Got my first BP rifle

[reloader28]

Went to my uncles for Thanksgiving and he had a Traditions 50 cal Hawkens standing in the corner of his reloading room. I asked when he got that, he said it was a friends. He was selling it for him.

I asked how much. The wife and me had been shooting a friends BP gun a month ago and thinking about getting a couple. He said for $100 I get the rifle, extra ram rod, 2 powder measures, a tin of caps, package of wads, box of balls, 2lbs of powder, a bunch of little screw in tips, ball starter and nipple wrench. I said OK.

The guns in very good shape. I aint shot it yet, but he said it shot good with 70gr powder. I think thats what we were using in my friends gun too. Maybe try less powder for rabbits. We already have a mold for .490 RB and have lead pipe and WW. I'm looking forward to some fun shooting rabbits with this gun in a few days.:-)

[Shooter]

You done good.

[northmn]

Keep the pure lead and WW seperate in cae you want a few pure lead RB's 70 grains 3f is a very common accuracy load for a 50. 50 grains is used a lot for up close stuff and better for rabbits. Shoot it and enjoy it. Sounds like a great price.

DP

[pietro]

Ahem - it ain't real, without some pictures ! :wink:

:kidding:

[gifford]

Reloader - you got a smokin' deal. The Traditions and CVA Hawkens are considered entry level black powder rifle by many. Those rifles usually shoot a lot better than those folks think. There are several CVA Hawkens at the club, mine being one of them and they shoot as well as the higher priced brands.

A .50 cal Hawken generally takes a .490 lead (no additives if you please) ball, a 0.15 patch and 50 - 70 grains of powder. I use 50 grains of FFF. I shoot Remington and CCI No. 11 caps, depending on what I can get. Patch lube is a preferance, some of the mixes approach alchemy, I haven't found it makes that much of a difference but each rifle and the shooter picks what works the best for him.

A thorough cleaning right after shooting and an oiled patch run down the barrel afterwards and periodically will keep it shooting straight for years, hard to wear one through use.

Enjoy your rifle, makin' smoke is a lot of fun. G

[reloader28]

I got lotsa lead pipe and only have mixed it 50/50 for my 30cal hunting loads so far. Figured I'd probly leave it pure for the BP rifle.

The powders I got with the gun are Pyrodex and Pyrodex Select, whatever the difference is. Both say FFG substitutes.

I found 3 cans of powder I'd picked up here and there that are FG, Clear Shot FFG, and FFFG. I've heard the Pyrodex is much easier to clean, so I might just stick to that.

BTW, what is FG? Is that a cannon powder or something?

Sorry. The wife aint here to do pics. You'll have to take my word for it that its a beauty.:bigsmyl2:

Got hit with another blizzard, so I guess I'll go cast boolits instead of shooting it today.

[mooman76]

FG is for like cannon. I got some by mistake and didn't notice until I went through my powders to see what I had. The guy where I bought my poder must have messed up. I was just going to mix it with some of my FF to use it up in the larges bore gun I have, a .58. Pyrodex doesn't clean any easier than the other stuff. No worse either so just shoot what you want and try it all. Pyrodex select was suppose to be a supreme grade and shoot more consistant.

[semtav]

FG is for like cannon.

Well, If you consider a 45-120. 45-110, 45-100, 50-90 etc cannons, you are probably right, but they are used in them all the time with excellent results.

[cajun shooter]

Moonman, I don't know where you are getting this info that you are giving out as advise but you are way off base. First as semtav posted Fg is used in large caliber BP rifles and the 10 ga. shotgun loves it. Reloader 28, stay away from Pyrodex until you get your feet wet. It is not real BP but a sub that is much more corrosive than any BP made in today's world. When it ignites it produces a chemical that is very corrosive. You need to clean as soon as you are finished . Real black powder is not that bad. I shoot nothing but BP in all my guns. I shoot on average 3 SASS matches a month with practice after that. You can shoot your BP rifle and not worry about cleaning that day. I shoot on Saturday and usually don't clean until Monday or Tuesday. If you do that with Pyrodex your rifle will be rusted. Stay with the real BP. You can use Windex W/Vinegar NOT AMMONIA!! as it works well for BP or you can also use Moosemilk which is Ballistol mixed with water. I use 2 oz of Ballistol mixed with 14 oz of water to make a pint in a spray bottle. You may spray it all over your gun with out worrying about where it goes. Read the sticky section for a lot of help. You may shoot FFg or FFFg in your rifle with the FFFg giving more velocity.

