The wife and kids were out of town this weekend so I took my .54 TC Hawken to 340.
It's an old girl -- my dad purchased the rifle mid 70s. It has a four digit serial number on it so he may of purchased it used? Who knows. He gave it to me when I turned 18. I shot it few times, cleaned it, and put it back in the closet. I recently examined it and found surface rust on most of the metal surfaces though for whatever reason the bore turned out fine. Oh well. Some oil and elbow grease took care of that mess. I really like the rifle because it's short compared to my modern TC .50 Hawken.
So I'm at the range Saturday and I started with small 70 grain loads working my way up to 90 by the end of the hour. I'm not really trying to aim but still getting 2" from the bullseye at 50 meters (using Pyrodex R, .535 lead balls and 0.010 greased patches).
I'd shoot 4-5 shots and swab the barrel out with a CLP soaked patch wrapped around a brush. Shoot 4-5 more shoots and repeat. When I was done with the rifle I ran the brush a few more times down the barrel and put it back in the case. Then spent an hour shooting an 1858 remy.
I got home and broke out the hot water and soap. I scrubbed the barrel clean and either the range cleaning got a lot of it or Pyrodex TODAY burns differently than Pyrodex from the late 80s. I doubt that but what do I know. I think it was the range cleaning that helped the process a bit.
So anywho. I'm fully back into BP now. It's a hoot.
D.
It's an old girl -- my dad purchased the rifle mid 70s. It has a four digit serial number on it so he may of purchased it used? Who knows. He gave it to me when I turned 18. I shot it few times, cleaned it, and put it back in the closet. I recently examined it and found surface rust on most of the metal surfaces though for whatever reason the bore turned out fine. Oh well. Some oil and elbow grease took care of that mess. I really like the rifle because it's short compared to my modern TC .50 Hawken.
So I'm at the range Saturday and I started with small 70 grain loads working my way up to 90 by the end of the hour. I'm not really trying to aim but still getting 2" from the bullseye at 50 meters (using Pyrodex R, .535 lead balls and 0.010 greased patches).
I'd shoot 4-5 shots and swab the barrel out with a CLP soaked patch wrapped around a brush. Shoot 4-5 more shoots and repeat. When I was done with the rifle I ran the brush a few more times down the barrel and put it back in the case. Then spent an hour shooting an 1858 remy.
I got home and broke out the hot water and soap. I scrubbed the barrel clean and either the range cleaning got a lot of it or Pyrodex TODAY burns differently than Pyrodex from the late 80s. I doubt that but what do I know. I think it was the range cleaning that helped the process a bit.
So anywho. I'm fully back into BP now. It's a hoot.
D.
