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Western Arms SantaFe Hawken

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Jeffsdoc

32 Cal
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Hello everyone,Jeff Donnell here and am proud to be a part of your organization.
I just received a Western Arms Santa Fe Hawken marked .54 caliber.Through some research I’ve come to find out it’s actually .53 cal.I live in Centerville Tx. between Houston and Dallas.We have a MAJOR feral hog problem here.I have plenty of nice centerfire rifles but would like to start using this Hawken for hogs.Is there a jacketed bullet/sabot combination you could recommend,& if not,what would you recommend.
Looking forward to your response.I have some FF and FFF Powder,some of which is Swedish.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jeff.
 
Welcome to the forum. We don't really talk about sabots or jacketed bullets here. This is a Traditional Muzzle loader forum. That said, A round ball will do the job just fine and if not that even a conical bullet would work. You can get .520 RBs if that is what you need for your gun. Is your gun actually 53 caliber or are you saying that because it takes a .530 cal ball?
 
Being this is a forum dedicated to traditional muzzleloading firearms, we don't talk of saboted or jacketed bullets. In this case anyway there is no need to talk of them although I understand why you may feel they are necessary.

First of all, your Western Arms Sant Fe Hawken with its "54" caliber barrel shooting a 0.526" or 0.520" round lead ball is certainly capable of dealing with your feral hog problem. Round balls of that size are available. A 52 caliber conical may be a bit harder to locate.

Loads for your rifle, capable of taking a feral hog with a round ball, should be in the range of 80 to 100 grains (volume measure) of your FF or FFF black powder. You will need a patch of 100% cotton that is about 0.018" thick. You will want a grease based patch lubricant for hunting, For the short term, a cheap olive oil or other kitchen oil will work.
why
It is bullet placement that will make the harvesting of the feral hogs possible. Do a search on the Forum for "feral hogs" for many more practical applications that resulted in successful hunting of feral hogs.
 
As was said, we don't talk about bullets with plastic parts, sabots or In-line guns on the forum.

That said, a .54 caliber (or .53) is totally capable of killing hogs with a patched lead roundball or a lead bullet loaded over 80-90 grains of powder.
A .54 caliber gun shooting a lead roundball over 80 grains of 2Fg black powder will give a muzzle velocity of around 1490 fps with over 1100 lb/ft of energy.
The ball by itself is larger than many modern bullets expand to and after hitting the hog, they will expand to even larger sizes. The shock of this is tremendous.
 
Yep, a patched round ball is the way to go! After all if ya shoot a traditional weapon and use a modern projectile why wouldnt you just take out yer 30-30 or Ar-15 etc. and shoot them pigs quicker (but certainly not any deader). These older weapons were known in the civil war to amputate legs n arms n such and can SURELY drop that hog in its tracks.
 
Welcome to the forum. We don't really talk about sabots or jacketed bullets here. This is a Traditional Muzzle loader forum. That said, A round ball will do the job just fine and if not that even a conical bullet would work. You can get .520 RBs if that is what you need for your gun. Is your gun actually 53 caliber or are you saying that because it takes a .530 cal ball?
It is a .53 cal.My dad used .520 balls w/.015 lubed patch w/70grns of FF
 
I use .520 … it is a .53 caliber made by Uberti. Mine is from the Log Cabin Shop but essentially same rifle. Hornaday makes .520 balls. Polecat P.S. I shot a near 300 pound mulie with a .50 ML. Broke entry shoulder, put heart out of commission, broke offside shoulder. I recovered the slug from under far side skin. It measured out .76 caliber. Patched balls are deadly.
 
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Jeff, I don't own one of those rifles, but I have read about them. I am very sure they were designed with deep grooves and a slow twist specifically for patched round balls. I don't know that you could really get a conical bullet to shoot well from that barrel. Some of our better-informed members may know of a conical that would work, but conventional wisdom is that conical bullets need a faster twist to stabilize, and shallower grooves to effect a gas seal without a patch. Your dad's load (see post #6) sounds like it would work. If the rifle were mine, I would begin with that load and start looking for hogs to shoot!

I believe there is a good write-up on the Santa Fe Hawken on the GRRW Collectors Association website. It is difficult for me to post links with the touch-screen device I'm using right now. I'll try to get on my PC and do that later if somebody doesn't beat me to it.

You have a nice rifle. They were well regarded in their day. A Santa Fe Hawken just sold through the classifieds on this forum recently, but I believe the seller said it had been re-barreled. I don't see them up for sale very often.

Notchy Bob
 
Gentleman by the name of Phil L. Meek has done extensive research and study on the Santa Fe Hawken, as well as many other’s.

He is very knowledgeable when it comes to early repo Hawken rifle’s.

He created a website dealing with these now defunct companies and the excellent repo Hawken rifle’s they produced back in the day.

Phil is also a member here on the forum. He chimes in often, especially when these rifles are part of the discussion.

His website is:

http://grrw.org/uberti-santa-fe-hawken/
Phil focus’s on GRRW Hawken rifles but covered the other manufacturer’s and their Hawken rifles being produced .

http://grrw.org/grrws-competition-in-the-semi-custom-market/
Respectfully, Cowboy
 
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