Well it was a rotten day out today. Overcast, windy and in the 20's. A near perfect day for shooting I thought. But I wanted to move back from the woods more, so I hooked a four wheeler to my shooting table (after I melted the legs out of the ice, and pulled that back to a part of the yard where I could shoot and not have to be standing on ice all the time. Now I can shoot up to 75 yards if I am willing to walk the snow. The mud is not to bad with a bad knee but that snow gives me troubles.

So I got the target out to 50 yards and decided I could spot my hits with binoculars. I then got the T/C Hawkin out with the .45 caliber Green Mountain Barrel on it. Fiber optic sights are not my favorite. This thing will have a scope on it real soon. I loaded up 80 grains of Triple Seven 2f and a .451 bull shop 460 grain conical bullet.



This load is a pure guess. When the weather is better I will work with the rifle to find what it likes. But I just wanted to shoot that new barrel. It was hitting low and left. So I worked up up a litte (once too much) and finally was shoot left of the center. To check it was the rifle and not me I aimed to the right of the bull center and put two in there.

The .451 loaded slip fit. Not a problem loading. But if you did not swab I got fliers. Still I shot what was in the box off.

Then I wanted to shoot the new T/C New Englander .50 caliber I bought from Corey. I decided 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and a moose milk patched ball. I was aiming for that turkey. It too was shooting left, but when I checked Corey's rear sight, it was all the way to the left. So I made an adjustment and shot two more which were a little better.

The New Englander has a problem in the ignition. Nothing serious. Just you put the cap on, the first strike sets the cap and the second fires it. All I need to do it go to a bigger cap then the 1075 RWS like the CCI Magnums or reduce the nipple diameter just a little. When it gets dirty, it acts up. Also that trigger is a little stiff. Nothing I can not handle, but I might send that in to T/C and let them fix it.

I did shoot one maxiball out of the New Englander. I aimed dead center on the big bull and was surprised it hit that low. Although the rifle was fouled bad so that might have had something to do with it.

Over all it was good to get out and shoot. Bad weather is headed my way again they claim.