All you hawken shooters out there!
 

All you hawken shooters out there any tips or stories for a hawken :)

Powder first, then ball.....

Heck yeah I've dry balled once. Not how you do it lol

I use 83 grains fff Goex and a 370 grain Maxi Ball in my Thompson Center Hawkins, no over powder wad. It has always proven to be a deadly combination. Just a little hard on the shoulder though.

I use ff at 80 grains and a patched round ball

I use 80 gr. Pyrodex RS and a 240 gr. Hornady PA conical in my .50 Investarm with no wad. It seems to shoot well, but I am new to this and have only shot it a few times. I have never shot a patched RB.

The amount of powder you need or shoots best will be determined by the rifle, the twist, and the projectile. I have a T/C Hawkens rifle that shoots great with 85 grains of Black Powder or 75 grains of Triple Seven powder. Yet my Traditions Woodsman Hawken(s) both shoot well with 90 grains of Black Powder and a roundball.

The important thing is to prepare the rifle properly before the first shot, and then know your rifle. Does it need to be swabbed? Does it get fussy about projectiles? All the things your rifle will tell you with lots of range time.

Both of my TC Hawkens have Green Mountain replacement barrels Austinhuntman. The .50 has a 1:28 twist that I shoot with sabots, and the .58 has a 1:70 twist that shoots patched balls into tight groups.

Each one is my favorite rifle when I'm shooting it. But then, every muzzleloader I own turns out to be my favorite at the time I'm shooting it. :s2:

I have a CVA Hawken in .54 cal....it has a 1:48" twist, and will only shoot PRBs and T/C maxiballs (and maxihunters) worth a damn.....later found it shoots the LEE traditional minie ball fairly well also.
My primary hunting load is 90 grains of FFFg under a patched round ball that I cast myself....this is my go-to whitetail load. I've taken a bison with it using 100 grains of FFg and the T/C maxiballs.
Tips? I have a few....1.) carry a spare ramrod & short starter with you on hunting trips. Nothing will ruin a hunt quicker than not being able to load your gun. 2.) prior to popping a couple of caps on the gun to "dry it out" prior to loading, I run a couple of alcohol patches down the bore (you can get them from any pharmacy) to help remove any oils that might contaminate the charge. I usually run two alcohol patches then a dry patch, fire a cap, then load. Also, after popping the cap, I take my nipple pick and make sure that there is NO blockage from the nipple to the drum.
When loading, I make sure the muzzle is pointed away from me, and then tilt the gun to the side with the drum....I do this because some of the powder will end up in the drum, ensuring a positive ignition. I used to take the nipple off and trickle some powder in there, replace the nipple, then cap.....but that was too tedioius; the tilt technique is just as good and simple. However, if you have a bad charge (contaminated with oil, ect), the trickle powder trick works well to set off the charge and clear the bore.
I usually keep a couple of measured charges in glass containers capped with a cork....makes reloading a little faster without having to fumble with measures, horns, flasks, ect.
I also take some white out correction fluid an paint the front blade....it helps it to stand out in low light conditions.
Good luck..............

I do all of that except for the alcohol pads and the extra ramrod but you have got a point ther sir thanks alot

Isn't the whole point of shooting a 'Hawken' style rifle the fact that many of them ARE designed to be 'historically' more correct and shoot the patched round ball instead of sabots or conicals?

Depends on the rate of twist in the barrel...most modern replicas of Hawkens have a 1:48" twist; they were designed to shoot both round ball AND conicals......some shoot conicals and balls well, others shoot only balls well, and some shoot both well. The 1:48" twist is kind of a "compromise", with all the options out there.
To shoot PRB, most rifles prefer a slower twist (like around 1:66 or so).
Depends on the game, also.....if I were hunting bigger game, such as elk, bear, ect, I think I would like the extra energy that a conical would give me, esp. if I were shooting a smaller caliber rifle.

That's true! I know some of the Hawken's are 1:48 and can shoot either pretty well - tho I know for 'the most part' patched RB's like a very slow twist - as you said - like a 1:66 or 1:60 like my Lyman GP rifle has.

Not necessary, original Hawkens were also 1-48 twist and they shot patched balls out of them...The big difference is they were also cut rifling, instead of button rifled, so the rifling was .012-.015 deep instead of .006-.008 deep...This holds the patch better...

They also probably shot less powder than many do now and for decades they only had FF powder, not FFF...

A factory rifle with 1-48 rifling can shoot a round ball with good hunting accuracy and once you get to a .54 it will easily take elk and bear....