T/C Pennsylvania Hunter?

[rusticbob]

Just picked up a nice,clean Penn Hunter. .50 caliber, bore nice and clean. Lock and nipple also look good. Somebody took care of this rifle. My question is has anybody had good luck with this 1/66 twist barrel. I do pour and shoot round balls from other rifles, does anyone have a suggested load? Or should I sell it?

 

[deermanok]

I have 2 rifles, not TC but with the 1/66 twist barrels. Both are excellent shooters with a patched round ball.
My 50 likes about 70 grains of 3f Swiss, 490 ball and a .015 patch.
Hornady PA conicals are designed for the slow twist barrels. 240 grain. Worth a try in your rifle.

 

[bubba.50]

What do you want for it?

 

[BruceHH]

60 grains of 3F Swiss or 65 grains of 3F Goex. Will shoot very well.

 

[rusticbob]

I will try to shoot it tomorrow. I hate the single trigger, but I have to remind myself that this gun was designed as a hunting rifle, not a target rifle.
I will take pictures. I feel like a kid with a new toy. This never gets old.

 

[Bad Karma]

I will try to shoot it tomorrow. I hate the single trigger, but I have to remind myself that this gun was designed as a hunting rifle, not a target rifle.
I will take pictures. I feel like a kid with a new toy. This never gets old.

That single trigger can be sweetened up considerably. The first single trigger T/C I owned had a lot of creep and pulled over 6#. after working on the sear and trigger it came in under 3# and almost no creep. A local single action’smith did the work for me but I watched and since I already owned a set of slip stones I’ve done a few of these. They’re simple to work on and the results are just fine for a hunting rig. As far as the barrel/twist are concerned, I would suspect it could handle loads as heavy as you would care to shoot. But every rifle is a law unto itself. Good thing too. The only way to find what works is to shoot. A lot.

 

[Mulemauler]

As a dedicated round ball shooter this was easily my favorite TC, The stock does not have as much drop as I like so never really felt it comfortable but loved the balance. Liked it so much that when I built my current match rifle copied the length and octagon to round contour.

 

[BS]

Best round ball gun TC ever built!

 

[Urban Coyote]

Great round ball gun, I'm fortunate to have a couple. My favorite is the PA Hunter carbine, fun gun to shoot. It's light, handy and accurate. I shot a mule deer doe with mine offhand at about 50 yards. I've shot my full length gun a bit at the range and it groups well but the trigger is a bit stiff. I had Ted Fellowes dress up the trigger on my carbine but since his passing I've not made any effort to find a new smith.