newbie to bp rifles..some questions

icehunter121

icehunter121

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Well I lost my bp virginity to a tc 54 cal rifle and loved it.That was just about a year ago. Well I finally picked up a tc hawken 54 cal out of the ee this past week.So some questions for you fine folk..From start to finish...ahemm

What is the best cap to buy and what size? I have read the above stickies and using patch lube but what for patches? What material? The one I was shooting we were using ffg powder..good or should I switch? How many grains of powder? Whats bottom end and top end? What all do I need to get started in it full time? I want to make one trip to edmonton,pick up everything so that when I get back here I can go out and burn some powder.

Also one last question...I believe the hawken is a 1:48 twist..can I shoot a conical,or buffalo bullet,or a minnie out of it or should I stick with a round ball? Sabots maybe?? Also does any one know of a source for say a lee .54 round ball mold? I checked wss and they dont list anything..I already cast my own pistol slugs so just need a good mold...

Help please....thx folks...Ice..
 
Everything you will need can be found on the track of the wolf website.

Here is a list that comes mind:

Possibles bag
Ball bag
.10-.15 thou patches ( i use spit for lubricant haha)
Short starter
Cap primer ( cant remember the actual name, it holds the caps and lets you get one at a time)
Powder horn
Adjustable powder measure
Vent pick to clean nipple
Extra nipples
Accessorie kit (Bull puller, Patch puller, cleaning brass brush, fouling scraper, cleaning cloth brush ) ( these can usually be found in kit fOrm i know traditions makes one.
 
You almost certainly want #11 caps and the only brand I would avoid is Remington because they are brass and on a loose nipple they are too difficult to squeeze and create a tight fit. I usually use about 50 grains of 3F for target shooting and 70 - 80 grains of 3F for hunting (in a 54) I think you will find that 3F burns cleaner than 2F and will give about 100 fps more velocity for the same charge. I use an Outer's aluminum shotgun rod with a 20 - 28 guage bronze brush for cleaning plus warm water. When the brush is new, you will have to twist it as you pull back to get the bristles to reverse but after the first few uses, the brush will crush down and not be a problem. I also use diaper material (from Fabric land) for cleaning cheap and very absorbent. Finally for target shooting use a water based lube (spit patch or moose milk) which will give far less fouling that the greasy lubes. For hunting use greasy lubes because they do not dry out

cheers mooncoon
 
If you want to find out all about black powder shooting - buy Sam Fadala's Black Powder Loading Manual. $31.95 at Wholesale Sports. Everything you wanted to know about loading/shooting/cleaning etc. Plus detailed info on many types of black powder rifles, pistols and shotguns.
 
Goldenlakepete said:
If you want to find out all about black powder shooting - buy Sam Fadala's Black Powder Loading Manual. $31.95 at Wholesale Sports. Everything you wanted to know about loading/shooting/cleaning etc. Plus detailed info on many types of black powder rifles, pistols and shotguns.
Click to expand...

A buddy of mine just dropped that book off with me..bless his soul..but what about slugs?? Do I have to stay with round balls or can I blast other lead out??Within a reasonable amount of accuracy of course!!!
 
1:48 is usually a compromise twist. 1:60 is purely for patched Round Ball and 1:28 is purely for conical bullets.
A 1:48 WILL shoot patched R.B.'s with light to moderate loads and WILL shoot the shorter length (light/medium weight) conicals with medium to heavy charge weights.
 
I pounded the wws site hard yesterday and came up with 2 molds...the lee .530 RB mold and a lee REAL conical 54 cal mold in a 380 grain weight.I ordered both...was the 380 weight mold a good decision or not? It was only 25 bucks so no big loss if it wont work.
 
Both those should work. As mentioned, try heavier (80gr-120gr) loads with the slugs and lighter (40gr-60gr) loads with the round balls.

You will need some goop for the slugs and some linen or cotton patching and "moose milk" or lube for the round balls.
Given the fire bans be aware that some of the commercial patch lubes can smolder and start fires.
 
For shooting patches I suggest either denim or linen - buy new stuff and wash it to get the sizing out of it. Avoid stretchy denim as it has synthetic fibres. Take you micrometer to the fabric store and measure the compressed thickness to get what you need. I use .530 RB's with "8 oz." denim and it works well. Otherwise, follow the advice from Mooncoon and you can't go wrong. My 54 is most accurate with 45 gr FFFg and for hunting I use 80 gr. FFFg.
I suggest you shoot RB's until you have an accurate target and hunting load then experiment with the slugs - one thing at a time and keep it simple.
 
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