Another Try With the .50 Hawken
 

Last week I reported on my rather disappointing range session with the .50 GM/LRH/TC Hawken ("Can't Shoot For SQUAT").



This morning I decided to give it another try, and stuck with one load for the entire range session.

300 grain .452 Speer Deep Curl
Harvester long black sabot (H5045SB)
85 grains GOEX FFFg
Remington #11 caps

After putting a target out at 50 yards I took five shots and got this.



That's not great, but better than anything in my last session. I can tell you - after shot #2 I was PUMPED. But #3 soon deflated me.

Feeling a little encouraged I put a fresh target out at 75 yards. The first shot hit the very bottom left hand corner of the target. THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT - I must have screwed up big time. Took another shot and didn't even hit paper.

Now I know somethings wrong, and it's not me. Started inspecting the gun.

1. Wedge pin good and tight.
2. Tang good and tight.
3. Rear sight good and tight.
4. Front sight g. . . Uh-Oh!

When I barely touched the front sight it slid an eight of an inch to the right. Went to pull it back into position and it came completely out of the left side of the dove tail.

Walked back to my camp and got my little hammer and brass drift pin from the shooting box. Tapped the front and rear of the dove tail wings down a bit, and reinstalled the sight. It took firm taps of the hammer to get it in place. GOOD!

OK, back to the 50 yard line. Took five shots at a fresh target and got this.



NOW WE'RE IN BUSINESS!!! :party:


Smiling now - put a target at 75 yards and took five more shots.



That's acceptable. Gotta try 100 yards. Five shots later I had this one.



Well, I would have been happier with three inches, but three and three-quarters at 100 yards isn't too bad with iron sights (at least for me :wink: ). I'm sure the gun can do it, and I can too on some days. That shot to the right was probably my fault.

I kinda have the feeling the two shots in the bull represent the gun's ability, and the other shots represent my ability :o . This gun and load may be my Opening Day partner next season.

Super!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice Shooting!

Looking good SEMI. that bullet likes to be pushed hard. Ray

Looking good, this also shows why it's so dang hard to help someone that's having problems...Some things you've just got to find yourselves...

Oops! Something I wanted to mention, but forgot.

Notice the two groups on that 75 yard target - three shots nice and tight together above the bull, and two in the bull, also together? The front sight is a red fiber optic. The clouds were scudding across the sky during the entire session. For shots when the sun was out that front sight was glowing like mad, but when there were clouds across the sun the sight was a soft glow. Unfortunately, I wasn't keeping track of the conditions for each shot (wish I had). But I suspect that was a factor in the two different impact points.

Semisane

You know that is something I really never thought about before, that really could make some difference. I just throw the gun up and take what i get... never even thought to see how much lighting conditions, especially with open sights, could effect the shot.

I'm jealous lol, i wanted to shoot today but had to start gettin the hen house ready for the 12 buff orpington chicks my lady bought and work on the garden. good shooting SEMI! Ray

That's so nice of you builder, taking care of those orphan chickens. :s2:

Semi, seeing those little chicks now, it's hard to believe they will weigh between 7and 12 pounds full grown lol. we wanted egg/meat chickens. still need to build there nesting boxes:confused0024: thinkin about buying some weiner pigs also!!! Ray

Semisane
I tried those glowing sights too. I had trouble with the POI changing with the time of day and with the fact that I use the edges of sights to get a tight group the edge of those sights are always a blur to me. Also they are to big, which makes it difficult to be precise.

You guys worried about gardens and such.. we got four inches of snow last night and its still snowing hard. We worry about gardens in June.



there is my garden ... along that edge of the yard. Under that foot of snow. :happy0001:



I personally dislike fiber optic sights. I know you can see them well in bad light. And for close range shooting they are fine. Like where I hunt in the woods. Late afternoon, shadows all around, and deer in heavy cover, the fiber optic sight is a life saver. But on a range with good light, give me a good metal front sight and sometimes I put a small white dot on the back end of the bead, then I can do some shooting. I like the old buck horn style sight.. but that is some good shooting there Semisane.

On Traditional rifles, it would surprise people how often the sights come loose. Good thing you caught that. I know that rifle you have is a shooter. That is some good shooting there.

:s2: My tomato and pepper plants are a foot high. But I was sweating walking to the hundred yard target on Sunday in eighty-two degrees and high humidity.

that photo was taken this morning... I do have tomato plants. I have 72 of them in the house getting big. And I grow them all winter in pots in the house. I have to have fresh tomatoes...

I saw on the weather channel your weather. Amazing...

You have done well Grasshopper. A little trick with the fiber optic sight. Put a dab of whiteout or white fingernail polish on it. I prefer the Revlon white polish. It's all I use. A thin coat will stop that annoying blur us old timers get with them and still make it bright enough to see.

Good idea Bronko.

But like a dumb @$$, I've been missing the obvious solution. The three Sinful Sister Renegades all have nice iron sights. All I have to do is swap one out with the Hawken.

I thought the Renes had the square partridge style sights?
But as long as you are going to switch them out you might want to do what I did with my Hawken sights. Again the white fingernail polish. (I have to keep using it ever since my wife found it in my truck!)
On the rear sight I mask an inverted triangle (point up) right to the center of the "U" and then I paint the front sight with the white polish. Works great even in low light.
Hint, Don't make the triangle too wide on the bottom. Maybe only about 1/16".

That bead sight with the brass insert is what Green Mountain uses on their TC replacement barrels that have a slow twist for balls. They use the fiber optic on the LRH barrels.

I do like the square partridge style sight that TC put on the Renegades, and thought I had one somewhere around here. Can't find it though. That one GM uses is a pretty good sight and wil be better for me than the FO.

good shotting semisane its not always the shotter good to see you have it fixed

I promise to never complain about my weather here in old Virginia! I could go nuts putting up with that kind of nasty stuff.

Amazing how times changes things. When we were kids we prayed for that white stuff.