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Sighting in my friends Hawken

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Frontier's

Buckskins & Black Powder
MLF Supporter
Joined
Jun 29, 2019
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Shooting my friends rifle that I built for him. Traditions St.Louis Hawken .50cal 1:48 twist. 70gr 3fg Goex, .490 cast ball .020" patch lube with an experimental patch lube, no swabbing. 50 yard 3 shot group. Average velocity of 1,579.

Earlier I was trying to shoot for groups with 60gr 3fg Swiss ( Most accurate ) and just had to laugh at the 3 1/2 - 4" groups WHILE SWABBING BETWEEN SHOTS! It got worse with no swabbing. That 3fg Swiss is a joke.

Still have a little more sight to file off. Shooting aprox 3 1/2" low.
89661568_10157455561067875_2066863040225083392_n.jpg

89924298_10157455561297875_3535904785041457152_n.jpg
 
"Shooting my friends rifle that I built for him. Traditions St.Louis Hawken .50cal 1:48 twist. 70gr 3fg Goex, .490 cast ball .020" patch lube with an experimental patch lube, no swabbing. 50 yard 3 shot group. Average velocity of 1,579.

Earlier I was trying to shoot for groups with 60gr 3fg Swiss ( Most accurate ) and just had to laugh at the 3 1/2 - 4" groups WHILE SWABBING BETWEEN SHOTS! It got worse with no swabbing. That 3fg Swiss is a joke."


Your post is confusing.

One place you post that Swiss was the "most accurate" and then you say that Swiss is a joke, that does not make sense to me. Then you say, "just had to laugh at 3 1/2 -4" groups while swabbing between shot and it got worse with no swabbing..

Can you un-confuse me.
 
60gr swiss load was the most accurate load for swiss powder. Anything more or less, swiss wouldnt group worth a hoot.

LOL you guys and the tires are really getting on my nerves already. I swear, some folks are reacting like im shooting in heavy duty tractor trailer tires or huge coal mine dump truck tires. These are soft 4 ply tires. The round balls go through the first layer of tires, and get caught up in the second row, where they are easily recovered. At 100 yards, the tires stop the round ball in the first layer, where I recover them.

i guess letting bullets skip off the ground/rocks seems like a better idea?
 
Well if it works then great. They looked like extra heavy tires to me also but if you say 4 ply, then you're the one there. Actually a good idea to collect and reuse your lead.
 
Lol sorry i just get so many cartoon responses about tires, iy just gets under the skin after a while.

While they are new tires, they ended up being 17 uears old and full of cracks.
 
I like the idea of using the tires and recovering the lead! Great recycling idea and minimizes cost. :thumb: :thumb:
Ron
 
Shooting my friends rifle that I built for him. Traditions St.Louis Hawken .50cal 1:48 twist. 70gr 3fg Goex, .490 cast ball .020" patch lube with an experimental patch lube, no swabbing. 50 yard 3 shot group. Average velocity of 1,579.

Earlier I was trying to shoot for groups with 60gr 3fg Swiss ( Most accurate ) and just had to laugh at the 3 1/2 - 4" groups WHILE SWABBING BETWEEN SHOTS! It got worse with no swabbing. That 3fg Swiss is a joke.

Still have a little more sight to file off. Shooting aprox 3 1/2" low.
89661568_10157455561067875_2066863040225083392_n.jpg

