i bought this 50. cal investarms muzzzeloader from my brother, its got a 28 inch barrell on it.,its made in italy. i've never shot it yet but plan to tomorrow. is there anyone that can advise me of how many grains of powder i should use.

Don't know what kind of powder your using. But a good starting point is 80 gr of FFg or Pyrodex RS or 70 gr of FFFg or Pyrodex P. Work up in 10 gr increments and watch group size. You may find the sweet spot right at the begining or as you work up. (groups may get tighter then begin to open back up). Finding the sweet spot may take a few range sessions so don't get frustrated.
Be sure to swab between shots either with a spit patch or alcohol patch.

thanks, i've got both types. do you recomend witch one is the best? the ffg i have is GOEX, and the fffg is pyrodex.
season opens tomorrow here in tennessee for deer, so i guess the first shot i'll be shooting will be at a deer i hope.
once again i say thank you

I had one of those in 45 cal
Shot real good
It liked 80 graind Pyro RS,I was shooting a Powerbelt AT,cant remember the grains on it

i've got some Hornady 50 cal. sabot bullets, and some 245 gr. hp copper-clad powerbelt bullets for it that i got with the rifle. witch ones do ya recomend i use. and is there a differance in grains of powder i should use with them

That Cabela's (Investarms)Hawkins has a 1-48 twist. That twist is meant to shoot roundball and conical bullets. It will shoot sabots but you need to play with powder charges and loads to find the right powder charge.

As for a powder, the Goex would be my choice. And with the two projectiles you mentioned I would start with the powerbelts in about the 80 grain range. Then on your next trip to the store get some .490 roundball and some patches and shoot that out of the rifle.

Make sure to check the rifle tonight and clean it real good with solvent and then dry patch it. Pop a few #11 caps through the nipple before you load it. That will clear the fire channel.

As for the first shot being used on a deer, I find that a little strange. I believe (or at least hope) your kidding. I personally could never hunt and shoot at something when I have no idea where the rifle shoots, or how it shoots.

I shoot a Lyman Trade Rifle that is basically the same thing. If you're determined to hunt with it without some range time, center the rear sight on the incline, load 90 grains of Goex and that powerbelt. And then pray that you don't wound a deer. Mine shoots powerbelts real well and that is approxicately where my sights are set. If this is a used rifle the sights might be best left alone as who ever owned it probably sighted it in.

I'm no expert but the sabots may be for a fsater twist barrel but could work
Of the two you listed I would try the Powerbelt 245's
I killed two deer with them last season.
It should shoo full bore conicals and patched round balls pretty good also.

I have the same gun in the 54 cal. It shoots real nice with 80 gr. Goex and .530 round balls with .015 lubed patch.

Have a good hunt!

Man you need to sight that thing in before you attempt to shoot an animal with it. You don't want put a bullet in the guts and have it run off to die an agonizing death without being found. As a hunter you have a responsibility to take an animal a humanely and quickly as possible.

I have to agree with Bronko and Dave. If you don't know where or how that gun is going to shoot, you don't have any business pointing it at anything other than paper.

Vince