today i finally got out to shoot my t/c 50cal hawken flintlock!! i went with my dads friend who been muzzleloading since he was a kid...he gave me both powders that i needed...he said he has a ton of it and hasnt muzzleloaded in about 8 years or so..now he mainly bow hunts...he taught me everything from loading safely to cleaning...i was shooting hornady round balls with prelubed .10 patches...my first shot was perfect verticaly at 50 yards behind 90grs of 2fg goex but 2 or 3 inches to the left...i fired 2 more both were touching almost in 1 hole but about 6-8 inches low and about 5 to the left...we couldnt figure out why my first shot was so off..maybe the bore butter did that i left in there...who knows? we adjusted the sights and kept shooting until it got on the money...i only shot 15 rounds all together...i didnt shot any real groups because we were moving the sights after 2 or 3 but the first 2 were touching so i think its a good shooting gun...there is a steel plate at about 150 yards and i shot at it 3 times..first shot just low then i aimed for the top then just left then the 3rd was just low...then i let him have a crack...he nailed it the first shot! it was hard for me because i really never shot iron sights except pistols and the sight covered the plate at that range..i had one misfire when my flint was all fouled and it didnt throw a good spark..he said i did good and didnt flinch at all when that happend and was surprised...he was also surprised i had everything but the powder and was set..from the way my dad made it sound i didnt know anything and didnt have much...i owe that to you guys...thanx alot...i had a blast..i love that gun now...i didnt have much of a problem flinching when the flash went off...im used to shooting pistols and keeping a good sight picture and that helped alot i think...i was amazed at the clouds of smoke..its definently a neat sport...i cant wait to bag a deer with it!! im going to shoot a few more times and sight it in with powerbelts and play with the powder charges a bit and see if i can get some good groups...it was alot of fun! we also didnt have to clean at all inbetween shots..we cleaned it at the end of the day and i came home and cleaned it....thanx alot guys!

Mauser that' s cool! Its an addicting sport that' s for sure, now all you need is a crew of nutty guys like yourself who like to chase em' around after Christmas when the snow flies. We have a cabin in Clinton Co. and a group of us stays there for the week after X-Mas and we have a ball driving deer. WE usually all get shooting, and most take home a deer.
I love Flintlock hunting myself, and am really eyeing up a traditional PA Longrifle or English Fowler to get back to the roots of it..........at around $1000+ for a good one it' s gonna be an investment![]

A tip for you.......if you treat the gun with bore butter after you are done cleaning, before you fire your first round, run a few dry patches thru the bore to remove most of it.
Also when I sight in seriously, I run a solvent patch or 2 after EVERY shot.......then dry with clean patches before the next shot. Don' t get lazy with the sighting in process.
Also, keep that touch-hole clear after each shot (T/C makes a nice little $2 touch-hole pick that is ribbed), and don' t overfill your flash pan.......you want a fire not a fuse into the touch-hole.
I actually take a paperclip and when I am ready to fire, stick the clip into the touch-hole creating a channel for the fire to hit more surface area of the powder charge.

Get that CRC " Electric Contact Cleaner" ....Auto-Zone $3 Spray a cleaning patch and wipe your frizzen and flint after every shot and dry. You' ll get a more consistent spark.

Ok all for now! Enjoy the new toy!

