.50 cal Hawken

Alias

Alias

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Manitoba
Here's my one of a kind .50 cal Hawken

- Barrel is turned & pinned to fit mechanical starter
- Barrel is choke bored (to ease loading & increase accuraccy)
- Barrel has hand removable breechplug (no tools)

Accessories:

- Glue on Paper patched bullet
- Custom designed 560 gr. Hoch Mould
- Muzzle protector
- T/C quick load (w/prerifled bullet for hunting)
- Mechanical Starter (for unrifled bullet for target shooting)

Hunting Advantages:

- No fouling shot required (1st shot w/clean barrel right in group)
- No cleaning between shots till after 2nd shot
- Can be unloaded without shooting each day (no shot, no cleaning)

Best group 6-shots in 2" @ 100yds (not bad w/cracked stock)
She's not real pretty - that will be the next step (new stock)



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Here's the thing that I did to this muzzleloader but do not recommend any others try:

The breechplug from the factory was very tightly fastened. I remove it (not easily done & usually marks up the barrel a bit) then slightly filed the end of the barrel so I can replace it hand tight (aligning the barrel flats).

This way if you forget to load powder or do not shoot your gun, you can unload it at the end of the day & not have to shoot (& clean) the gun at the end of every day.

Of course I put the pink threadsealing tape on the threads, or else I can't easily unscrew it after firing.

This is similar to what the inline rifles do but do not need tools
 
I brought the Hawken 2 years ago, but unfortunately I'll be in Calgary on Sept 2 for my stepson's wedding.

I was at the Selkirk range today and a friend was very kind to give me sample bullets & lube for BPCR. I'm Very thankful! Thanks also to all other members who offered advise & let me look at their cartridge rifles.

I hope to bring a different ML next time. It's a .44 cal (.420 bore/.428 groove) Lyman Trade rifle shooting a 377 gr. PP bullet (from a homemade mold) that is prerifled in a press (instead of using the mechanical starter).

Hope to enter both ML & BPCR next summer.

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Iam gettting the no fouling shot advantage with paper patched minnie's in my .54 hawkins . great for hunting mine are from 16 lbs paper and rolled on in the normal fashion. The idea being that the seperate cleanly from the bullet at the muzzle . with your glued on patches do they stay on the bullet all the way to the target?
 
I haven't recovered any, so I don't know for sure - but I haven't found any pieces between the bench and the target either.

The patch seem almost part of the bullet when it's dry & you are more likely to damage the lead than the patch. I also spray them with dry moly lube after the patch is completely dryand trimmed flush (leaving a perfectly flat base).

Once pushed thru the barrel - the paper is not cut, even though the patched bullet is groove dia. It's worked the same in 2 calibers & 4 guns so far.
 
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A couple of thoughts; I don't see why you are gluing the patches on; they are supposed to separate at the muzzle. Use 100% rag content paper and put them on wet and you should not have a problem. Also think that pre rifling is defeating the purpose of the mechanical starter. Unless you have very deep rifling and can align the rifled slugs with the barrel, one purpose of the starter is to start the bullet so that the rifling perfectly engraves the patched bullet.

cheers mooncoon
 
Just a long distance question?

cdnrokon said:
Bring that bad boy out to the Selkirk range for the BP shoot on September 2 shoot starts at 9 am all lead bullets only
Click to expand...

You all remember the late Larry Tardiff whom use to shoot at your range?

Has any club in Manitoba yet honored Larry's efforts to preserve the shooting sports in your province? Larry was an avid shooter who was very much a traditionalist.

Possibly, a Memorial Shoot with all proceeds going to the preservation of the sport thru education at your range each year.

Just thinking out load and remembering Larry.:rockOn:

Thanks

Petra
 
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mooncoon said:
A couple of thoughts; I don't see why you are gluing the patches on; they are supposed to separate at the muzzle. Use 100% rag content paper and put them on wet and you should not have a problem. Also think that pre rifling is defeating the purpose of the mechanical starter. Unless you have very deep rifling and can align the rifled slugs with the barrel, one purpose of the starter is to start the bullet so that the rifling perfectly engraves the patched bullet.

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Veral Smith had the idea for the glue on paper patch. My friend had an old article from the Cast Bullet. Veral used a .452 bullet patched to .458. I sized
425 gr .512 bullets to .506 and patched them and they shot very well - enough to convince me to get a custom Hoch Mold built to shoot in 1:28 twist barrels 560 gr. .506 dia.

The full sized patched bullet doesn't require any bullet upset. Harry Pope believed it was better not to depend on bullet upset as it could be more or less uneven. Harry also commented a bullet should have a perfectly flat base, which the glue on patch has (it's trimmed off flush with the base). This also ensures gasses exit evenly as the bullet comes out - which can't happen if a regular patched bullet is used as it is twisted on behind the bullet. I would just guess that is why long range ML guys need to use a felt wad behind the paperpatched bullet

The mechanical starter was used for loading the unrifled .512 dia .50 cal bullets when target shooting the Hawken. Plans from a "Muzzle Blasts" article on Lester Cox were used to design the mechanical starter except the bullet fits into a .513 recess in the starter which prevents requiring a false muzzle, as Lester used.

To make ammo for hunting with the Hawken, the mechanical starter was used to start the bullet, then it was pushed it out the bottom of the barrel with the ramrod (breechplug removed) to prerifle the bullet. With the choke bore after the starter pushes the bullet past the choke, the groove dia patched bullet goes thru with one finger on the ramrod

The prerifled patched bullet is placed into a T/C quick load for hunting. About 1/4" of bullet sticks out the bottom of the quick load. I Keep a few in my pocket just in case, though they shouldn't be needed (unless a tree jumps in the way - which sometimes happens). Just pour in the powder, align the bullet rifling with the barrel & push it in (no extra tools) Can get 2 shots w/o cleaning & carry a brush wrapped with a crisco lubed patch in the pastchbox just in case.

For the Plains I decided to install a .44 cal barrel liner (just to be different) and got a few extra inches of liner to make a prerifling die. It's like a false muzzle - tapered inside and is used in my reloading press to prerifle the patched bullet. Seems to be accurate - even with bullets made from a $25coverted gunshow mold. Can be started with thumb for target or hunting.
 
I was there with my original Highwall in 45/70
Alias said:
I brought the Hawken 2 years ago, but unfortunately I'll be in Calgary on Sept 2 for my stepson's wedding.

I was at the Selkirk range today and a friend was very kind to give me sample bullets & lube for BPCR. I'm Very thankful! Thanks also to all other members who offered advise & let me look at their cartridge rifles.

I hope to bring a different ML next time. It's a .44 cal (.420 bore/.428 groove) Lyman Trade rifle shooting a 377 gr. PP bullet (from a homemade mold) that is prerifled in a press (instead of using the mechanical starter).

Hope to enter both ML & BPCR next summer.

P8042576.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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