Bob1961

hey everyone. i' m going to buy this m/l this year . and need some info on powder loads, type, brand of ball is best. i' m thinking of hornady round ball. the rifle is 1 in 48" i' ve read up on some things just need to know what you guys think, and hand out some input. any info will be much appreciated. thanks bob

mauser06

just go through the pages from the last month or so...any post made by me should have info....i bled these guys dry...then i called thopmson for a manual......it came.....and has everything you can possibly ask...loads....saftey.....loading.....cleaning you name it...its in there....it will be at your house within a week too....mine was....id call them tell them the model and your adress wait a few days and your got it all.....or you can read all my posts....theres alot of info in my posts for these guys....i too just got into muzzleloading....i went with a tc 50cal flintlock hawken......still gota get out and shoot it yet.....good luck.......

Matt / PA

Bob,
I have that exact gun........well sort of. I spruced mine up a bit with a custom double set trigger, a better touch-hole,unbreakable fiberglass ramrod, and a fiber optic front sight.


First off.....the twist is 1-66" on the " PA Hunter" NOT 1-48" .

Here' s what I found mine to like........(I have to check for sure what size exactly) .015 Pillow ticking patch lubed with T/C Natra Lube 1000 Bore Butter, with a Hornady ball and 100grs of FFg. That' s what I hunted with for years.

Since PA has switched its regs to allow all bullet types I have experimented with a bunch of different types as well as powders.
In spite of the slow rate of twist (1-66" ) designed for roundball shooting ,mine shoots CVA Powerbelts exceptionally well......better than any roundball load I' ve ever used.
I also went with FFFg powder.
My pet load is 95grs of FFFg behind a 295gr CVA Hollow Point Powerbelt bullet.
This gun ( at least mine) seems to really like a " HOT" load. I am getting awesome accuracy with minimal fouling and recoil. And they are really knocking the snot out of the deer I' m shooting.
I liked the " Feel" of using a traditional roundball load, but that light .50 ball can' t compare to these bigger conicals for on game performance.

The factory Touchhole is just too small to offer reliable hunting performance shot after shot......replace it with a bored out aftermarket version.
ALso mine really likes the Premium Agate flints. The T/C Frizzen didn' t like English flints one bit.
Also if you get the urge......work on the trigger or spend $75 and get a Double Set trigger installed. Out of my hunting group 7 of us all shoot this gun and we ALL had Set triggers installed. The factory single trigger is HORRIBLE and I mean HORRIBLE. Mine came from the factory at a touch over 28#......yes 28#!!! I could hold the gun by the trigger alone and bounce it up and down at full cock and it would not go off. [X(] (Unloaded of course)
If you ever hope to shoot a flintlock accurately.......a set trigger is the way to go, unless you can get the factory one down to a " Match grade" # level. There are flintlocks with good single triggers........this isn' t one of them.[:' (]
If it doesn' t surprise you going off you are going to be a basket case with a flintlock' s ignition!

Bob1961

thanks guys. is the book that will come with the rifle the one your talking about? i paged through it at the store. it does cover alot. is there anyway to work on the trigger it comes with? if not or should not, what brand does you good? with a 1/48" twist can i use the cone shape bullets? without harm to shot placement? cause i' m planning on using this in the late pa flintlock season. how do i look up you guys posts by your name if possible. matt where in pa are you? i' m in lackawaxen, pike county. once again thanks bob

cayugad

When I did some checking, I found that the PA Hunter is no longer in production according to T/C website. It has a 1-66 twist like I remembered, according to the site.
I have a .50 caliber with a 1-66 twist and it loves 70 grains of Pyrodex Select, a .015 pillow tick patch, and a .490 roundball. I have never tried any other load besides roundball out of it. I have never had a problem with a roundball taking a whitetail deer.
Good luck with the new rifle and welcome to the sport.

Bob1961

thats funny! wal-mart has them for $350.00 and a local shop has one new one, and a used one, with 1/48 stamped on the barrel top. single trigger, marked pa hunter. also have one at wal-mart with double set trigger for $420.00. could not see the markings on the barrels at wal-mart. so this is puzzling??? looks like time to do some more looking into them. thanks bob

cayugad

I am not doubting you Bob.. I just went to Thompson Center' s website to read up on the rifle a little. Whether it has a 1-66 or 1-48 twist, they are both a good twist.

I personally like a .54 caliber rifle, but others will tell you that ammo is hard to find although I have never had that problem in my area. My .54 caliber is a T/C Renegade (older model with the doubled triggers and 1-48 twist).

My Tradition' s Hawkins is a 1-66 twist. Both are excellent rifles. My last purchase was a Green Mountain drop in barrel in .54 caliber with 1-70 twist. This is a round ball shooting master. I just have to decide what charge I want to shoot out of it. I will then turn the 1-48 twist to a conical barrel only and maybe even throw a scope on it for the fun of it. I can use it in Wisconsin during modern rifle season.

I like the Hawkins style rifles. And the fact they have a slow twist and shoot round ball better then most conicals (although some do shoot projectiles other then round ball out of those twists) does not bother me. I found that round ball have taken whitetail out to 80 yards in their tracks without problems.

Good luck on your rifle and your new shooting sport. You are going to love them...

Bob1961

thanks cayugad. i was at thompson' s site saw the same thing. they just stop making them now i guess. some websites still offer them for sale. i may go with the double trigger model so i don' t have to mess with converting it over to doubles. a good set of triggers will cost the difference. so why not buy them on it allready. i' m also going to look into .54 cal. and see avalibllity of bullets and such. thanks for the tip. how can look up post by peoples names? if possible. bob

Matt / PA

Bob,
T/C never made the " Pa Hunter" with a double set trigger........if you saw a gun that looked very similar to it but with Double Set triggers then you were probably looking at a T/C Renegade with 1-48" twist. The Original " Pa Hunter" also had a stepped down barrel from Octagonal to round......the newest models are completely Octagonal. (The older ones are nicer looking! ) They also had slightly longer barrels than their other flintlock models.

The reason they offered the PA Hunter in 1-66" twist was to cater to the PA flintlock hunters who were restricted to shooting roundballs for years........now they have no need to produce a roundball gun since PA loosened the regs on bullet choices so they discontinued it.
Since we all wanted the " Roundball" gun we bought " Pa Hunter" models......hence the reason that we all needed to have double set triggers installed later. They never offered the PA Hunter in that configuration.

If you plan to shoot mostly conical style bullets, the " Renegade" or " Hawken" are probably more suited to your needs........both already have double set triggers and are fine shooting guns.

Also Don' t bother with a .54 caliber unless you plan to shoot roundballs........a .50 with conicals is more than enough for anything youd want to hunt (unless you are after Grizzlies?[])

Bob1961

i read my post with what you were talking about. sorry about that. the doubleset triggers is the hawken model, sorry for the lack of info on my part. thought about the .54 cal for an elk hunt within the next couple of years here in pa. and some bear also[>:].any thoughts on possible .50 cal for them?? bob

p.s. found out how to look for past post by name.