Which powder should I use?
 

Well, I finally done it. After a few years of putting off and debating with myself Ifinallyboughta muzzleloader. It is a .54 caliber hawkin I bought off gunbroker. So....what kind of powdershould I get? I will be shooting .530 roundballs with .015 shooting patches (I prefer .535 roundball and .018 patches but they wasnt in stock[:@]). I have it narrowed down to Goex 2F powder, Triple 7 2F, or Pyrodex RS. I want to stay away from pellets if I can and use the black powder.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

i only use GEOX.
2f is fine for 54 cal.
i suggest you do same.

make sure you have a allen style vent.

t/c sells them and rmcsports too.
order FULLER FLINTS and use bevel up.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NEW t/c lock AND NEW FRIZZEN FROM T/C.

i like LEAD to hold my flints, not leather.
you can take rb and flatten it with a hammer to make the lead for flint.

some like leather.

get a good ramrod for range,i bought the t/c one.

polish your pan with dremel tool.

clean after evey shot with windex or alcohal

use soap/warm water to clean at end of day.
hairdryer on outside.

do not use bore butter to store,use OIL.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Oh, I forgot to mention that it is not flintlock but a percussion cap rifle.

I was reading in the T/C arms manual for the hawkin and it said that there is no need to clean between shots when you use the shooting patches that are saturated with bore butter because the natural lube reduces fouling or something like that. I was planning on cleaning with Thompsons #13 Bore Cleaner along with the soap and sink method. I was thinking that if I clean the riflethe waythe manual says then I should be fine. As you guys can tell, I have never shot black powder before lol. Is Bore Butter a good choice? I have heard lots of bad things about it, but the T/C manual swears by it.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I would use Goex. It is more cobsistent than Pyro orT7. As sproulman said use oil and stay away from bore butter.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I wouldn't use FF, I use FFF in my .54, it burns cleaner...Might also try pillow ticking at WalMart, it's about .018...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

What are the cons of using bore butter? Is it ok to saturate your patches with?

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

There are just so many better lubes out there than bore butter...SnoSeal and Crisco both come to mind...Some use straight olive oil...I make my own out of bees wax, castor oil and Murphy's Oil Soap...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I would recommend Goex and or Pyrodex trying to shoot 777 with #11 cap only works for some people.
Pellets are designed for inlines with strong ignition systems, it is not a good idea to put them in a traditional gun.
The 535 and 18thousands ticking is a good idea, if you must shoot 530 and thinner patches look carefully at the patches after you shoot if they are blown apart or burned then your combination is to loose or your barrel is rough.
If it does not want to shoot your patch and ball combo then you might try putting a piece of linen paper around the ball. Lee

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

bore butter patchs for cleaning in field are fine.

the bore butter patch for a roundball are fine in summer.

bore butter will freeze in winter,i use HOPPES BLACKPOWDER PLUS in winter,no bore butter then.

as you see, we all have diffferent things that work.

whatever you use,STAY WITH SAME THING AND DO SAME THING EVERY TIME.

thats secret to getting good groups with a rb, same way ,same thing over and over.

if you use 3f geox,you have to load10/ 15% lower on charge than the 2f..like 80 grs of 2f is equal to 68/72 grs of 3f.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

was that BLUE pillowticking.

i am going to MIC all 3 colors of pillowtick at wal-mart on monday.

i will update on monday night.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

RED...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

RED...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

The pillow tick stuff, where can I find it at in WalMart?

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

In the fabric section...It's called pillow ticking, it's 100% cotton...Poly and other man made materials will burn through...Last I bought was about $4.00 a yard...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Go with Goex or Pyrodex, either will work well in that rifle. I would NOT recommend Triple Seven, in my hands ignition is inconsistent in sidelocks once it gets below 30F.

I second the notion that there are a lot better options out there than bore butter.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I agree with nchawkeye in that I use 3-f in everything from mt little .32 to my .62. Not only does it shoot cleaner but you will get more velocity with less powder. That adds up to more shots per pound of powder. I shoot round balls with pillow ticking in all of my rifles. I lube my patches with olive oil,bear lard,crisco and sometimes spit patches. All work well but you will need to do some cleaning between shots.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I use 3f also now, 80g. I shot a can of 2f, but I didn't like how it burned, I felt it was dirtier. Also when hunting if you run out of 4f for primer, you can use 3f, so you have backup when you fumble and run out of primer powder. You do get more shots also, but mostly it is a lot cleaner shooting.
Chap

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

i just got back from wal-mart.
they had 3 colors of pillowtick.

red/blue/brown.

all 3 were at .018

that was snug on caliper.

if i squezzed real tight it went to .014.


most if not all use BLUE pillowtick but the red could be better because you would know your color at range if others are shooting BLUE.;)

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

It's kinda an inside joke at a traditional muzzleloading forum I frequent...

