Which powder should I use?

[12GaugeGuy]

Well, I finally done it. After a few years of putting off and debating with myself Ifinallyboughta muzzleloader. It is a .54 caliber hawkin I bought off gunbroker. So....what kind of powdershould I get? I will be shooting .530 roundballs with .015 shooting patches (I prefer .535 roundball and .018 patches but they wasnt in stock[:@]). I have it narrowed down to Goex 2F powder, Triple 7 2F, or Pyrodex RS. I want to stay away from pellets if I can and use the black powder.

[sproulman]

i only use GEOX.
2f is fine for 54 cal.
i suggest you do same.

make sure you have a allen style vent.

t/c sells them and rmcsports too.
order FULLER FLINTS and use bevel up.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NEW t/c lock AND NEW FRIZZEN FROM T/C.

i like LEAD to hold my flints, not leather.
you can take rb and flatten it with a hammer to make the lead for flint.

some like leather.

get a good ramrod for range,i bought the t/c one.

polish your pan with dremel tool.

clean after evey shot with windex or alcohal

use soap/warm water to clean at end of day.
hairdryer on outside.

do not use bore butter to store,use OIL.

[12GaugeGuy]

ORIGINAL: sproulman

i only use GEOX.
2f is fine for 54 cal.
i suggest you do same.

make sure you have a allen style vent.

t/c sells them and rmcsports too.
order FULLER FLINTS and use bevel up.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NEW t/c lock AND NEW FRIZZEN FROM T/C.

i like LEAD to hold my flints, not leather.
you can take rb and flatten it with a hammer to make the lead for flint.

some like leather.

get a good ramrod for range,i bought the t/c one.

polish your pan with dremel tool.

clean after evey shot with windex or alcohal

use soap/warm water to clean at end of day.
hairdryer on outside.

do not use bore butter to store,use OIL.

Oh, I forgot to mention that it is not flintlock but a percussion cap rifle.

I was reading in the T/C arms manual for the hawkin and it said that there is no need to clean between shots when you use the shooting patches that are saturated with bore butter because the natural lube reduces fouling or something like that. I was planning on cleaning with Thompsons #13 Bore Cleaner along with the soap and sink method. I was thinking that if I clean the riflethe waythe manual says then I should be fine. As you guys can tell, I have never shot black powder before lol. Is Bore Butter a good choice? I have heard lots of bad things about it, but the T/C manual swears by it.

[Nimrodder]

I would use Goex. It is more cobsistent than Pyro orT7. As sproulman said use oil and stay away from bore butter.

[nchawkeye]

I wouldn't use FF, I use FFF in my .54, it burns cleaner...Might also try pillow ticking at WalMart, it's about .018...

[12GaugeGuy]

What are the cons of using bore butter? Is it ok to saturate your patches with?

[nchawkeye]

ORIGINAL: 12GaugeGuy

What are the cons of using bore butter? Is it ok to saturate your patches with?

There are just so many better lubes out there than bore butter...SnoSeal and Crisco both come to mind...Some use straight olive oil...I make my own out of bees wax, castor oil and Murphy's Oil Soap...

[lemoyne]

I would recommend Goex and or Pyrodex trying to shoot 777 with #11 cap only works for some people.
Pellets are designed for inlines with strong ignition systems, it is not a good idea to put them in a traditional gun.
The 535 and 18thousands ticking is a good idea, if you must shoot 530 and thinner patches look carefully at the patches after you shoot if they are blown apart or burned then your combination is to loose or your barrel is rough.
If it does not want to shoot your patch and ball combo then you might try putting a piece of linen paper around the ball. Lee

[sproulman]

bore butter patchs for cleaning in field are fine.

the bore butter patch for a roundball are fine in summer.

bore butter will freeze in winter,i use HOPPES BLACKPOWDER PLUS in winter,no bore butter then.

as you see, we all have diffferent things that work.

whatever you use,STAY WITH SAME THING AND DO SAME THING EVERY TIME.

thats secret to getting good groups with a rb, same way ,same thing over and over.

if you use 3f geox,you have to load10/ 15% lower on charge than the 2f..like 80 grs of 2f is equal to 68/72 grs of 3f.

[sproulman]

ORIGINAL: nchawkeye

I wouldn't use FF, I use FFF in my .54, it burns cleaner...Might also try pillow ticking at WalMart, it's about .018...

was that BLUE pillowticking.

i am going to MIC all 3 colors of pillowtick at wal-mart on monday.

i will update on monday night.