Accuracy of my TC Hawken with Green mountain .54 round twist barr

As I started my journey back into traditional muzzleloading after 35 years from college to Desert storm to operation restore hope. then marriage and kids I found this website. in the 2 years since then many many people have helped me along the way. my first posts were about heavy conicals and which gun to buy.
fast forward 2 years I bought a TC Hawken off of a member it was a .50 caliber. I sent it off got it rebored to .54 with a fast twist. while the barrel was with Mr. hoyt I bought a green mountain 32 inch 54 cal roundball barrel. I have to say this has turned into my favorite rifle. ive been shooting this rifle every week no matter if I put Goex 2F or pyro 2F this rifle shoots awesome the more powder I add the more she likes. today I added 10 more grains so 110 grains of Pyro 2F select at 50 yards I shot 5 shots hovering around an inch at 100 shot my best group ever a 5 shot 1.5 inch. maybe luck divine intervention but I am really love shooting roundballs out of this rifle. my current load is .530 roundball .018 patch and pyro 2F select id post pictures but got to find a better picture host. I never realized roundballs could be so accurate

so 110 grains of Pyro 2F select at 100 shot my best group ever a 5 shot 1.5 inch.

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It's really nice you're figuring out round ball stuff.
But I get so tired of this,, :barf:
Very unique,, you have a special gift.

shooting roundballs has slowly become a favorite of mine, I just need to hunt with them more

Howie, good for you for making the roundballs work. They really can be accurate can't they?

more than what I ever thought

Good short bullet guns can shoot short bullets better than most shooters. Becoming a good short bullet shooter, now that's something to be proud of. And then learning to dope the wind and having the drop at distance set into your mind by repetition, yeah that's something.

Yep, if I can consistently put my round balls offhand into a 6" (min. of deer) circle at fifty yards I'm happy.

That's impressive. With open sights I am lucky to even be able to see my target trying to line up open sights at 100 yards. At that distance I need optics. Around 70 yards with open sights is about my limit, and prefer it more around 50 max.

I was running a .62 Hawken today and smacking small pieces of cardboard with it. The back stop is around 120yds. Round ball is all I ever shoot, and they are accurate. The right recipe of patch, powder, and ball proves it.

Great work Howie! I'm still shooting a few heavy conicals out of my 54 but I'm starting wonder why...

the roundballs feel a lot better on the shoulder that hawken stock with the screw in it can get vicious with a 100 grains of powder and a big conical. ive got some 535 gr no excuses that you can definitely feel it. then in my 50 caliber ive got some 600 grain no excuses that jar you pretty good

No kidding about HEAVY conicals from No Excuses. I saw he decided to get a mold for that 600gr design, which just seems crazy to me. I've almost bought boolits from him a number of times but have never pulled the trigger.

I've shot a lot of 600's in a couple of modern cartridge rifles as well as in my 58 caliber muzzleloaders. A guy has to really feel he needs them to take them through the load development process, then shoot them enough for good proficiency on hunts.

Talk about a labor of love.... Or perhaps a bout with insanity, depending on your tolerance for recoil and lots of it! :shocked2:

One serious factor for us old guys to keep in mind: With age there's growing potential for torn retinas with heavy recoil. We shoot a lot of big guns here in Alaska, and among my dozen or so regular shooting pards, three have experienced the severe problem. Not to be messed with by any means.

Oh my! :shocked2:
Detached/torn retinas from the recoil. I like mine exactly the way they are thank you very much.

ive got 200 of the 600s they came sized .503 he also sent some .5035 to see how they shot. the 5035 shot great but were a little tough to get down my tube, however the ...503 is perfect

yes sir mr. Brown Bear ive shot some big cartridges as well. The load development was tough but I finally stuck with 80 grains of pyro p it gave the best accuracy. my black mountain magnm is sighted in for 1 inch high at 50 yards went up to 100 grains but accuracy fell off. if shot out of a hawken with a curved steel or brass butt plate it will jolt you pretty good, id shoot 100 grains if accuracy was there. I still use a wonder wad over the powder

Howie said:

I still use a wonder wad over the powder

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Give it a try both ways and let your rifle decide which it likes best. And be sure to report back, of course! :thumbsup:

I bought a green mountain 32 inch 54 cal roundball barrel.

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I bought a GM 50 caliber T\C drop in replacement about 7 years ago. It's one accurate, consistent barrel and the best $$$ I put into my original kit gun build.

Howie, how much did it cost you to rebore that barrel? I'd like myself to have a 50 into a 54 with slower twist for round balls