Red=Republican...

Yes, all three are the same thickness and all should work...Now some even line up the lines with their sights...I don't go to such extremes...:D

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I never thought of that. Guess I'll have to go with the red the next time I buy some. :D

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

what do you all use to cut your patch at muzzle,i use scizzors.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I don't cut at the muzzle. I pre-cut mine at home sitting in front of the TV, and store them in plastic pill bottles or 4oz. urine specimen bottles.

Each bottle holds about 150 patches. From left to right are .016 table cloth, .018 pillow tick, and .020 denim.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Wow thanks for all the replies! I will definatly get the pillowtick stuff. So will the .53 roundball and .015 lubed borebutter patch be too loose in the barrel?

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

how do you get ball in center if you dont cut at muzzle

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

you center the ball in the square patch the best you can.


Semisane, how does your probation officer feel about you using those urine cups to store patches in?

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Hey sproulman, contrary to popular belief, you can put a square patch in a round hole. :D Square patch / round patch / precut / cut at the muzzle - the balls don't seem to care. I use the same size square patch (1 & 1/2" x 1 & 1/2") for all of my guns, whether they be .50, .54 or .58 caliber.

Aw Devil, she doesn't seem to care so long as Iwash my hands before I hug her.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

The shooters I know have several different ways to handle using patches...As mentioned, a smaller caliber can use a larger patch with no ill effects on accuracy...Patches can be cut at the muzzle, loading block, in squares or using a hole saw with the teeth cut off and beveled...

I shoot both a .40 and a .54...For the .40, I cut a length of patching about 1 inch wide and 2 feet long...For the .54, I go with about an inch and a half wide and 2 feet long...I then put down a newspaper and lay the ticking on the newspaper, take a putty knife and spread lube on both sides of the strip of ticking...I then roll up the ticking, put on a napkin, plate, whatever and microwave for about 20 seconds...This heats the lube and helps it spread through the material...

Once the patching is lubed, I load up my loading block and roll the rest up to put in my patch box...When shooting if I'm in no hurry to reload, I use the roll from the patch box, retrieve a ball from my bag, load my charge of powder, center the ball on the patch and cut with my knife...If I'm in a hurry to reload, I use the loading block...

If I'm going to the range and plan to shoot 20 times or so, I can cut the patches with siccors, put in a container and I'm good to go...

Now...Some will say why bother...I used precut, lubed patches for several years with no problems...Then, a problem came up, my groups opened up because my patches were burning through...My quick fix was a wad or hornet's nesting between powder and ball...This was covering up the problem...
The problem is that my patches were old and the lube had broken down the cotton fibers...By lubing your patches as you go you know the patches are fresh and will hold up better to the heat generated at the shot...

This simple change corrected the problem I had with patches burning through...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

It has not been mentioned yet; but Ballistol is another choice for patch lube. It can be used just as it comes from the can and also works well as a barrel preservative after cleaning. It will mix with water and as such if there is any trace of water in the barrel after cleaning when it mixes with the Ballistol it will not rust the bore. If you are not familiar with the product it is very old originally came from the German army and works on metal, wood, leather and is basically non polluting and some say you can even eat it without causing major problems. Smells somewhat like licorice. Personally I do not recommend trying to eat it (don't like licorice anyway). It is a little hard to find, but I bought mine mailorder from a Google on the internet.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Oops! Almost missed your last question 12Gauge. It's not likely that a .530 ball and .015 patch will be too loose. It may load easily, or may require a rap on the short starter to get it into the barrel. The thing is, all of these barrels are different, and they do change a little with a lot of shooting. The bore gets smoother. the lands become less sharp. The muzzle might even develop a little cone. So the patch/ball combination depends on your barrel and to some extent on your load. You can get away with a thinner patch when shooting light loads. (By the way, during your introductory experimentsI would stick with either Pyrodex or GOEX and avoid T7.)

So, a .530 ball and either an .015 or .018 patch will likely do fine to get you started and comfortable with the gun. Once you're ready to experiment you will want to try some .535 balls too, and different patches to see what works best for you. And then there's lube. The bore butter will be fine to start with and you may like it. If not, there's only two or three thousand other things to try - from spit, to SnoSeal, to Crisco, to Olive Oil, and many more exotic combinations. Playing with this stuff is half the fun.