New member to forum. Was curious if there are any traditional muzzleloader shooters on this site. I shoot a hawken made by myself, .58 cal, 1 1/8 inch across the flats barrel. Great shooting gun, capable of 2000 fps with round ball. Going elk hunting in Colorado this fall with same.
Thanks for the site/Forum, great place.
David/Mo

Welcome to the Forum-
I perfer the traditional guns, and am planning on building my first gun next summer. I' ve got a .50 cal barrel that needs a new home.

Hi dave, yep, shoot both types, traditional and inlines now, love them both. I have a Austin Halleck mountain rifle that will absolutely shoot hairs of a flys a-- at 75 yards with patched ball (50 cal)..................

I shoot a T/C .54 caliber which is as accurate as I am. I shoot round ball and conical out of it with great results. I also have a Hawkins with a 1-66 twist barrel in a .50 caliber and this will shoot round balls so sweet, it makes me smile to shoot it. I have looked at and considered a in line but never saw the need for any more rifle then I already have... Welcome to the board.

I have four sidelocks, all Hawken types. One of these is a .58 fullstock, 36" barrelled flintlock of the pattern " thought" to have been made by Jake Hawken before he and Sam moved to St. Louis MO, and started making caplocks for the fur trade. There is certainly nothing wrong with the round ball, and in .58, it should be a real elk stomper!!

Contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, a sidelock type rifle can be made to do anything a " modern" inline design can do, including shooting magnum charges, if one were so inclined. I think a .58 RB at 2000 FPS is magnum enough for anyone.

eldeguello

I don' t think so my friend! Roundballs fly fast and minies/maxis/buffalos hit hard, but they don' t go as far & not as accurate in comparison to sabots & rifle-shaped conicals in an in-line. You also can' t pour a gallon of water over the ignition system of a side-hammer like you can with some in-lines. You can' t clean the breechplug or use more consistent 209 primers in 98% of side-hammers either. A big-bore 58 side-hammer can use " magnum" powder loads. A 54 can use semi-magnum loads..... but that' s about it!

I prefer to use my 1-66" roundballer over an in-line.... but my Omega is the only one with accuracy and penetrating power on long open field/ridge 200 yard shots. I believe the GPR has a 54 cal version with a fast twist barrel option. That one may compete more closely with an in-line... but I' m not aware of any other models that are:
Beyond 50 cal/side-hammer/fast twist/magnum capability.

I build mine from scrach I have a 45 full stock like a kentucky and a 50 cal hawkins style I mad a mistake a few years back and sold a 50 kentuc big mistake. I like the way they shoot and with no recoil like the new ones stick with the side locks they are great. good luck shooting and be SAFE!!!!!

I' ve been flintlock hunting for 19 years now, tried most of the popular Hawken styles and have settled on an Italian made .50 cal model. For best accuracy and better bullet energy for shots under 65 yards, I use a 320gr Lee REAL maxi with 80gr 2F.