Range report .54 Hawken

Was able to get to the range and shoot about 50 rounds yesterday. I switched from 80 grains of 777 to 60 grains pirodex ffg.

Using .530 ball and .015 prelubed patch at 50 yards I was dead center about 5" below the bull. Same load I could not get on the paper at 100yds. :shake:

I am still very new to this, but a few things I noticed. I really like the musket caps and nipple I switched to....sooo much easier to put on the rifle. The other is what a pain it is to ram the ball down the muzzle! it did not matter if I swabbed first or not, there was no way I was going to get that ball started without a short starter. Once I got it started I had to hammer it all the way down! Is that normal?!

The only other patches I had were Very thin...I think .001. Very easy to get down the muzzle but all over the place on the target.

I am not using any bore butter or special lube...just the prelubed patches. I also shot my Walker for the first time, but I will post about that in the pistol area.

I'd file that front sight down so you'll be printing a little high at 50. Then go to 100 and make adjustments so it hits where you want.

Ok...I have adjustable sights so I can adjust that with no problem. I know the projectile rises and falls and could not remember if it was still rising at 50 yards or not....

One thing I forgot to mention was that we had crazy wind here yesterday so I didnt get to worked up about the 100 yrd shot. I figured that I will really try to tune that in on a calmer day. Heck.....if we left our targets out for more than 15 min they were ripped off the plywood!

No, you should not have to hammer the ball down using a lubed patch if you just swabbed the barrel.
Possible rough barrel or a new one that is still not broken in?

Why only 60 grains pyrodex? You used a hot load of triple 7 and a very weak load of pyrodex?

Up it to 80 grains pyrodex.

Also i find in all of my rifles that a .018 pillow ticking patch loads a lot easier than .015 TC patch.

All of my rifles do best with pillow ticking lubed with bore butter.

Runner said:

No, you should not have to hammer the ball down using a lubed patch if you just swabbed the barrel.
Possible rough barrel or a new one that is still not broken in?

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It is a brand new barrel with less than 100 rounds through it.

Kentuckywindage said:

Why only 60 grains pyrodex? You used a hot load of triple 7 and a very weak load of pyrodex?

Up it to 80 grains pyrodex.

Also i find in all of my rifles that a .018 pillow ticking patch loads a lot easier than .015 TC patch.

All of my rifles do best with pillow ticking lubed with bore butter.

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Well the only reason I went down was that I was only expecting to be doing taget shooting and was looking for most accurate load, but I guess I really should not expect any kind of accuracy out to 100yds with that load.

I will get some of the pillow ticking....these standard pre lubed .015 are :bull: to hammer down the barrel!

I hate prelubed patches. Everytime i buy them, i get home, open the package and they are dried out. Cheaper to lube them yourself and get the lube you want.

Good luck to you :thumbsup:

i only have 20 shots through my GPR .54 flinter and its sighted in for 50 yards right now. Great shooting rifle.

I will get some of the pillow ticking....these standard pre lubed .015 are :bull: to hammer down the barrel!
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It's not the target charge that made you miss the 100yd target. It's the wind like you said and the fact you're hitting 5 inches low already at 50yds. I can shoot tight groups out to 100 yds with 60gr of FFg BP. You should be able to also once you get them shooting a couple inches high at 50 yds like was mentioned before.

I wouldn't think you'd be having so much trouble getting the ball down the barrel.

Rikeman said:

"...Using .530 ball and .015 prelubed patch..."
"...there was no way I was going to get that ball started without a short starter..."

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That's actually pretty normal...I have to use a short starter on most everything except my .45cals.

Once I got it started I had to hammer it all the way down! Is that normal?!

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That is not normal...what kind of lube and ramrod are you using?

I am not using any bore butter or special lube...just the prelubed patches.

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What is the lube in the prelubed patches?
Try rubbing some bore butter into a few of the patches with your fingers and see if you can tell a difference.

That 777 load is the approximate equivalent of 100 grains of RS. I would expect some difference in POI between the two.

Unless I missed it, you don't mention which Hawken you have. With the adjustable sights, am I right in guessing Cabelas? If so it's made by Investarms, the same folks that make the Lyman GPR.

If that's the case, I wouldn't expect so much difficulty in seating the ball with .015 patches UNLESS your balls are .535 rather than .530, and IF you didn't get all the protective bore grease out of it before shooting.

In the first case, double check ball diameter. In a new gun I would expect things to be a little tight, but they will definitely loosen up after a couple of hundred shots.

