TC Hawken .50 and Hornady Great Plains?

Adobe, What is the twist rate on the TC Hawken? I've shot some TC hawkens that had very good accuracy with round balls and 70 - 80 grains of black powder. Despite what some people think a round ball is no slouch as a deer stopper. I admit I've gone the inline route but I have an Ethan Allen rifle in .54 thats accounted for several deer with round balls. It has a 1:66 twist. RD

In my T?C hawkin 50, I use 90 grains of Pyrodex with a 10 grain charge of FFFFG down the barrel first.  This is followed with a pure lead RB in a .02 cotton patch, moistened with Crisco.  Shoots inside 3 inches at 100 yards with open sights, all day long.  It has killed about 5 deer, and barked some squirrels too.  I prefer my 45 T/C hawkin, with a RB for deer, just like it a little better.

BEAR

Edited by BEAR

Triple 7 is essentially useless with a sidelock since it needs at least a musket cap to get consistent ignition. If you can't get the real black powder, pyrodex works with #11 caps, but you can still have problems with it. Black ignites the best, is easy to clean, but a pain to find. If you do go with pyrodex, remember that it is equivalent to black in volume, not weight. So 70 grains of Pyrodex in a little powder measure will work the same as 70 grains of black, but the weights are completely different. 

Thanks BEAR for the info, I'm a bit new to muzzleloaders. Mine is a T/C Hawkin 50cal percussion in the traditional style. Unable to find a tape measure at the moment but will find one in the morning for barrel length. I will try to find some goex or pyrodex for the propellent. Currently all I have is GOEX cartridge black rifle powder for another project and a pound of SWISS 1 1/2 Fg which I think maybe too course or slow. I'll look for a tape measure. Rodney. 

Most of the TC Hawkens have a 1:48 twist however it would be a good idea to measure your rifles twist to make sure.
TC offered a 1:60 twist barrel for folks who like to shoot roundballs and it is possible that your rifle has this type of barrel.

To measure the twist lightly oil a cleaning patch.
Then placing it onto your cleaning jag run it down the barrel until it hits the breech plug face.
Wrap a piece of masking tape around the cleaning rod so that it is flush with the muzzle and using a ball point pen or a felt tip marker make a mark on the tape that is in line with your front sight.

Now, keeping a very slight clockwise pressure on the rod, pull it out of the gun until the mark has rotated 1/4 of a full turn. (Think 12:00 to 9:00 o'clock).
When the mark is at this position, measure the distance from the muzzle to the edge of the masking tape and multiply this distance by 4. That will give you the twist.
Sometimes, the patched jag will "jump" a groove while it is being withdrawn which will give a incorrect value so do this test at least 3 times.

If the twist of your gun is 1:48 (very common) the TC was designed to shoot both roundballs and conicals (but not sabots).
If you shoot roundballs, because of the shallow rifling grooves TC used it requires a very tight ball/patch combination, especially if your using hunting loads with 90 or more grains of powder.
A good place to start is a .495 diameter roundball with a .018-.020 thick cotton patch.
This combination should be able to hole a 4 inch group at 100 yards with a 90 grain powder load. That assumes the wind isn't blowing over 3 or 4 miles an hour.
That powder load with a patched roundball will drive it completely thru a deer without any problems at all.

By the way, because of the roundballs 180 grain weight the TC won't punish your face when it is shot even when using a hunting powder load.

I can't give you much about shooting the big slugs except to say that when you load a 300+ grain bullet over 90 grains of powder in a 8 pound rifle you can expect to get pummeled a lot.
At least for me, just the thought of the recoil from those heavy loads keeps me from concentrating on holding a accurate aim.

If the ranges you are shooting at are around 100 yards I would give the roundball serious consideration.
Its lighter recoil will allow you to concentrate on getting a accurate shot rather than thinking about how badly the gun is going to kick.



Happy hunting.
Jim


Edited by 'Zonie

Rodney: Like I mentioned a tight ball/patch combination should work well.

At one time, Wal-Mart sold a blue and white (or red and white) "pillow ticking" that is 100 percent cotton and about .018 thick. It works great but I've heard that a lot of Wal-Marts dropped their cloth department.

If you get .018 patches at a gun store that's fine unless they are pre-lubed and have been sitting on a shelf for a long time. The lube in some of them breaks down the material after a long time.

This patch/ball combination will defiantly need to be started with a short starter. After it's started about 3 inches down the bore it should ram the rest of the way pretty easily.

You asked about using Swiss 1 1/2 powder and a FFFFg combination.
IMO, you don't want to use any FFFFg in combination with the Swiss and, yes, that grain size should work ok in your gun.
The reason some folks like to use the 4F with the synthetic powders is that it helps speed up ignition.

All of the black powders have an ignition point of around 480 degrees F while the synthetic black powders have an ignition point of around 850 degrees F.
That high temperature requirement is what sometimes causes a slight delay in ignition if a synthetic like Pyrodex or 777 is used.
Because the Swiss powder is pure black powder it doesn't need the "boost", so to speak and it will outperform any synthetic powder made. If you have Swiss or GOEX don't bother with the also-rans.

Oh, because your TC is a sidelock percussion gun it is important to get the powder down as close to the nipple as possible when your loading.
With this in mind it is a good idea to give the side of your guns breech area a few light taps with your hand after pouring the powder and before ramming the ball.
Also, make sure the hammer is at half cock and the nipple does not have a cap on it. Then ram the patched ball.

By doing this, the air under the patched ball will be blown out of the nipple. In the process, the loose powder will be blown back thru the flame channel (hole that connects the bore with the nipple) so that the loose powder ends up right next to the nipple.
In this position, the slightest flame from the cap will set it off instantly.