T/C Hawken won't shoot roundballs???

[juniustaylor]

I have a T/C Hawken that was apparently a kit gun. It shoots the 350 grain T/C Maxi-Hunter bullets perfect with 80 grains of FFg. However, I have tried shooting it with 179 grain round balls (.490") with .010" ox-yoke prelubed patches. Tried FFg from 45 to 70 grains. It is always the same result. The ball hits high and left. When I move the rear sight from the centered position to the right as far as it will go, it still shoots high and left. I cannot move the rear sight down any more, it is bottomed out. Email to T/C was useless, I got no help from the representative. I see other folks on the internet that use FFFg powder with the round balls.

I just wanted to know if anyone has good results with the T/C Hawken and what load they're using. The twist rate is 1:48" which is the same as my Cabela's / InvestArm Hawken that I assembled about 10 years ago or so. That rifle can SHOOT round balls.

[gunsmoke66]

I have a 50 caliber thomson hawken, it shoots round just fine, 80 to 110 gr but are ou sure the ball is .490 got some once suppose to be .490 .440

[juniustaylor]

Yeah, I am positive they're .490. Some are ones that I have personally cast, others are commercial. All fit snug down the bore when loading. 80 grains just seems like a huge amount for a tiny little ball.

[Hinermad]

Not a gunsmith, just guessing here. Has this rifle ever shot balls correctly as far as you know? Could there be a nick in the bore or muzzle that might cause the ball to spin differently? (I'd think that would affect a bullet too, but ball and bullet aerodynamics are somewhat different.)

I just wondered because some Mosin-Nagant rifles have had the mouth of the barrel widened by decades of cleaning with a steel cleaning rod. In really bad cases the muzzle needs to be counterbored, otherwise gas escaping the barrel early on the worn side will push the bullet off course.

Dave

[juniustaylor]

I don't know if it ever shot round balls well or not. I took the gun in on a trade for a 20 gauge bolt action Mossberg. So, I got the better end of the deal, but the person that I traded the shotgun to was not into blackpowder shooting. So he didn't mind. Muzzle is good, bore is mint. All I've heard from Thompson Center is that the 1:48" twist barrels are meant more for conicals and that round balls may or may not shoot good. I think that's a crummy answer. I'll just have to play with loads some more when I take it out next time. Thanks for the suggestions Hinermad.