Thompson Center Hawken 45 cal. - Help!
09-01-2010, 07:08 AM
#13
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
09-01-2010, 09:02 AM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,445
To get started with the least hassle, I recommend the maxiballs. Sometimes it takes a while to come up with the correct patch/ball/charge. So the maxiball will take one variable out of the equation. The maxiballs will kill deer just like the roundball.
I never used a starter with maxiballs. I could push them in nearly flush with the muzzle with fingers and then finish with the ramrod. Maxiballs will stick a little, just as the most forward band gets to the muzzle. This is normal and part of the bullet's design.
If you go with pyrodex p (a very good powder) be sure to seat the bullet onto the powder and apply some pressure. You will feel the powder compress, maybe an eighth of an inch or so. Pyrodex likes to be compressed. Once you settle on an accurate charge you can mark your rod on a compressed charge as a reference point.
When you shoot a deer, no matter what it does, the first rule of muzzleloading is........RELOAD!!
Have fun with your new gun.
I never used a starter with maxiballs. I could push them in nearly flush with the muzzle with fingers and then finish with the ramrod. Maxiballs will stick a little, just as the most forward band gets to the muzzle. This is normal and part of the bullet's design.
If you go with pyrodex p (a very good powder) be sure to seat the bullet onto the powder and apply some pressure. You will feel the powder compress, maybe an eighth of an inch or so. Pyrodex likes to be compressed. Once you settle on an accurate charge you can mark your rod on a compressed charge as a reference point.
When you shoot a deer, no matter what it does, the first rule of muzzleloading is........RELOAD!!
Have fun with your new gun.
