My first black powder rifle!

[ponycarman]

I put my first muzzle loader on layaway today. I'm pretty excited about it. Should make a nice companion to my 1851 replica. I probably overpaid but it spoke to me. It was in very nice shape too. It is a Thompson 50cal. I guess it would be called a hawken? I'm not really sure haha. It is percusion cap ignited and has the set trigger. Should be a fun addition to my collection. Would be fun to do a black powder day.

Now I'm still learning my black powder firearms so be patient. What is best to fire from this? Or will it shoot both round ball and the newfangled powerbelt bullets? Also I think I read ff powder was for the rifles? Just want to make sure my facts are straight haha.

Here is the pic I took in the store.

[Gsragtop]

Looks like a beauty. Love the hex barrel !! I know nothing of black powder so I'm looking forward to the responses.

[ponycarman]

Thanks! I know very little haha. I also like the octagonal barrel. My cap and ball pistol has the same style barrel too

[tjtM38]

FFg will work fine in the Hawken. Pyrodex RS is also a good choice with CCI Magnum caps. Yours should be a 1 in 48" twist which is an "all around barrel" that will allegedly shoot all type projectiles. My TC Renegade (essentially the same rifle as the Hawken) will not shoot the conical bullets or sabot rounds with good accuracy. However, it will shoot the patched round ball with good accuracy out to 100 yards. I like the round ball because the patched loads leave no plastic or lead residue in the barrel. Not too much game in North America that can stand up to 175 grain .490 Cal round ball with 70 grains of FFg pushing it; many a deer have hit the dirt since the mid 1800s to prove it.

You've got a great rifle; probably one of the best Hawken-style caplocks on the market. These rifles take patience and practice, but they are a ton of fun to shoot. Congrats!

[ponycarman]

Thanks! Also thanks for the info. I've been checking them out for a little while. Just waiting for the right one at the right time. There aren't too many of them locally here. At least not in the shops when I'm there lol. What is the average value of these? I know the deed is done now so it really doesn't matter but I'm curious.

[desdem12]

Very nice looker. It will shoot great. Like tjt says it whether you use round balls or bullets depends on the rate of twist. The higher the number then round the lower then bullets. A 1:48 will do both ok. Congrats. You should be good out to about 100 yards with that maybe a tad more. I use musket nipples and musket caps on several of my rifles.

[ponycarman]

Thanks des! I looked it over and it was in very nice shape. The wood looked good with only a couple small marks on it. The metal was perfect. Blueing was very nice and I saw no signs of rust. Even in the bore. It seems to have been well taken care of. There is just something about black powder and other more traditional firearms. Its hard to explain but its a completely different feel when you hold one. Maybe it just makes you feel closer to history. Needless to say I'm very excited with this purchase

[iwuzwhatiwuz]

Lovely rifle! T/C Hawken style caplock rifles run from $250 (fair) to $350 (great) normally.

[ponycarman]

Thanks that makes me feel better. This one was 300. I would consider it better than fair. Not complete perfect but very nice. So its around the middle. I was afraid I paid way too much lol.

[mogunner]

You have now entered the Twilight Zone that is known as "Black powder shooting"...you will encounter so many variables that it will make your head spin. You will hear people swear that .50 cal is supposed to shoot ffg, but in fact it's in the middle and some people get better results with fffg in some .50's. My inline is much more accurate with triple f than double, and so I only have to keep one powder on hand for both my revolver and rifle. I shoot REAL cast bullets in my inline, they clean the bore every time you load one and no plastic fouling.

Here are some of the variables I spoke of:

Bullet type and weight. Round ball, conical, sabots, patched...then there is what THICKNESS of patch gives you the best accuracy.

Powder. Not only what type, but what manufacturer. Real black powder fouls worse than the substitutes. Triple 7 is more powerful than regular BP. Pyrodex shoots the same. How much powder? When just target shooting I stick with 70 grains of Pyrodex behind a 246gr cast bullet. Cheap and I get to shoot more. I jacked it up to my hunting load to check accuracy and it's still spot on with 100grs of Pyro behind a 420gr cast conical bullet. Then there are the pellets... I shot some starting out but went to loose powder. Sure I have to carry more crap with me, but I can tailor the load to do exactly what I want.

Accessories are what gets the $$$$ spent, from capper's (saw a pic of a guys thumb who had a cap go off when he pushed it down, not pretty), powder measures, patches for shooting, patches for cleaning (I buy white cotton flannel at walmart and cut into 2" squares for cleaning) and all sorts of other gadgets that will make your shooting more enjoyable, but you won't be able to find them when you need them more than likely, as you'll have too much crap in the bag, or box that you shoot out of!

[ponycarman]

Thanks mo! I believe I am going to have fun with it

[iwuzwhatiwuz]

It ain't no joke about the cost snowballing! I went from one $150 cap and ball pistol to three pistols and a flintlock rifle. Add in $120 in powder and $125 in lead, S60 worth casting equipment, and $45 for a flask and other goodies. Not to mention Crisco, pillow ticking, various lubes and cleaners and flowers for the Mrs. It's cheap to shoot but expensive to get started. Many people have recommend the Dutch Schoultz Black Powder Rifle Accuracy System. Black powder is a whole different ball game...

[ponycarman]

Oh boy another snowballing hobby lol. I have already had that with centerfire stuff . I guess I'm doom to all this for life

[iwuzwhatiwuz]

At least you aren't me... I'm also taking up surf fishing. Wife =

[ponycarman]

I better not list my exspensive hobbies haha. Lets see, Cars [I have a 79 trans am and a 86 bmw I've been working on), Guitars [two at the moment), Firearms [centerfire, black powder, ect.), Fishing [probably the cheapest of all of them yet haha). I'm sure I'm missing some. Add that to the house we bought in January and I am stretched pretty thin haha.

Its not quite as bad as I make it sound. I used to be much deeper into cars than I am now. I still love them and working on them but I haven't really had the time or the money to do with them as I want for a while. The guitars thing I would love to do more but the truth is I suck at playing them lol. I had some friends that I was playing with and were teaching me some more but it appears that they weren't as devoted to the friendship as I was haha. The firearms is what I'm doing most now. I enjoy it way too much. In fact that may be the reason I have little money left to work on the cars lol. Fishing I rarely get to do but I like it and would love to do it was more.

I've also been enjoying playing with these air rifles lol. I would like to get a bow sometime. Also thinking of trying some metal detecting lol. I don't see an end anywhere

[Celt]

Way to go Pony!

Beautiful rifle!

[ponycarman]

Thank you sir! It is purdy.

[tjtM38]

I'm sure you must know this, but I will say it anyway. Since you bought this rifle used, you can go to TC's website and download a manual for the Hawken. It really has some good load data in it.

http://www.tcarms.com/manuals/

[Junk Yard Dog]

[ponycarman]

Thanks guys. Tjtm38 thanks for that. That should give me some good reading on the rifle. I'm not sure how old it is. I might have to look into it after I get it home. I would be interested in knowing. Not that it really matters I guess.