gelarson

I will be buying Hawken this year and was wondering what works for lead in it. Will I have to use balls or can I use conicals? Do sabots work (probably not due to the twist). Is it better to buy factory bullets or make your own?

thanks for you assistance
Eric

trac209

I would go with conicals like buffalo's or even maxiballs would shoot great out of that gun.Sabots tend to shoot a little eratic out of a slow twist barrel like that one,although a friend of mine shoots powerbelts out of his hawk with good results.

roundball

I've been using a houseful of TC Hawkens for years, patched round balls are outstanding in them, and are all I use anymore for year round practice and deer hunting every fall.

50grns Goex FFFg (or 70grns PyrodexRS) - Target loads
90grns Goex FFFg (or 120grns PyrodexRS) - Hunting loads

Oxyoke wonder wads
.018" TC prelubed pillow ticking patches
Hornady (or Speer) .490 balls

cayugad

last week I was shooting my T/C .50 caliber Hawkins flintlock. As always, it shot the roundball with 65 grains of Goex FFFg excellent. I then switched over to try some 370 grain maxiball and was very surprised how well it shot them with 65 grains of Goex FFFg.

What you're going to have to do it try your rifle with a few different loads and find out what it likes best. I would start with roundballs. The guidelines offered by Roundball should put you in the ball park.

That is a nice rifle....

UncleNorby

For ease of loading I would go with conicals. Patches are just one more thing to think about. I know you can get packages of correctly sized patches for certain diameter roundballs from T/C, so you should be able to get the right combo easily enough. BUT, conicals are just easier to deal with IMO. I have owned several T/C hammer guns and they all shot maxiballs real well. Other conicals have been hit or miss. Never tried Powerbelts.

I do make my own bullets. It is far cheaper, but you do need reasonably pure lead. Wheelweights will not work. If you go the roundball route, you may be able to change patch thickness with different batches of bullets, if your lead source/purity changes. The more alloy you have, the larger the bullets tend to be. Pure lead shrinks the most as it hardens, and the molds are made for the shrinkage rate of pure lead.

Many years ago I made a batch of maxiballs from wheelweights, and the bullets were so oversized that it was nearly impossible to load one. Those got converted into fishing weights.

gelarson

Thanks to you all. I was wondering if that was a nice rifle to get and it sounds like it is. I get pure lead from the dentist my wife works for that they would normally throw away. God I wish she was the dentist so I could afford more toys.

Great hunting to you all this fall.

Eric

cayugad

A Thompson Center Hawkins is a much sought after rifle by many Black Powder shooters. Besides being a great shooting rifle for the most part, if you want to make it into a super roundball shooter, get yourself a Green Mountain Drop in Barrel in 1:70 twist. Depending on the size of the flats, you can get a .54 caliber in the 15/16th range and a .58 caliber in the 1" flats. Both have teriffic knock down and very accurate. I have a .58 caliber Green Mountain Barrel and a .62 caliber that fit into my rifle.

Enjoy your rifle..... T/C has a great warranty and customer service department should you ever need assistance with anything.

bronko22000

Your T/C Hawkin more than likely has a 1:48 twist. This is a "middle-of-the-road" twist that will shoot both round balls and conicals well, but not exceptional. I have 3 of these fine rifles in flintlock. In PA where I live, up until a few years ago you could only use a round ball. Since then, any projectile is legal. I find that one shoots the Lee REAL bullet (250 gr) well, while the other prefers T/C 275 gr Maxi-Hunters. The last rifle, I purchased a Green Mountain Long Range Hunter barrel with a 1:28 twist and shoot 245 gr Powerbelts out of it.
Be forewarned about using too light a load. IMO and bad experience, 65 gr of FFFg is too light for deer. In my early ML years, I shot one of the biggest buck I ever saw in the woods (and that's a lot) with a patched round ball and 70 gr of FFFg. My best guess is that the shot was a bit too far forward and smacked into the shoulder. I knocked every loose hair off that deer, or so it appeared in the snow. Tracked him for 1/2 a mile and only 3 or 4 drops of blood. Never did get him. With a 50 cal, I would start with 80 grs. and work up from there to 100 grs. More than 100 grs, your just blowing unburned powder out the barrel. Since then, I have taken about 6 deer with my MLs. I just love being out there in the dead of winter. Alone with nature and your thoughts. Have fun.

cayugad

bronko22000 said, I would have to disagree with that statement somewhat. Although 1:48 is not considered the best twist out there for roundball, 1:70 being much better, some of the 1:48 twist rifles are exceptional roundball shooting rifles. I have two Hawkin's style rifles with 1:48 twist that shoot roundball so well, it is all I use in them. Last year three deer fell to one of the described rifles. The roundball functioned perfect as a hunting load. I will admit the furthest deer was only 60 steps, but the roundball dropped it where it stood.

I personally think the roundball is the most underestimated projectile on the muzzleloading market. They obtain good speed. As lethal as anything if your shot is placed properly out to 100 yards and in some cases better then 100 yards. (granted caliber of roundball does make a difference in some cases). They can do tremendous internal organ damage in most thin skinned animals. And are inexpensive to shoot compared to other projectiles.

The only way to really tell if you have a good roundball or conical shooting rifle is to try them. Work up your loads and be able to place your shots.

Everyone remembers one kind of projectile that really did not perform well for them. Mine was a small sabot. I forget the kind or even weight. When sabots first came out many years ago, I bought some and got them shooting very well out of my T/C Renegade with the 1:48 twist. I shot a small buck that year at about 40 yards. I knew the shot was well placed. Well the buck took the hit and ran off like I had missed. After checking and tracking I found that deer about 200 yards from where it was first shot. I later learned that the sabot had never opened at all. It punched a hole through the lungs of the deer and lodged in the opposite shoulder blade. It was the last year I ever shot them. I went back to conicals and roundball after that.

Now here I am about to try sabots all over again.... Patching and lube will also make a difference in how well your rifle shoots roundball. There are a lot of them out there....

roundball

All my TC Hawken barrels regardles if 1:48" or 1:66", percussion or flint, are very accurate round ball shooters with target and full power hunting loads