NEVER LOOKED?
 

i was going thru my muzz box and thought, you know, those MAXI-BALLS 370 are great bullet for 1-48 twist thompson hawkins.

so, i took my mic and measured it and then measured my powerbelt 295.

guess what,they were both the same lenght;)

no wonder that 295 powerbelt shot so good out of my hawkins 1-48 .50 cal even tho its 75 grains lighter.

i think the LENGTH of bullet is something that the 1-48 twist hawkins shoots best with,short lengths like the MAXI-HUNTERS dont work, at least not fir me or THOMPSON ALSO.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

I know the 275 gr maxihunters shoot great out of a GM 1:28 barrel. Can't say about the 1:48. But if the Maxiballs shoot as good as the Powerbelts and are heavier - there is no way I would shell out the $$ for the Powerbelts.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

yes, TWIST is why they shoot good out of your 1-28.

maxi-balls is only one to use in 1-48 twist.not those MAXI-HUNTERS.too short.

maxi-balls are around 11 dollars,i got a box for 8 bucks that had dust on them from years ago, gun shop never raised price.

i got my powerbelts at wal-mart for 11.99 before the price went up .
i bought 60 but i only shoot 2 or 3 a year to sight in, thats it.

for practice i use rb.

maxi-balls TESTED at thompson in vise under best conditions inside, they told me they cut the holes with that bullet at 50 yards easy.

that bullet will go right thru a deer.

thats how the MAXI-HUNTER was made, the hunters wanted a bullet that would blow up more than the maxi-ball 370.

only thing i dont like is messy lubes in winter, i hate it.

powerbelt is clean, i can have clean barrel ,i like that.

thompson sells those little maxi-hunters and i was told they are awful in 1-48 twist but fine in the others like the 1-62 and 1-28 twist.

they were right, we went thru box after box of MAXI-HUNTERS WITH AT LEAST 6, 1-48 TWIST BARRELS.

THEY WERE SO BAD THEY SHOT 5 INCHS OR MORE AROUND TARGETS.all over place.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

anytime i could get maxihunters-balls to shoot worth a darn was by having to use one of those felt wads.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

The 370gr TC maxie shoots lights out in my white g-series whitetail, but not the 350gr there all over the place. Go figure. The white is a 1-24 twist.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

Off TC website FAQ
What is the best load for your traditional with a 1in48 twist? In a .50 Caliber side lock muzzle loader a traditional load would be a 370 grain maxi ball with 80 grains of FFG black or pyrodex powder. A modern 250 grain shock wave bullet in a sabot with the same powder charge is very accurate as well. In a .54 caliber a 430 grain maxi ball with 90 grains of the same powder would be a recommended load.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

They also tell you to "season" your bore with bore butter.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

Devil: didn't mean anything by it, just trying to be helpful.

I had an awful time with a 1/48 twist firestorm that I shot for fouryears before I called and asked them if there was anything they could do. It always shot to the right no matter wherethe sights were.They told me to shoot the 370 grain maxiball. I did and it didn't make a difference. I sent it back and they admitted that it was not laserd correctly? they re-lasered it and it shoots great now. I asked them to reimburse me for the couple hundred dollars of powder and bullets I used to try and get the gun to shoot and the gentleman just laughed. Not to mention when I bought the gun the trigger was set at 11 lbs. I really like the gun now, it just took awhile to get some problems taken care of.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

maxi-hunters are AWFUL.

RE: NEVER LOOKED?
 

i have real old thompson book,they also tested barrel lengths with rb and came up with 28 inch barrel as best length and 70 grs of 2f with a .490 rb in .50 caliber.

they said going over the 70 grs was waste and not really any gain in velocity/energy.

like said, there was 6 of us with the 1-48 twist flintlocks and none us could get those MAXI-HUNTERS 275 GR TO SHOOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING ANY GOOD TO USE, THEY WOULD GO ALL OVER PAPER.