Investarms
 

I bought a used(barely) Investarms hawken awhile back, it is in pristine condition. It was made in the 1980's and is a 50 cal. Investarms says it is a 48 twist, but when I measure it, it seems to be a 60 twist. According to Investarms, the max. loads are 90 grains with a .490 ball and 80 grains with a 370 gr. maxi ball. It has a 28 inch 15/16 wide barrel. I have shot it a few times using a 240 gr. lead Hornady PA conical and have worked it up to 80 grains of Pyrodex RS. It seems to be accurate enough to use on deer but I have not really done any bench work for accuracy. I do not have a chronograph, but suspect it is shooting about 1500 fps at the muzzle. What do you think, is this enough for deer within appx. 75 yds? Will this barrel stand up to 100 grains without damage? The Investarms max loads seem to be a tad mild, but I am new to black powder, and plan to use only Pyrodex RS as I have several bottles.

Jenks - I moved your post to the main Black Powder forum as you will get more responses here. You did nothing wrong - I am just trying to help. Like you I also have 2 Hawkens I need help on with developing a load to use.

There is a great bunch of very knowledgeable guys here......

Dave........JW

Thanks JW.

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Investarms does or did make a Hawkens rifle. It had a 28 inch barrel and a 1-48 twist. I have a manual for the investarms and the Lyman Trade Rifle. They both came with the Lyman Trade Rifle I purchased. Now remember two manuals for the same rifle. The Investarm manual gives much lower max powder charges then the Lyman manual.

I have shot 100 grains out of my Trade Rifle with little problem. Mine is a .54 caliber. And its pet load is 90 grains of 2f powder and a patched roundball. Very accurate and deadly.

In my .50 caliber Trade Rifle I was shooting 250 grain XTPs and 80 grains of powder and it was really accurate. I would be comfortable shooting out to 100 yards for deer with that load. 80 grains is a lot of power.

Thanks Mountain Magic. Actually, it just has a big I within a rectangle. It says "Black powder only" and has a serial number of 202xxx. On the other side(hammer side) it says to read the warnings in the instruction manual and it says Investarm SPA 25060 Marcheno Italy. I also have an old T/C hawken which I bought several years ago from a friend but never shot. When I saw this gun(Interarm) I bought it because it is so much better looking, the wood is much better. I put the T/C up for sale. This Interarm looks just like the gun that Cabelas sells, but it has no other brand name on it except Interarm.

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Thanks, Cayugad. I emailed Interarm, gave them the serial number and ask them what the twist is on this gun. They said it was 48 inch. I have measured it several times with a cleaning rod full of patches and a yardstick and it seems to be a 60 twist. My method isn't totally accurate so maybe I am wrong. I did put a shot into an old oak block from about 50 feet. The 240 gr. conical penetrated just over an inch, the soft lead was over 3/4 inch wide and you could just see the ring of the back of the bullet, the rest was mushroom. I have not tried a patched ball yet, I understand that they load harder. The 240 gr Hornady loads easily so I will probably stick with it if it is accurate. I only shot appx. eight rounds to adjust the sights before black powder season, and did not go. It seemed to do OK at appx. 75 feet on a paper target. I was standing with a rest, so accuracy was more me moving then the gun being tested.

Jenks,

I've spent quite a bit of time messing around with my 1/48 TC Hawken. The two best I've found are a 370 Maxiball with 75 - 85 grains of Pyro RS or the PA Conical you're using with 75 of T7.

I've settled on the 240 PA and the 75 of T7 because it's very accurate and the Maxi kicks like a mule. I may use the Maxi to hunt with but not for much range work.

Thanks Josmund. I have a T/C book that goes with their hawken. Their max loads are hotter then Investarm offers. Thinking that the twist is one in 60 on mine, I thought I was restricted to either RB or short conicals so I have not tried anything heavier. I do not notice any kick with the 240gr Hornady and 80 grains of RS, but this is from a standing position. I won't be shooting anything bigger then whitetail deer, so the 240 gr. should work. I am assuming that the 80 grains of RS is enough to get the Hornady to "upset" and grip the bore. I think I read somewhere that the T7 that you are using is "hotter" then RS. A couple of years ago I bought several bottles of RS from a K-mart that was selling them for under $4 a bottle so I have a supply of that. I guess it will keep OK until each bottle is opened. I didn't notice a "use by ..." notice on them.

I will try measuring the twist again, I just read some good instructions on this forum.