HuntingNet.com Forums - real time shooting

With season coming fast I like to get in some real time shooting. So today I went out to one of the locations where I will put a ground blind. I hauled my bucket seat, and shooting sticks back to the blind (that is not up yet) and my portable target, my shooting kit, duct tape, and index cards. And I even remembered a rifle and powder.

I was shooting a Traditions .50 caliber Woodsman Hawkins with a 1-66 twist barrel. I know what the rifle likes and that is 90 grains of black powder normally. ButI wanted to test a new lube I made the other day as well.

So I set my portable target on the deer trail where they pass by me. It is 35 yards away according to the range finder and the fact I cut the clearing that way. I then started shooting different powders, wads, and lubes.

I started out with Pyrodex RS and was having an heck of a time with hang fires. I was sure I had the rifle good and dry. And I was not swabbing. I can't believe the new lube caused that. Granted I held steady through two hang fires with it off the shooting sticks and at 35 yards I still would have gave a deer a bad day with a roundball.

I then went to the Graf's & Sons black powder 2f, and all the hang fires disappeared. The rifle shot perfect and filled the woods with lots of smoke.

I then swabbed the barrel with some alcohol and dry patched it. This time I loaded 90 grains of Graf's 3f and used a wad with it. I then shot the one on a clean barrel and the rest on a unswabbed barrel.

I then picked out a spot 50 yards back in the brush. I had a clear view into it, and could see there, so I moved the target back to there. It was pretty cool where I was sitting as the index card was right next to a tree. I decided to use the old standard load of moose milk, no wad and 90 grains of 3f powder. Again this little rifle shot perfect, no hang fires. I slipped a couple out of the group, but overall I was very pleased with the rifle.

This is the rifle my nephew will be using when they come to visit over the Christmas Holiday (muzzleloader season). I am going to let him hunt with me now that he is old enough (even though my sister will scream bloody murder) and this little Hawkins should be just the medicine for deer.