TC White Mountain Carbine

[Brittany1]

Bought one at an auction, called TC Arms and found out it was a 1:38. It's a .50 cal. The tech guy said to start with a 370 maxi ball and 90 of powder and then go from there. I asked him about using sabots and you could tell he wasn't keen on the idea. He also didn't like the RB idea either. Has anyone gone through the initial trials and come up with a good conical combo? What kind of powder works best? I know there are many conicals to experiment with. Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Zonie]

Start with 90 Grains and work from there????

I don't own a 50 cal Slug shooter, but going back into history, you would have the equivalent of a .50-90-370.
Now, they never made such a cartridge but if they had, it would have been more than enough for a Buffalo. (The .45-70-500 took a lot of meat during it's days.)

To me, starting with a Buffalo level cartridge and working up sounds kinda like learning how to drive using a NASCAR and then working up to F1. This is not to imply that you are learning to shoot, but just to say that learning the desires of a new gun by starting out with potent loads is IMO, not the best approach.

Starting at 65 Grains and working up makes more sense to me. After all, accuracy is what you should be looking for.

 

[Brittany1]

Thanks. That's the kind of feedback I was looking for. With a smaller powder charge, I assume I would reduce the weight of the projectile? or not necessarily?

 

[Slamfire]

I don't see any reason that you couldn't use a 295 or even 245 grain conical. :results:

 

[Brittany1]

Makes perfect sense. :agree:

 

Ruger708: I have a t/c thunderhawk in 54 cal. has the same twist 1 in 38,I yet to find a conical that will shoot good in it.I can tell you that it will shoot any bullet, sabot in 240 grains excellent.The thunderhawk seem to favor pyrodex select and will handle charges up to 115 grains with excellent results.I will say the Hornady 240 xtp ,winchester 260 grainers should shoot excellent out of your gun,may even look at the SST in 250 grainers,I tried the 300 sst out of the 54 cal. seems to shoot excellent at the 50 yard target but open up at the 100 yard target.I just ordered some 451 mag; tip boattails in 250 grain and 300 grain from mark over from hunterman boolets ,have yet had a chance to see how they shoot.
Another good bullet to look at would be the buffalo 375 garin POINTED BOATTAIL BULLET

 

[JesseJames]

I shoot 70 pyrodex with maxie ball in my white mountain. It shoots well and kill them dead.

 

[Landngroove]

In my .50 caliber T/C White Mountain Carbine, (1 in 38"), I use T/C Break-O-Way Sabots with Hornady 240 grain XTP's. I use 80 grains of American Pioneer Powder. I get very good groups at 50 yards with this load. I also tried roundballs, and Maxiballs, and the red T/C Mag sabots, with 250 grain Hornady XTP's, but found that the Break-O-Way Sabots grouped best. Also earlier T/C White Mountain Carbines, in .50 caliber, were 1 in 20" twist. The .54 caliber's are 1 in 48" twist.

 

[Brittany1]

I had always associated sabots with inline shooters. But sabots shoot well in traditional rifles. Lots of options available. This should be fun. Thanks.

 

Ruger708
My t/c hawkens flinter in 50 cal. 1 in 48 twist will shoot excellent groups with the 350 grain keith nose HP/green sabot made by precision and also sold by traditions firearms.The bullet is a HP with a boattail design 44 cal bullet using 85 grains of goex and a it will clover leaf groups at the 50 yard target,and softball groups at the 100 yard target,traditions has a web site go to close out they have them on sale think 10 rounds for $5.00 bucks,a bubdie of mine also like the t/c cheap shots in 240 grainers his flinter using about the same powder charge,also does a great job on a couple of deer he shot ,thay never took a step.I can say for some reason the Hornady xtp in 45 cal. just won't go down the barrel without a fight,seem the 44 cal xtp is the ticket when it comes to the t/c hawkens

 

[Brittany1]

Thanks for all the information. Now I'm wondering, having read and studied loads and twists and everything the past several days. The guy at TC, after giving him the serial number on the gun, told me it was a 1:38, but having looked down the bore of the 21 inch barrel, I swear I see a turn in the rifling about half way down. I must have a 1:20? I know I have some experimentation with conicals and sabots. Any ideas on this (supposedly) 1:20?

 

[Rebel]

Put you a tight fitting patch on a jag and run it down the bore to the breechplug. Then put a mark on the rod at the muzzle that lines up with the front sight. Now slowly pull the rod out, being careful to let it turn with the rifling. When it has come out 1/4 turn, measure the distance from the mark to the muzzle. If it is 5" it is a 1-20" twist. If it is a little over 9" then it is a 1-38" twist. What you do is mutiply the distance from the mark to the muzzle by 4 to get the twist rate.

 

[Landngroove]

Does your White Mountain Carbine have the Q.L.A. muzzle? If so it will be a 1 in 38" twist rate on a .50 caliber barrel. The Q.L.A. system was only on the later W.M.C.'s.

 

[Brittany1]

No, found out it was an earlier model too, based on the fact that the front tang screw is a wood screw and not one that passes through to attach to the trigger guard.

 

Ruger708
Yep I have a t/c early renegade in 54 cal. flinter that also has the wood screws in the tang,the front one does't go threw the trigger guard.I have to say this early renegade has some real deep rifle groves compared to other renegade I seen.