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Just purchased a nice (at least the pictures look good!), early T/C Hawken in 50 cal. Plan to hunt deer with grandson with it. Looking forward to tapping into the knowledge on this site. I'll be searching for what kind of bullets to use, powder loads, etc. I've been casting bullets for BPCR for a while and have a good supply of black powder of different granulations. The rifle has 1-48" twist which, I've read, is a compromise between RB and Conical/REAL/Maxi Ball/Maxi Hunter. Howdy.

Joe B
 

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Welcome, looks good. Just have to experiment, but most hawkens shoot roundballs pretty well when you figure the right combo, and it's hard to beat a TC Maxiball with a felt wad under it for deer. As far as powder, stick to real black powder, 2f or 3f. Good luck and enjoy!
 
Welcome, this is a good place, patched round ball loads might be the way to start. They are certainly capable of taking deer.

Some years back I ran into a fellow who had one of the nicest early .50 T/C Hawken caplock rifles I'd ever seen. Turns out it had been gifted him by an "old guy" he knew. It was killing me to watch him load the thing buttplate resting on bare concrete. Anyway he was having fits trying to get the gun to shoot T/C Maxi Balls. I don't recall how he was loading it or know if given some good direction he may have found success. I turned him on to the patched round ball and he started making progress. I spent about an hour with him feeding roundballs and patches. I ran across him a few months later, he remembered and thanked me, he gone out and killed an elk using a patched roundball.
 
Hi and welcome, Ihave a 50 cal. TC hawken kit gun that was given to me that was already finished. I deciced to refinish it and added a few personal touches to it. Anyhow I shoot patched roundball and have had good results using a 490 ball, 65 grains of goex 2f powder, blue and white .020 100% cotton pillow ticking and neetsfoot oil for a patch lube shooting at 60 yards. Hope this helps to get you started.
 
Just purchased a nice (at least the pictures look good!), early T/C Hawken in 50 cal. Plan to hunt deer with grandson with it. Looking forward to tapping into the knowledge on this site. I'll be searching for what kind of bullets to use, powder loads, etc. I've been casting bullets for BPCR for a while and have a good supply of black powder of different granulations. The rifle has 1-48" twist which, I've read, is a compromise between RB and Conical/REAL/Maxi Ball/Maxi Hunter. Howdy.

Joe B
Welcome to the forum. I once had a .50 caliber T/C Hawken. It was an accurate rifle. I found that a .490 round ball and a .010 patch with 75 gr, 2Fg Goex worked very well. There is no real need to use conicals on deer.
 
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Thanks for all the replies and sage wisdom! I posted an update in the "What muzzleloading Stuff Did you do Today" thread. Certainly will start out with the round balls and patches just to get used to shooting a ML, all my other BP experience is with BPCR-type rifles, i.e. Sharps, Remington Hepburns, etc. Appreciate the welcome.
 

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