Getting a new to me 54 hawken

Ok guys and gals I'm getting a good but not see traditions hawken in 54 cal. Bore is Brite and clean. Stock need some love. What would be a good light target load? Out to the most 50 yards? Ben a long time since I had a 54 so I don't remember the load I used for my he CVA St. Louis I had. Recoil is a very big issue now I have a very bad back!!! Have 4 bulged disk plus war wound. Thinking 40 grains of ffg or FFFG with a .530 cast ball and a .015 pillow ticking patch lubed with homemade libe I make out of buffalo tallow and beeswax or should I go up r down? I can handle the recoil of my 308 win. But not my old 30 06 so what do ya think thanks rawhide

Forty grains (volume) would be a good start. To minimize recoil, I would place the upper limit at 65 grains. Ffg would also lessen recoil. I would use a ball of 0.530" diameter and 0.015" thick patching material that you apply the patch lubricant.

Welcome back to muzzle loading.

Get the thickest PAST recoil pad, you will never feel recoil again with any load. My 12 with a 100 gr of 1F and a patched round ball is punishing, my recoil pad handles it easily.

rawhide said:

Ok guys and gals I'm getting a good but not see traditions hawken in 54 cal. Bore is Brite and clean. Stock need some love. What would be a good light target load? Out to the most 50 yards? Ben a long time since I had a 54 so I don't remember the load I used for my he CVA St. Louis I had. Recoil is a very big issue now I have a very bad back!!! Have 4 bulged disk plus war wound. Thinking 40 grains of ffg or FFFG with a .530 cast ball and a .015 pillow ticking patch lubed with homemade libe I make out of buffalo tallow and beeswax or should I go up r down? I can handle the recoil of my 308 win. But not my old 30 06 so what do ya think thanks rawhide

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40 grains might be OK for shooting out to 50 yards but I've found that a 54 shoots best with a powder load of around 75-80 grains.

80 grains of powder will give a patched roundball a velocity of around 1500 fps with a muzzle energy of 1149 lb/ft.
That sounds like a lot but it's only about 1/2 of the power of your 308.
Adding to this the fact that black powder loads recoil with more of a "big push" rather than the "sharp slap" of a modern smokeless shot should make it a pleasure for you to shoot.

Start out with the 40 grain load but don't be surprised how much better the larger powder load will shoot.

Eric Krewson said:

Get the thickest PAST recoil pad, you will never feel recoil again with any load. My 12 with a 100 gr of 1F and a patched round ball is punishing, my recoil pad handles it easily.

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Does your bore get real dirty shooting 1F.

Hhhmmm never thought of shooting 1f or even 1 1/2f when goex still and cartrge I used it in my blue ridge rifle and the gun loved it! It was also a 54. Think I shot 60 grains of it

rawhide said:

Hhhmmm never thought of shooting 1f or even 1 1/2f when goex still and cartrge I used it in my blue ridge rifle and the gun loved it! It was also a 54. Think I shot 60 grains of it

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2f should be just fine. It does ok up to 80 grains, seems my Hawken starts to bite at 85-87 grains of 2f. Just start at 65 and work up 5 grains at a time till you dont like the recoil. If for no other reason to find a spot where your hawken will group better. 80 grains in mine will group 3 inches at 50yds. 85 grains it make "all holes touching" groups.

Dadgummit Rawhide! Do you have to rub it in? I'm still looking for a .54 Hawken!

But, hey, my jealousy is short lived and mainly tongue in cheek. I'm sure you would gladly trade that rifle and MANY more worldly possessions to have the back I do.

Congratulations on the "new" rifle, and I hope it brings you much joy. Sorry to hear about your back, I know pain and suffering, and it SUCKS BIG TIME, pure and simple. Best wishes for the best days you can have.

I've experimented some with various .54 caliber rifles. The lowest charge where the accuracy remained consistent to 50 yards was 60 grains. I did use FFFg in all. A couple of the rifles were okay at 25-yards with just 40 grain loads and a slightly thinner patch (.015 instead of .018) and essentially made one-ragged-hole groups. However, at 50-yards those 40-grain loads were making groups quite bigger than the 60-grain loads so for me I set that in my mind as my "lowest load". My boys that are 12 and 13 years old can shoot it just fine , and they weigh in at 115 pounds or so. So I don't think recoil is much. The lightest rifle weights 8 lbs.3 oz and the heavier one weighs 10 lbs 4 oz. Really there is not much noticeable difference in recoil between them with the 60-grain loads. BTW these are with PRB.

The answer to that depends on the bore twist. The rifle might print all over the county with such a light charge. ML rifles need a certain amount of pressure for accuracy. I did say "might". You "might" also be OK with 40 gr. but I doubt it. You will probably end up about 60 gr. Recoil should be negligible.