triangle. (and I chose bright, gaudy, flourescent, hot pink colored paper)

Mounted the triangle upside down so a point was at the bottom to give a very large, visible target but with a precise aiming point by sitting the paper-point right on top of the bead every time...and the brilliant colored paper helped visibility a lot too since it was dark gray/raining this morning.

To me it's yet another example of a 1:48" twist barrel delivering outstanding performance with maximum power round ball loads...no old wives tales about skipped shallow rifling, wild shots, etc...it just laid them right in there, and it'll heart shoot a deer at 100 yds no sweat......(let's see: April, May, June, July, August, September, OCTOBER!!)
:winking:

 

[Bob J]

[(let's see: April, May, June, July, August, September, OCTOBER!!)
:winking:

Sure am glad gobbler season starts in a few weeks! :: Your're results are so encouraging I'm thinking of trying roundballs in my 50 TC percussion (its deadly accurate with maxi-balls). :thumbsup:

 

[Rebel]

Good idea on the target. And all those that say that a
1-48" twist won't shoot rd. balls accurately have either never tried, or haven't taken the time to work up a good load.

 

[bob1961]

good find ya got there....congrats....that sounds just like my T/C hawken with round balls :thumbsup:....now all ya got to do is put a nice stock on it ::..............bob

 

[freetrapper20]

Great find. Thats the way to get'em. Even though I don't have a Hawken, I do have 2 T/C Renegades .54 cal. Both flintlock. One was given to me, the other cost me $75.00. (It was fired a whole 6 times before I stumbled onto it). Its hard to pass a deal like that. Sounds like you already got your moneys worth out of it......Life truely is good!!!

 

[Halftail]

Round Ball,
Sound like you got an Awsome deal!!Congrats!I'm not suprized by the accuracy of the T/C's.I've got 3 and with 90 grains they will put a RB anywhere I want them to go. :redthumb:

 

[Zonie]

Aside from the crummy ramrod the TC Hawken comes with, my only complant is with the front sight.
As I am a sight right at the spot I want to hit person, (not a 6:00 hold person), I noticed the size of the blob on the top of the TC sight is as big as the Black bullseye at 50 yards. At 100 yards, it covers the whole center of the target.

I used my little files and removed the side bulges leaving a nice crisp narrow front sight to work with and my shooting with the TC improved greatly.

I have always had good luck with the 1:48 twist. Especially in my .54 cal.

 

[roundball]

Aside from the crummy ramrod the TC Hawken comes with, my only complant is with the front sight.
As I am a sight right at the spot I want to hit person, (not a 6:00 hold person), I noticed the size of the blob on the top of the TC sight is as big as the Black bullseye at 50 yards. At 100 yards, it covers the whole center of the target.

I used my little files and removed the side bulges leaving a nice crisp narrow front sight to work with and my shooting with the TC improved greatly.

I have always had good luck with the 1:48 twist. Especially in my .54 cal.

Yes, since their plant fire, they never rebuilt that special resin impregnating process they had...the old style rods were as strong as steel but their ramrods since the fire are too poor to trust...just hardward store dowels...I always replace them immediately with brass.

PS: I've replaced those old style large front bead sights on any of my TC Hawkens that had them...put the new style small bead on...it does makes a big difference

 

[rhwestfall]

[/quote]

I used a suggestion by somebody on this forum...I used sheets of paper folded and trimmed the shape of a large triangle. (and I chose bright, gaudy, flourescent, hot pink colored paper)

Mounted the triangle upside down so a point was at the bottom to give a very large, visible target but with a precise aiming point by sitting the paper-point right on top of the bead every time...and the brilliant colored paper helped visibility a lot too since it was dark gray/raining this morning.

Now if we could just get the deer to wera this..... :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: