Hawkins 50 cal

[Captndan]

Ready to go. 0.49 ball rolls down the barrel about 6". With a 0.15 lubed patch no go. With a ball starter and the back of my fist still no go. What to do next?

 

[Grenadier1758]

Try a 0.480" ball.

Get a digital caliper and measure the land to land dimension of your barrel. Use a ball that is 0.010" less in diameter than that measurement.

Or don't force it, just get a bigger hammer.

 

[shane a gress]

I have an older TC that I have to use thinner patches to start a .490 round ball. Follow Grenadier's suggestion.

 

[EC121]

The rifling in a T/C "Hawkins" barrel is pretty shallow to enable the use of Maxi-balls. They get blow-by pretty bad with deep rifling. You might also take a look at the crown to see how sharp the edge is. A thinner patch will probably work.
BTW: The T/C Hawken barrels also have shallow rifling.

 

[Ben Meyer]

Try a thinner patch. Remember, its the compressed thickness that matters. I have some .018 ticking that compresses to less than some .015 ticking that I have. Im currently using a .495 ball with .014 fabric that compresses down to .00325(if im reading the micrometer right!)

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have a TC Hawken that I couldn't get a .495 ball down the bore with any patch, a .490 goes OK.

 

[Captndan]

Why does the patch have to be .015 cloth? Why not something like hair roller paper or cigarette paper?

 

[Thunder14]

Ready to go. 0.49 ball rolls down the barrel about 6". With a 0.15 lubed patch no go. With a ball starter and the back of my fist still no go. What to do next?

I use a 490 and the red pillow ticking from joeanns fabric loads smooth and shoots great I also can use the blue pillow ticking but that does load a little harder with a 490 ball. I wet my patches with dish soap and alcohol or mink oil.Don’t make your patches to big this also can be a factor.This workers for all my T/C Hawken“s good luck just be persistent every rifle is different so it might take a few tries to see what works for you but everyone has given you a starting point.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Red striped pillow ticking isn't necessarily thinner than blue ticking. To determine thickness, bring a digital caliper or a micrometer and measure. The advantage of walking through JoAnns fabrics with a micrometer is that the sales personnel will direct you to the utility cloth or ticking section of the store. When buying yardage from any fabric store, you must wash it to remove the sizing from the fabric and the heat of drying will tighten the weave. Washed fabric will also hold lubrication better for a more consistent on target performance.