A friend of mine decided to sell his muzzeloader because he inherited a bunch of guns and has ran out of room to keep them. So he offered me his late 80's vintage T/C Hawken 50 cal. This thing is absolutely cherry...doesnt look like its even been shot. I am embarassed to tell the price but suffice to say Id buy everyone I ever seen for the price I got it for..lol. Every now and then ya get lucky I guess. Didnt really needit.. but what does need have to do with anything?



I have shot inlines quite a bit and enjoy them but I like shooting the sidelocks better. This should be the end of me buying ml's for a while... Im about out of room also..lol.

Congrats on the acquisition Doe Dumper.

But,



Well, I guess we all know what a TC Hawken looks like. But pictures are nice. We will want a range report though.

As you can see from my recent posts, I'm leaning more and more towards the sidelocks also.

I will try to post some pics this weekend. Im gonna have to find a 12 step program if I keep buying these things! I love the fact you can shoot all day for maybe $10 bucks..lol.

Ive got access to massive amounts of lead to cast my own balls but Im a little scared of inhaling the stuff. Another close friend has a tire store and he has old wheel weights sitting around in 5 gallon buckets.

I know this is a stupid question but is there anyway to cast your own and keep a good distance from the fumes?

Remember there are no stupid questions. What I do is make sure I have good air circlulation. I have never had any prolbems with fumes. If you are really concerned about the fumes, get a small fan and this should help. I think you should think more about getting burnt then the fumes. Actually this concerns me more!

Just be safe and have fun shooting that gun.

Get yourself one of those $15 twenty-inch box fans from WalMart and place it about ten feet to your rear on low speed so as to keep the air flow from the pot away from you.

Great rifle. When I cast I do the same thing with a box fan. Also be very careful of sweat. If you are a person that sweats a lot, watch the bead on the forehead and make sure you never lean over the pot of lead.

Thompson Center recommends pure lead, when casting projectiles. Check page 22 in the T/C book "Shooting Black Powder Muzzleloading Firearms". I believe you can download this from the T/C website.

I think you are making a little too much out of this "fumes" thing. First off lead does not fume. The fumes you get are from impurities that you flux out of the lead. Or the impurities that you clean out of the WW before you cast. So clean your lead outside, and place a fan down wind. You will pull the smoke off the pot and away from you. Do the same when casting your bullets. Wear glasses and gloves, hard shoes or boots, a long sleeve shirt, and long pants. When you are done casting dump your clothes in the washing machine and take a shower. That will take good care of you. Tom.