.50 Hawken pistol.

I have an old .50 Hawken pistol made by CVA. Percussion lock, 1" barrel 9+" long, I have never fired it with much more powder than needed to get the ball to the paper at 25 yards. Reading some other posts got me to wondering just how much power this pistol would have if really pushed. I don't have access to a chrono so was wondering in any of you here have played with one of these or tested it to the max?
Thanks for any help.
Jim

.50 caliber is plenty good. Having balls/components on hand is reason enough to pick it. The lyman plains pistol is a quality product with complete support from Lyman Products online store. I've had a Great Plains Rifle since they came out and it is problem-free. My plains pistol is extremely accurate and easy to shoot
Load .490 Ball 175-Grain Velocity Spread
40 Grains Goex FFFG 884 fps 24 (5)
40 Grains Swiss FFFG 1040 69
40 Grains/Volume Pyrodex P 934 72
40 Grains/Volume H 777 1046 126
40 Grains Goex FFG 681 145
40 Grains/Volume Pyrodex RS 645 103
40 Grains/Volume American Pioneer 584 92
30 Grains/Volume Pyrodex P 760 103
20 Grains/Volume H 777 761 77
20 Grains/Volume Pyrodex P 464 119
Lee R.E.A.L Bullet 250 Grain 40 fffg 753 46
Lee R.E.A.L Bullet 250 grain 40 Pyrodex 889 89
Hornady 385 Gr. Plains Bullet 40 Pyrodex P 657 102
Fps= feet per second. Grains/Volume refers to a charge of replica powder thrown from a measure calibrated for the designated weight of black powder.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237850&highlight=lyman+plains


A couple of decades ago, I made up a 50 cva mountain pistol from a kit. At that time I though 50 grains of black or pyrodex was about the right charge and it was probably doing over 1000 fps. Accuracy was about the same as in the above pictures.
http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=76202&highlight=%22plains+pistol%22

Thanks mec!
I've read about folks loading up to 65 grains of powder in a .54 Lyman Great Plains pistol and recoil starts to get very stout and stocks have been known to crack. So how much powder you choose to load depends on how much that you want to punish yourself and the pistol.

I've used as much as 50 gr fffg real black powder in one of the old .50 cal CVA kit guns (a "Mountain Pistol", I believe) and in a Bondini .50 cal Hawken. Not very accurate; I think a large portion of the powder was expelled before burning.

I use to shoot 50 grains in a CVA mountain pistol.. Ball went clear through and Angus bull... How much more power do you want??:evil::D

Thanks everyone for your responses.
I posted this question because I read all the praises for the Walker (justifiable) and was curious about the capabilities of a large bore pistol like the Hawken.
I thought that the Hawken with a larger barrel, larger caliber, no cylinder/barrel gap could digest a charge at least as great as the Walker and perhaps deliver more power at 25-50 yards.
I know there is only one shot as apposed to six, just a matter of curiosity.
Again,
thanks.........Jim