89924298_10157455561297875_3535904785041457152_n.jpg


Hi frontier gander.
That is good shooting, It's probably as good or better as all the shooters that I target practice with. That's the one thing I still have to do with my finished load, is check The speed. As soon as this cold front goes by, I will do so..
Now for the story.
I have been out practicing with different loads powders and lubes whenever the weather permits. A few days ago you mentioned to me that pyrodex might be better in my percussion over 777Powder, and so, of course, I was back out yesterday experimenting.The big mistake when switching to Pyrodex From 777 was not swiping the barrel. 777 lured me into a false sense as I wasn't swiping for at least 15 rounds. So when I switched to a charge of Pyrodex P I never gave any thought to it. It shot just fine and I didn't run a cleaning patch. The next charge Went fine until when the ball went down about 10, 11 inches And positively stuck right there. Apparently, The mix between the two powders Residue was not good. It's the first ball I've ever stuck in 25 years. Being I was a mechanic my whole life, I went home, found a piece of 7/16 cold roll, drilled a hole in each end, braised an 1/8th bit in one end, and a roof tinning screw In the other. I've been wrapped both ends with electrical tape, I used the bit and hand drilled a hole halfway through the ball. Reversing my rod I was able to clamp a vice grip on the rod and screw it in at least a half inch. I then slid a 6 inch long piece of inch pipe on the rod, clamped a vice grips to the rod, and with just a few light hammer blows, I removed the ball. It turned out in be not that big a thing, is just I wasn't prepared. I think that actually work better than trying to use one of those pulling screws that fastens to the end of a ramrod, so I will keep it for use down the road. As a side note, you can't imagine the black sticky stuff that came out of that barrel. Of course I had drowned at the ball with WD 40 before I started. I have no idea what the reaction was between the two residues, but it was not good.
Squint
 
How fouling reacts in one gun to the next, is never a known. My traditions rifles ( all 4 of them ) the bores are pristine. I know what loads they like, what patch, what ball combo, etc. I've owned some TC's where 2 shots and you were DONE shooting unless you cleaned the bore. Now I have even noticed that despite how things load for me, I can hand that exact same rifle over to a friend on the range, he'll struggle loading, and that is because he doesnt watch how i handle the ramrod and how i apply pressure. I can do 30-40+ shots at rendezvous with my rifle using pyrodex p without a problem. And that is loading a .020" patch into a .499" bore with a .490 round ball. TIGHT, very much so. Another thing I do is look at my patch.. Notice how once side is tight weave and smooth, whereas the other side, may have a loose, coarse weave? I load that coarse weave down toward the rifling as it will swab the bore out much easier as I load a ball. There are all kinds of scenarios of why someone can shoot this or that all day long while the other guy 1 shooting table over is struggling.

One thing you may want to try is a good heavy range rod. I rarely use mine, but they come in handy and give you a much better grip where you can put a little more muscle into an actual handle, vs a 3/8" ramrod.
 
Even though I don't, never have and won't, use pyrodex I thought the "P" designation was primarily for pistols?
 
anybody that thinks those tires will toss back a bullet, please come and explain that to my wife. then tell her there is no way a ricochet could have gone through the flat trailer tire that is in the back of my pickup. worth money to me to get her feathers smoothed out. and to get her to quit muttering something about "old fool". by the way she is Scottish .
 
Mt brother and I were walking in a field hunting rabbits with our ML rifles when we were in our late teens, and weren't finding any. He saw a tire laying in the grass about 20 yds. away and took out his .22 LR pistol and had fired two or three rounds at the tire when he suddenly dropped to his knees holding his chest. One of his rounds came straight back at him and thumped him a good one right in the sternum. It seemed like forever before he could take a breath. Scared us both! Neither one of us ever took a shot at a tire again with anything!
 
old tires laying out in a field, filled with dirt and grass most likely, hard sun rot, are not exactly soft and flexy. Then to add in low velocity .22....... Kinda asking for trouble right?
 
Even though I don't, never have and won't, use pyrodex I thought the "P" designation was primarily for pistols?

An early and antiquated designation. A 3fff equivalent would be more accurate.
Nothing wrong with Pyrodex P
 
anybody that thinks those tires will toss back a bullet, please come and explain that to my wife. then tell her there is no way a ricochet could have gone through the flat trailer tire that is in the back of my pickup. worth money to me to get her feathers smoothed out. and to get her to quit muttering something about "old fool". by the way she is Scottish .

It can happen, I've had it happen with lesser targets. It might take years, but the first time you get hit, you'll be a believer.
 
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