In the second case, you can completely remove that grease easily using brake cleaner. But I don't know of much else that will get it out. After using the brake cleaner your bore will be silver bright, but anything else even with lots of elbow grease is likely to leave it yellow. That will definitely increase ball seating effort.

My GPR started out tight with .530 and .015, but after a couple of hundred shots was easy to seat even if accuracy dropped off a bit. I went to .535 and .015 and accuracy definitely improved but seating required a sharp rap with the short starter, but with steady firm pressure on the rod.

I've since gone to .018 home-lubed ticking, but had to drop back to .530 balls for my hunting loads. You can still seat .535 with the .018 ticking, but it takes a bit of effort. No mallet required, but still more than I want for followup shots in a hunting rifle.

Roundball

I am not using any other lube besides what is on the prelubed patches. The pathes use wonder lube 2000. They seem fairly moist when I pull them from the package. I am using a fiberglass ramrod. And a firm steady pressure does not work on the ball. Have to hammer it all the way down :shake:

BrownBear

My rifle is the traditions Woodsmans Hawken.....so not real high quality. I am sure that the balls are .530. Using a light I can see nothing wrong with the barrel, it does however have less than 75 rounds through it still. I need to look into better lubed patches.

Rikeman said:

I am using a fiberglass ramrod. And a firm steady pressure does not work on the ball. Have to hammer it all the way down :shake:

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Rikeman, if you're not already doing so, using a device on the top end of the ramrod like a wooden ball lets you push down really hard without hurting your hand...I can't seat a PRB without using something (except in my .45s)...even when out hunting I at first used a folded glove but then started carrying a wooden ball in my pouch that has a 3/8" hole drilled partway into it to slip over the end of the ramrod

roundball said:

Rikeman said:

I am using a fiberglass ramrod. And a firm steady pressure does not work on the ball. Have to hammer it all the way down :shake:

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Rikeman, if you're not already doing so, using a device on the top end of the ramrod like a wooden ball lets you push down really hard without hurting your hand...I can't seat a PRB without using something (except in my .45s)...even when out hunting I at first used a folded glove but then started carrying a wooden ball in my pouch that has a 3/8" hole drilled partway into it to slip over the end of the ramrod

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That is a great idea. I am going to make a short starter and will incorporate that into the design!

Rikeman: Use a thinner patch, or go to a small diameter ball. It is very dangerous to be pushing a Ramrod down the barrel with your palm on the other end of the rod. Its a good way to break the rod and send the end of it into your other hand or forearm. Get rid of the fiberglass, or plastic rod. Buy a hickory rod. Use a hand-over-hand technique to run a tight patch and ball down the barrel. Never put your driving hand more than 8 inches above the muzzle. If you can, buy or make a muzzle protector that will both protect the muzzle from wear, and center the ball and your rod down the barrel. I use a stainless steel range rod for most of my loading work. MY hickory rod gets used in the field. Period.

Paul, doesnt it sound to you like that bore is dry? I would recommend getting in and cleaning that bore down to bare shiny metal. Clean it, scrub it, use a brush in it if need be, and get it clean clean clean, then if nothin else lube those patches with some crisco, or go jo, or bore butter, but lube them well and then try that load. Once that ball gets driven into the rifling, it should be sized and should slide on down that barrel. If it feels rough, I would cut a patch of green scotch brite pad and run it full length of the barrel several times to slick off the sharp edges, then try it again. I have one rifle that is a .53 bore and even as tight as it is, once the ball is seated into the rifling, it will push down UNLESS it is dry, or very dirty, then you cant make it go. Give that a try and see if it doesnt work better. Clean and moist is good.

Hmmm,on your loads, I use 90 grains for rondys and target work, and I use 120 gr for serious hunting and social work. I dont have one lick of problem making 3" groups at 100 resting over a post. Only thing that 60 grains of pyrodex is gonna do is foul the manure outta your barrel. No wonder it is hard to seat balls.

All my short starters have an extra hole drilled in them to slip over the ram rod.

If you have over 1/3 of your wooden rod sticking out the end of the bbl BE CAREFUL it is really easy to snap one and stab yourself.

Bountyhunter said:

Only thing that 60 grains of pyrodex is gonna do is foul the manure outta your barrel. No wonder it is hard to seat balls.

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Ok.....I am always a fan of more smoke and bigger kick! So I up my load and my gun will shoot cleaner? This is my first muzzle loader so I have NO practical experience. Just havin some fun trying to figure out what works best.

What you said earlier made a lot of sense about the bore being too dry. I am going to try and lube it better when I shoot. Put in a heavier load as well.