thanx matt....one of my trips i will be serious and clean it between shots and sight it in with some powerbelts and get it shooting perfect and shot some groups...today i was just learning the ropes more or less...it was alot of fun...i have a touchhole pick i will use..and for now on i will remove the bore butter...what about hunting though....should i fire a fouling shot before i take it out to hunt? if so whats the process to do that?? or just load it normal and shot it or what? thanx...i think the more i have that thing and shoot it the more seasons i will hunt with it...im considering taking it bear hunting and deer hunting in rifle season already! i dont know about bear....i dont want to have a misfire or major hangfire and miss my first bear when i know my mauser could done it right with a pull of a trigger...i know its coming on my deer hunting trip in rifle season...the focus though this year is a nice buck...again i dont want to miss a shot at a nice buck...im just not sure on how often it will go bang...i know if i do my part it should....but theres always that chance....well see....i really love it.....its pretty neat....its crazy im a teenager with all kinds of modern things surrounding me i should be hunting and shooting with by normals peoples standards but i go back to the guns of the 1600s or so and hunt with one of them...granted i have good powder and good flints and a better gun and better knowledge....but your almost certain a centerfire with a good scope sighted in properly will do its part if you do yours....this flintlock stuff is a whole new ball game....i love it....i cant wait to shoot again....also i did over prime...i was priming about 2/3 of a pan and once a little to much came out(first time ever using a flash pan primer) i figured it wouldnt matter.....the gun still went off..but i noticed a little more lag...self control kept my head down and i kept tight...overall i think my lock time is pretty good..i mean i never shot any other flinters but when i pull the trigger theres a kaboom pretty quick afterwards....i was expecting a littlle slower then that....the guys at the deer camp i goto are " wannabe hunters" i mean they hunt but they are lazy and dont scout much and wont take time to learn...i tried teaching....they own a gun shot and the camp we stay at..they just got into hunting and having a deer camo because its a good time...maybe i can get a flintlock camp going up there again..they used to have it yearly...well see....i cleaned my gun how ou said and it worked great...the only thing i dont have yet is the contact cleaner...ill have to find some...maybe i can get my dad into flinting! he thought about a percussion gun for october but never bought it...when we go to shot our mausers(yes i got him to buy a real german mauser to hunt with this year!!!) ill bring my smokepole and shot some and let him shot some...i think he will like it...its something diffrent and pretty neat....i like it so far....and cleaning wasnt half as bad as people make it sound...i seriously spend more time cleaning my pistols then i do my smoke pole and i followed your directions pretty well....we did clean the bore some at the end of the shooting but i still cleaned it all....im anal about my guns...theres nights im bored i take them off the rack and strip then and clean them one by one for the heck of it....cleaning didnt bother me.....thanx alot

I have had a hawkin 50 cal since the early 70' s . It shoots as good as any inline with 90 gr groex and conical bullets. I don' t like the new fangled bullets and fake black powder. I think it takes the fun out of " blackpowder" shootin.

I have a Renegade bought in the 70' s which is a dressed down Hawkins with I think a 2" shorter barrel and no brass. They are great to shoot. Like Missed_shot, mine loved black powder, although because it is so hard to find up here, I use Pyrodex Select. This is a .54 caliber but with 90 grains, a bore button, and a conical (300 grain I make) this thing will take any deer I see out to 100 yards. Have lots of fun shooting the flinter... they are something else.

Many muzzleloaders shoot the first shot from a clean, cool barrel to a different spot than the succeeding ones. That' s why a lot of ML shooters will fire a " fouling shot" before hunting or beginning to shoot a group. Bore butter, or any thick goopy lubricant, can accentuate the tendency for the first shot to go out of the group. Remove it thoroughly before shooting. Use a clean solvent, like rubbing alcohol, on a couple of patched to get the stuff out, then dry the bore with a couple of dry patches before shooting.

Don' t use Bore Butter as a preservative in a clean barrel to prevent rust! It is miserable for this purpose. Once you' ve gotten your barrel squeaky-clean, preserve it with Birchwood-Casey Sheath by swabbing the bore a couple of times with this stuff on a patch. It dries, leaving a protective coat which prevents rust, and you can load and shoot later on without worrying if the Sheath will contaminate your powder charge. It won' t, and usually doesn' t affect point of impact of the first shot as much as other preservatives.

mauser, i have the same flint. real good gun. was at the range wed before we got the storm in pa. had a stiff left to right cross wind. and still had 3 shot groups of 3" at 100yards 1" low and 3" " right with 60 grs of goex 3f. and hornady round ball. i use .15 patch. the brass butt plate on this gun starts to work on your shoulder after about 25 shots. have not tried .10 yet to see how it differs. picked up a fiber front site on the way home and installed it so i' ll be going to the range again. to make sure i' m sited in for deer. did you find any of your patches to see how they looked. i found one of mine after i used 80 grs, and it was tore up and really burnt. so i' m going with 70 or 60 grs. to see how groups go. the less you can use in your pan the faster it will fire your load in the barrel. bob