Working with new to me rifle

[Sparkitoff]

I've received an older CVA Hawken. The barrel is marked CVA .50, but does not show the rate of twist. I have measured the twist a half dozen times (due to some disbelief). It is 1:60. Percussion ignition.

I'm an English trained gunmaker since 1997 and usually work on best shotguns along with making a few. So with that in mind I have proper tools, a good foundation of knowledge and experience with different attributes of guns and rifles.

I am inexperienced with muzzleloaders in general. I've used different rifles and shotguns and have built a rifle but I have not had the pleasure of finding the perfect load for a rifle. I would like to do so with this one.

I have .490 balls; .015 Ox-Bore patches in .50-.59 and .60-.69 diameter; .018 pillow ticking from Wal-Mart; Remington and CCI Magnum #11 primers and T7 FFFg. The powder is the only type I could find within 175 miles of home so I would like to use what I have access to.

The bore is clean and I've worked the locks and have the set trigger and sear trigger tuned very nicely. Bore sighted with a laser at 25 yards.

I do notice the rifling is a little shallow although I've not measured it. Also, the belly of the grooves appear slightly radiused as opposed to being square.

With all this in mind, please suggest a load and loading process to get me sighted with respectable groups at 50 yards and ultimately take it to 100 yards.

I've read quite a bit of advice and opinions on other posts that I am thankful for. I'm not asking anyone to repeat themselves, I am soliciting any comments that may be unique to this situation.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Spikebuck]

1-60 would be a common twist on many production guns made for roundball shooting, so don't be surprised.

I'd start with:

.490 ball.;

.015 Ox-Yoke patch...you did not say if they are pre-lubed. If they are, use as-is, if not you will need to lube them and there are tons of posts about everyone's lube preferences. Just make sure that what you use is not petroleum based. If the .490 ball and .015 patch feel loose (I doubt it will), try the .018 next, but with the production guns I've owned, .015 did very well.

T7 is, in my opinion, a top substitute propellant and in fffg it will be "hot." You might want to start with 65 or 70 grains and go up in 5 gr increments to see what happens to your group.

Cap...your choice. Never noticed much difference in my shooting based on brand of cap or whether they were "magnum" or any other description. As long as they fit right and went "bang" they worked for me.

Swab your bore with a lightly damp patch followed by a dry one between each shot for consistency when working up your load.

Mike

 

[azmntman]

Good advise :thumbsup:

(but I would ditch the pre-lubed patches and make my own and cut at muzzle (same exact patch every time). Get the Dutch System for best patch advise)

 

[Micah Clark]

I've only been shooting ML's for about 8 years and consider myself a novice, but with that rate of twist, that ought to be a good rifle and quite accurate, in good shape as it sounds to be.

I have a lyman Great Plains Rifle with that rifling rate and I start off with about 70 grains of Goex 3f bp . . . I haven't used 2 f in it much. . . I hunt with about 80, but have shot up to 90 grains . . there really doesn't seem to be much accuracy difference between 80 & 90 . .and that gets me out to about my max of 75 yards. . . 70 would probably work out to 50 yards fine but some load charts I've seen show the the foot pounds of energy is not high enough for a humane kill of a white tail beyond that . . . of which I have taken two.

I use a 15 patch with Hopes BP lube and solvent, but have used bore butter too. . .

Not sure if that is helpful or not.

 

[RUDY MR]

Forget what is said on kills with your set up u should be set to 100 yards n kill a deer if u do your job ive did it with a 45 cal

 

[Rifleman1776]

With your experience and the stuff on hand you have a good start. Find a good lube, preferably from suggestions on this forum (I use a whale oil/beeswax or peanut oil/beeswax mix), some will suggest Moose Milk or Moose Snot, etc. Personally, I shy away from the commercial stuff in plastic containers. I know zip about substitute powders, if your stuff is comparable to real bp, methinks 60 grains is a good starting point to work up your accuracy load. Charges in the 60-70 gr. range will kill a deer about as ded as you want it. Carry on. Let us know how things work out for you.

 

[rdstrain49]

Old rule of thumb, 1 grain per calibre, using the trip7 I think 50 grains will be plenty. Then work up 5 grains at a time until you find the sweet spot. Then start with patch material, then lube, then,,,well you get the idea.

I've been shooting muzzleloaders since the mid 60's and I think I'm close to finding a good load for one rifle. :rotf:

 

[Sparkitoff]

Thanks for the responses. I shall give it a whirl and report back.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Sounds like it has a Douglas barrel....Spanish barrels were 1/66 twist with square bottoms...

 

[Don Steele]

Hodgdon's Triple 7, fffg in a caplock rifle will work very well. In a 50 cal. start with 65 gns for 25-50 yds. You might want to increase that to 80 or so for longer shots and hunting.
Blackpowder measures are calibrated for true blackpowder. Substitute powders are intended to be used on a volume measurement basis. In other words...set your BP measure to throw the amount of powder desired and you'll be good. Don't weigh substitutes on a scale.
Hope that's somewhat clear... :hatsoff: