TC NE 54, Hawken 45 and GPR

[OBX-TXN]

Fearing the sudden appearance of an enraged mastodon while deer hunting, I experimented with Hornady's Great Plains conical in my New Englander 54 Sunday. The dang things tightened as I loaded more powder and I finally quit at 100 gr of 2f with a brutalized shoulder.

Jenny's TC Hawken .45 came in. At first glance down the bore I had a fit of the "oh no's" but it turned out to be grease. 2 hours of cleaning revealed a pretty nice bore with even resistance as I ran a patch down.

The nipple came out easy (thank you Ted Cash) and that area was pretty clear. Normally I like dulled brass but since this is going to be granddaughter's rifle and girls like sparkly I got my polish out. 20 minutes later I had made little progress ... because I was using anti-seize which comes in a gray tube just like the polish. Fortunately I did not dab polish on the nipple before replacing it.

There are so many good things to say about the GPR ... but one more is how positively featherly they make my other rifles seem. I had to double check the Hawken wasn't a Seneca.

I think I've healed enough to handle shooting the .45 w/ PRB. Any suggestions of loads target and hunting...?

 

[Critter Getter]

My TC Hawken .45 likes 60 gr fff and a prb. Also shoots maxi hunter and maxi balls well. Makes a great deer sized game getter and handles targets and small game very well. Greg.

 

[excess650]

My .45 flintlock seems to like 65gr fffg Goex under a .445 RB. Start at 45gr and work up 5gr at a time.

 

[OBX-TXN]

Thank you both. I ended up taking my .54 GPR to the range today with lots of Goex 2f and a little 3f working up from 70 gr 2f. At 80 gr I decided to try the 3f and the groups tightened. Unfortunately when I moved out to 50 yds I ran out of 3f right at 85 gr 3f, but for now my best 5 shot group is with 85 gr 3f, .490 rb and .015 patch. It's huntable as is but I have confidence it will do better. I use to have a .50 GPR that shot amazing ... (but the nipple has to go ... horrid).

Interestingly a young fellow about 12 who was there with his dad was very interested in the GPR. He stood quietly while I fired then seeing a break asked me how I loaded the rifle. I told him if he had a minute I'd show him. He and his dad carefully noted every step.

I'm looking fwd to working up something with the Hawken .45.

 

[meanmike8665]

What was/is wrong with the nipple?

Michael

 

[OBX-TXN]

I think it is a pretty common problem with OEM Lyman nipples. A #11 cap doesn't want to sit down on it right so frequently the gun won't fire the first 'shot'. Turned out I had a "hot shot' nipple in my box ... I just didn't remember I had it. I got a 1000 musket caps so I'll probably buy a musket nipple too as a backup ... Cheap backup.

 

[hpdrifter]

I haven't had any problems from my original nipple on my GPR.

Guess I got lucky.

 

[OBX-TXN]

It could just be me ... but I remember some 25+ years ago I hunted a lot with a GPR .50 and if I didn't forcefully and carefully seat the cap on the nipple I would pull the trigger and get a 'clack' instead of a 'boom' and the deer were not amused.

Never happened to me with my CVA 'Hawken' ... or my TCs ... just Lymans. Mebbe I don't change their nipples often enough...

 

[mooman76]

I like to start loading with equal # of grains per caliber rounded to 5 to make things easy. I.E. 45 cal - 45 gr. 54 caliber - 55 gr and work up in 5 gr increments. You can even go down from there if you want light loads. Pistols and small cal rifles I start with half the caliber amount. Working up the loads is half the fun.

 

[meanmike8665]

Thanks for the reply. I like Hot Shot nipples, but have had to turn them down from time to time. Something to remember, nipples wear out and need to be replaced on a regular basis.

Michael

 

[OBX-TXN]

Swapped out the adjustable sight for the fixed sight on the .54 GPR. It looks a lot better and I just couldn't get comfortable with the possibility the adjustable sight might wiggle a little shot to shot. I guess this means I'll have to go to the range and shoot some more to get it sighted in. Oh darn ...
(Now where did I put that file ...?)