I bought a TC Hawken also and after almost giving up ML shooting I stopped with balls and switched to Buffalo bullets and 100 gr of Goex. It changed my accuracy from not being able to hit a 5 gallon bucket at 50 yards to baseball size groups at up to 100 yds.

cayugad and roundball - I agree with you both. What I should have said is that the 1:48 twist isn't the most ideal twist for a roundball. My T/Cs shot the ball very well also. But now that it is legal here, I much prefer the conicals.
Besides, playing with different bullets/charges is a lot of fun. The only problem I have with that is explaining to my wife why sometimes my Explorer smells like rotten eggs.

I also have a TC Hawkin .54 / I have hunted with this gun since the earley 80's and have only shot the round ball. I have taked many elk and mule deer with this set up and although it won't drop an elk like a deer it still does the job.

i have a T/C hawken in .50 and have good groups with round balls and T/C's cheap shot sabots in it's 1/48" barrel that you should have also....and have heard from people that hornadys great plains conicals will work good also.......................bob

gelarson,
I have had my T/C .50 Hawken since the early 80's. I have shot many different projectiles through mine, and I have settled in on a few that really shoot very well. I have a Green Mountain 1-70 twist round ball barrel that shoots a round ball great no matter what charge you put in it, but my 1-48 twist barrel starts to spread groups somewhat after about 80 gr. of FFG goex.

I have two favorite conicles. The 370 gr. T/C maxiball is very accurate, but a few years back I was trying to work up true power load, and I discovered the No-Excuses .50 460gr. conicle. You might think it is too long for the rate of twist in a 1-48, but it is probably the most accurate projectile I have found. I use 85 gr. of FFG Goex blackpowder, and I shot a young buck at about 10 steps this last deer season. Needless to say, 460 gr. of lead had no problem penetrating the young deer. I know it is a bit overkill for a whitetail, but the accuracy is amazing.

Here is the link for the No-Excuses bullet.
http://members.aol.com/noexcusesb/page3.html

C. Davis

Bob,
I forgot about the Hornady Great Plains conicles. My gun shoots those really well too. One bullet my gun does not shoot well is the Buffalo Bullet. My dad's Hawken shoots the Buffalo bullet great, but my gun never has. If I remember right, that bullet came in 385 gr.

C. Davis

TYC designed the Maxi Ball for that rifle. It works well!!

I once owned a TC Renegage in .54 cal percussion, and eventually the barrel stopped shooting the tight groups to whichI was accustomed. Not sure why. I made my own balls from a Lee mould, but I also used .54 cal T/C Maxi Balls, and I tried to be meticulous about ensuring the rifle and bore were protected with rust preventive lubricants.

It grouped more like a shotgun blast, shot to shot, one year after several months in storage. I quit using it as a result. But I'm considering getting back into the muzzleloading hunt with a Lyman Great Plains flinter in .54 calibre.

I guess my question is how do I avoid this happening again with my new muzzleloader? I know I used wheel weights at times in making my round balls, so I'm wondering if my wheel weight made round balls made the barrel go bad or the "modern" lubricants I used. I am presuming the T/C Maxis were pure lead.

caionneach... who knows? I may have become the proud owner of that 54 Renegade you discarded. Many shooters are just like you -- in that they don't have any clues as to why their gun suddenly stopped being accurate. So instead of searching for the answers, they opt to buy another ML. Well... that's where I say "Thank You Very Much"

I constantly buy & sell Renegades & Hawkens from internet sources. Shooters sell them... sometimes give them away thinking the barrel is shot. I love all those soap & water bore users who go out & buy new rifles that end up being inferior to the one they just sold for $95 -- thinkin' it only had a good lock, trigger, couple scratches in the wood.... so it can't be worth dickens.

Keep em' comin' boys.... many times for only $4, I can turn that bore completely around into a wonderful shooter again.

OK---you win. Now let me in on your secret! BTW, I still have that old Renegade, originally purchased in 1981......somewhere. My father-in-law is a "shade tree" gunsmith of sorts, and likely has it. At any rate, I'm very interested in what you do to restore the bore. I took good care of that rifle. Beats me why it started grouping in an erratic manner.

Kenneth