[mooman76]

Well if Fg is not used in cannon I stand corrected. I guess I also did not remember it being used in large bores but it makes since. As far as cleaning I said it is not any easier or harder to clean. I said nothing about being more or less corrosive. I always clean my BP guns as soon as I get home from shooting whether I use real or the substitute. I think that's just a good habit to be in. Sometimes people forget to clean them and I know I would. Not saying that everyone should, to each his own.

[home in oz]

Wow! What a great deal!

[reloader28]

Hey, thanks for the info guyes.

I aint had a chance to shoot it yet, but hope to in the next few days. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions, but I know where to come. I'll let the guy that told me about cleaning with Pyrodex know what you said. Its corrosive.

I guess right now I better go catch me a moose to milk so I can clean my gun. The ones with horns,right??:mrgreen:

[waksupi]

1F isn't anything like cannon powder. I used cannon for blasting purposes years ago. Cannon grade powder is about the size of a kernel of corn.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
From the little I have been able to discover overthe years the grading of powder has changed.... along with the quality.
1 F today is moire like 2f of about 150 years ago...
But 1f I have used in many different applications. It will fire rather respectfully in pistols but is a bit slow in those short barrels.

[MoldyJoe]

Me personally, My Thompson Center loves a .490 RB pure PB, with 65 +/- grains of FF, just like others have mentioned.. I use a standard large cleaning patch with plain old spit (soaked in my mouth and suck'ed dry) One thing you might want to consider is look at your ramrods pretty close. I have had wooden ones break and give nasty slivers. Also put a mark on them when they are down the barrel showing how far they goes in empty, then with a light or practice load and lastly with a large hunting load with sabot, REAL or buffalo boolit. This will help when you get excited and can't remember what you have crammed down the barrel. 1 line means empty, 2 means light load and 3 means loaded for bear. Another cleaning option I have done is take the barrel off and put it in hot water in the bathtub with hot soapy water. Run some patches through it and will amaze you how much **** comes out. Let the heat from the water evaporate any leftover water and run a oily patch down. Have fun. Joe

[reloader28]

Thats a neat idea Joe. It actually has a wood looking plastic ramrods as the original was gone I was told.

I remember reading the Little House on the Prairie books as a kid and it said in there that Pa used boiling water so that the water evaporated instantly and didnt rust the barrel. I dont know why that always stuck in my head, but it did.

[mooman76]

Reloader the rod you have may in fact be wood. Some ramrods were strengthened by impregnateing the wood with a resin to make them very strong. I would not worry about it or hesitate to use it. I have one that way but most of mine are plastic of some type or another. I keep a wooden one with them though to keep them original so to speak.

[mooman76]

It's been quite some time since I read my BP books I have. I went back and reread the section on powders and found I was mistaken when I posted 1F was for cannon when it is in fact for large bore shotguns and rifles. I did not mean to mislead anyone. I'll just chalk it up to CRS and go back and reread my books. I enjoy reading them anyway and it's always good to review things.

[45-70 Chevroner]

My method for cleaning my bp barrels is to use a 5 gal bucket about 1/4 full of hot soapy water. First take the nipple out then place the tang end of the barrel down in the bucket wet the cleaning patch in the soapy water run the patch in and out it will pull the water up the barrel and it usually only takes a couple of patches to clean the barrel. I then blow the barrel out and off with an air hose oil it well wipe it down put it back on the rifle and put it away. I've never had a rusty barrel. This process takes less time than it did to write this well almost anyway. Injoy the new prize. I had a CVA 54 Hawkins and it shot very well, I gave it to one of my grand sons he lives in Utah and wants to use it for Elk and Deer.

[reloader28]

Neat tip. Thanks

[piwo]

One of those rifles is not on my "wish list", but if someone offer's me that same deal I don't know how I could ever turn it down. You did very well indeed!

[Swede44mag]

Great purchase I paid about $250.00 for a Kit.

I sold it to finance a Lyman GPR in 54cal.

[Hometek]

Just a tip. Try cleaning with lukewarm water and soap. Very hot water will actually flash rust the barrel. I had one ML that would do that so bad I would get brownish patches out of it long after it was clean. Folks over at http://muzzleloadingforum.comhave some threads on this and it changed the way I cleaned ML. This is if you shoot real BP. Not sure how it applies with imitation BP.

[reloader28]

Thanks for the tip and the site. I have BP that I'm thinking I'll use.