A good day, a very good day.......
 

I went to the range today, put 6/6 on 6" at 100 with the old CVA 1:66 and came home with a new gun. An old (1992?) never fired Cabela Hawken 54 cal.

I started by shooting 3- 300 gr. Sabertooth, 90 gr Purodex Select, at 50 yds. and held low, like I might while hunting (zeroed for 100yds). I did not swab.

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Then moved to 100yds, same load, unswabbed, 3 shots. Those three are the 3 farthest apart. I then swabbed, went to my "go to" 270 Sabertooth, same 90 Pyrodex Select, and swabbed between each shot. Those 6 all broke the 6" circle. I'm very happy to have a load 100 grains heavier than a roundball pushed by 90 grs. powder that can do this from a 1:66 barrel.

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Then, I went inside and dismantled the Cabela's Hawken. Pulled the barrel, nipple, clean out screw; dropped a bore light down each way and it is clear, this gun has never been fired. The shop owner said the guy selling the gun said he'd never fired it and I think I know why. The patch box plate is engraved "Doc Ken Scholarship Fund, Denver 1992". I'd guess the gun was won in a fundraiser raffle by someone who didn't ML. My luck! I paid the $150, lock, stock and barrel and got out of there. The plan is to buy the GM drop-in in 50 cal 1:28 from Cabela's and, possibly, sell this 54 cal 1:48 barrel. Here are pictures of her at her new home.

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Looking forward to going for 6/6 on 6" at 150, maybe 200.... someday.

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

Heck of a deal. That is a beautiful shootin iron.

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

yeoman

Nice shooting - nice looking new gun and WOW! - double WOW! on the price.... I sure was happy with the way 1/48 shot Friday -> I certainly underestimated the ability of that gun to shoot the big conicals. Sure hope yours works out for you... I know you will like that 1/28 drop in when you get it.... I sure wish that new barrel of yours was a 50...

mike

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

beautiful lookin rifle! You should give yourself a pat on the back and go out for a fine dinner after coming away with that deal. Brand new for $150? You cant find them used for that price lol! .54cal is awesome too. You wont need anything bigger, unless you're trying to out do my 30mm cannon :-)
Good luck with it and be sure to shoot it more on a calmer day. Wind is killer.

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

Before I would sell that 1-48 barrel, I would test it. You might be surprised at how well it shoots. Also that is an excellent deal on the rifle. I have a Lyman Trade Rifle with the same barrel but in .54 caliber. It is without a doubt a great shooter and I'd never part with that barrel for nothing.

Those Sabertooth are nice conicals. That's some good shooting you did there. Looks like the deer better carry a range finder and make sure they stay more then 100 yards away from you when you have that rifle loaded in that manner.. Again, nice shooting and a great deal on that rifle.

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

Thanks all. I am a bit torn on what to do about the 54 barrel. I may put it on Ebay, but if I can't get $75 for it, it may make sense just to keep it around for versatility. I don't know whether or not to shoot it as I'd probably get more for it, never having been shot. But then again, maybe not. Maybe I'd go for elk again some day and wish I had it. If I had 54 materials around, I'm sure I'd shoot it. Guess I'll just see how it all plays out. For now, gotta order the GM barrel and start shooting some of the 50 cal. stuff I've accumulated. Sweet dreams tonight....:)

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

Is your .54 Hawken like the T/C Hawken which has abigger barrel than the .50? I bought a .50 barrel for my .54 T/C Hawken but had to go with a larger across the flats GM barrel. The T/C is a full inch in the .54 so to match a .50 to the rifle I had to order the special GM full inch .50 barrel. Usually the .50 is only 15/16 inch across the flats. I also bought the full 32 inch barrel with the one in 70 to shoot round ball in some competition and in .50 with the full inch width the rifle is very heavy now. Just information for you to check before ordering a barrel. I decided to keep both barrels for my rifle so that I can shoot either as I desire. If I ever had to go shoot in one of the traditional states the .54 would cover anything I wanted to shoot. Lucky for me I live in Arizona and we are allowed anything except smokeless as long as it has one barrel and loads from the front. Scopes are legal (lucky for me as iron sights don't work with my eyes), sabots, conicals, closed breech, 209, etc. all good. Our hunts are listed "muzzleloader" not "traditional" or "primitive".

RE: A good day, a very good day.......
 

I took calipers with me to measure the barrel before the purchase. While Cabela's offers a 50 cal GM drop-in in both 15/16 and 1" for this gun, I was curious. Turns out the barrel is 15/16 which pleased me greatly. The barrel is 29" as is the drop-in. Really looking forward to the 1:28. It will be interesting to see how much of performance is spin rate and how much is shooter.

I'll be heading from here to the Cabela's site to inflict some pain, I mean, gather some awards program points. ;)