[irishsquid]

It's been nearly 30 years since I've done any blackpowder shooting but I finally got the itch again. Unfortunately, I don't remember squat. :o

I own a .50 TC Hawkin. I'm looking for load recommendations for both round balls and maxi-balls.

Can someone get me jump-started again?

[Smokin_Gun]

60gr. a Black Powder under some blue stripped(Walmart) pillow tickin' about 15-18" thou... with a
.490" round ball... it worked well in my T/C ...and still does in my Tennesse Poorboy and Mowrey. Get some Moose's Milk or Hoppe's bp liquid, T/C makes a liquid lube too...I cut the patches from a strip tied to my possibles bag. Cut it off after ya smack the ball in. You remember...
Welcome back friend.

[scrat]

Well welcome back to the love of black powder shooting

[madcratebuilder]

Welcome back. In my .50 T/C Hawken I use a .490rb with .015 patch on top of 90grs FFg.

[irishsquid]

First off...Thanks for the advice.

Went shooting today.

I thought I'd start out with a roundball and 60 gr. and work up from there. I was using 3F because it was all I had.

First shot: Pretty wimpy. Failed to impress my buddies. Needed a bigger bang.

Second "shot": Up'd it to 70 gr. Filled the powder measure. Rammed home a beautifully patched ball. Capped and fired. SNAP! Huh? Yep...you guessed it: Forgot to load the powder. :banghead:

The ball-puller failed miserably. I sheepishly cased the Hawken and got another gun. Fortunately my buddies didn't realize what I had done.

[Chawbaccer]

Get that ball out and clean the gun. That first shot will be enough to cause rust. Remove the nipple and add a few grains of powder and pop it out.

[irishsquid]

Remove the nipple and add a few grains of powder and pop it out.

Thanks. I forgot about that little trick. Worked like a charm. Certainly don't need a whole lot of powder either.

[MCgunner]

That trick helps an iffy cap to set off the charge, too, but it's a pain in the field. It's a good way to insure against a hangfire if you're hunting, though. I always load the gun and leave the cap off before going out, so it's not difficult to do.