GooseHunter Jr.

My buddy has an older one of these and he wants to hunt deer and elk with it. Questions is can he shoot the powerbelts or something similiar(no Sabots in CO)....or does he have to stick with the patch and round ball?

GHJ

MLKeith

Check the twist. Most of the Hawkens from T/C were one in 48 inches which will usually shoot the Powerbelts. I would try some of the Great Plains lead bullets also they usually shoot great in slower twist barrels. Buffalo Bullets has a number of solid lead bullet and Ballets also. What caliber. Mine is a .54 but I bought a drop in .50 barrel from Green Mountain which is another option for about $160 you can select any twist you want and get a barrel from them set up that way. It comes complete with nipple and ramrod set up to just drop in the Hawken. Mine fit great. Had to do a small fitting of the thimble rail as it was about 1/8 inch too long to fit in my stock. I did the opposite and set mine up to shoot round balls for competition. If I was going to hunt elk with mine I would go back to the .54 barrel and find a Great Plains bullet that would work (possibly try the Powerbelts which I have shot elk with in my Omega).

cayugad

If he is going to hunt elk and wants to shoot powerbelts, then he might want to look at the aero tip design powerbelts. Also shoot a heavy as the rifle will take. I have shot powerbelts out of a 1:48 twist with very good accuracy. Whether his rifle will do it or not, he will have to experiment and find out.

As MLKeith already said, he might also want to look into a maxiball or Hornady Great Plains Conical. Buffalo Bullet makes a nice big conical that always shot very well out of my Hawkins and Renegades. Have him get some of each and give them a try.

If he has a .54 caliber then he could use a roundball. .54 caliber roundball is still a 233 grain projectile being pushed very fast. They have a lot of zip to them. With a round ball when hunting big game, bigger is better. I would personally use a .58 caliber or bigger even. Even a .50 caliber would work, but be sure and place your shot and get as close as possible with a roundball. Elk are tuff to penetrate.