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Thread: Trying to get a TC Hawken to shoot RB

  1. #41
    Boolit Master AntiqueSledMan's Avatar
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    Hello Godzilla,

    Back in the day I started with a Thompson Center Hawken, it shot fair.
    Then I decided I wanted to build a kit, I decided on a CVA Frontier Rifle.
    The only problem was at the time I could buy a completed rifle cheaper than the kit.
    So I purchased the rifle, stripped the blueing off the barrel and attempted to brown it.
    That rifle would shoot 10 times better with round ball than the Thompson Center.
    A slow twist is needed for round balls, 1/66 is what the old CVA's were, the old Thompson's were 1/48.
    I'm sure you will be satisfied with your re-bore, as long as the rifling is correct.
    Unfortunately we don't do much round ball shooting anymore, it gets harder with age to see the targets.

    AntiqueSledMan.

  2. #42
    Boolit Buddy nelsonted1's Avatar
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    I shot.my Tc hawken trying to find great.accuracy. it was good a enough In all the loads to 100 grains in 777 black and pirodex. then for.some.reason I dropped.to 40 grains of 777 then black with 490 balls and SHAZZAM! Did I have a shooter! I feel for.people.writing about.accuracy searching with muzzleloader.

  3. #43
    Boolit Man godzilla's Avatar
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    I tried everything I could with this barrel. Could have bought another barrel for all the testing I have shot down it . What finally led me to a re-bore vs cutting off the counter-bore was the thought I could do all the work after cutting and it still could have a flaw causing my accuracy issues that was not the nuzzle after all. After giving the bore a close look I realized it had deep chatter marks all the way down it. Its not TC best work. A real shame since I spent a good bit more money at the time for TC over Green Mountain solely because it was my late fathers rifle and I wanted to keep it TC. Live and learn. I have been farting around with it on and off for 16 years and even managed to kill a few deer with it. Im really hoping Mr Hoyt can do wonders for it.

  4. #44
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
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    my TC Hawken likes 535 round balls and .010 pillow ticking patches
    I use 90 gr's of loose black as well
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  5. #45
    Boolit Master Lead pot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nelsonted1 View Post
    I shot.my Tc hawken trying to find great.accuracy. it was good a enough In all the loads to 100 grains in 777 black and pirodex. then for.some.reason I dropped.to 40 grains of 777 then black with 490 balls and SHAZZAM! Did I have a shooter! I feel for.people.writing about.accuracy searching with muzzleloader.
    Well the good thing you found out with black powder rifles is that the magnum mentality is not the best for lead projectiles. It is not the best frame of mind.

  6. #46
    Boolit Buddy Prairie Cowboy's Avatar
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    OP, sorry about the crappy barrel with the chatter marks.

    My TC Hawken .50 cal. shot well with maxi-balls right out of the box, but like many others, was fussy with round balls. I started out using commercial lubes of the day that were crap, and patches cut from uncertain parentage material that had a nice tight weave, but didn't work. Accuracy was poor.

    Finally I switched to pillow ticking patch material of about .012", a natural lube that I made using beeswax, Crisco, and olive oil, and my standard .490" round balls.
    I also backed off to a 70 grain charge and switched to FFFg GOEX black powder, instead of FFg. It worked and I got about 5" groups at 100 yards. Not awe-inspiring but minute-of-whitetail accuracy. No doubt that I could have gotten better results with some more experimentation. Less is more with powder charges in a 1:48" twist barrel.

    I suspect that most TC barrels could benefit from re-crowning, but that's just my opinion.

  7. #47
    Boolit Buddy cas's Avatar
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    I tried RB in my New Englander for the first time the other day. I always shot Great Plains bullets in it and it shot well. But after years of not using the rifle, I can't find my notes. I planned on taking it hunting next week and tried some loads from memory that worked well enough, but not what it once did. That night after doing some reading I decided to try some round ball and went back another day.
    Digging through my stuff I found I had .520 and .535 ball, some .010, .015 and some ticking who's thickness I don't recall but never had any luck with in my other .54 . The night before I tested different combinations for tightness and devised a plan for the next day. Tried some KIK and some Swiss 2F, a few patch/ball combinations and various charges from 70-100 grains. None of them impressed me or shot better than the Hornady GPs. I decided to give up on the idea of round ball in this gun. But before I did, it was like that little voice talking to you... "Hey stupid, try this." I kept having the idea of "88 grains" in my head, which makes no sense since none of my measures are that precise. So I tried 80 1/2 grains of 2F KIK, a .535 ball and I dug out some of the pillow ticking which I hadn't been using. I fired 5 shots without checking the target between shots like I had been before, because I figured I was wasting my time anyway. When I walked down to the 50 yard targets, there were five holes clustered in a group that a poker chip would have covered. Four of them you could have mostly covered with a quarter. "Huh. How 'bout that. I guess it will shoot round ball." (considering how fuzzy all rear sights have gotten the last few years, and how all the front sights now look like one and a half sights, that's friken amazing)
    Former cylindersmith.

  8. #48
    Boolit Man godzilla's Avatar
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    OH MAN!!! My barrel came back today and I am beyond excited! What a serious looking rifling job I have now. I just got the bits back on the barrel and I will get it cleaned and greased to shoot. I will take some pics and post. WOO HOO!

  9. #49
    Boolit Master
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    What did you have Me Hoyt do to your barrel ?.
    I have had him bore and Re Rifle barrels to larger bores and slower twist.
    I have also had him Reline other barrels to their original caliber , but with a Slower Twist.
    I now have two barrels I am going to send him that are not in to bad of bore condition.
    I think I may just have them Refreshed to deepen the rifling and remove minor rusting.
    They will still be in the 1: 48 twist and may require a larger ball , or a thicker patch.
    So far I am very pleased with Mr Hoyts work , and all the barrels shoot great.

  10. #50
    Boolit Man godzilla's Avatar
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    Had him bore it to .54 caliber and asked for a twist suitable for round balls.

  11. #51
    Boolit Master
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    You should be very happy.
    I had a .50 rebored to .54 with a 1 : 60 twist and it shoots great

  12. #52
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by bedbugbilly View Post
    Maybe a candidate to send to Bob Hoyt for a re-bore?
    Winner! Winner! Winner!

  13. #53
    Boolit Man godzilla's Avatar
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    Due to many other projects I have not got to shoot the barrel yet, but wow it looks great!
    Last edited by godzilla; 02-07-2021 at 10:33 PM.

  14. #54
    Boolit Master

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    Barrel porn!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  15. #55
    Boolit Buddy pilot's Avatar
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    That makes me wish I had a bad barrel to send him.

  16. #56
    Boolit Buddy cas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pilot View Post
    That makes me wish I had a bad barrel to send him.
    I'm contemplating sending him a perfectly good barrel.

    (from a gun I really don't need, in a caliber I already have too many of. But if he makes it a .62, it would be my one and only, and a perfectly good reason to own it!)

  17. #57
    Boolit Master
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    Barrel looks great!
    I also had Hoyt rebore a 50 T/C Hawken about year ago for me.
    You made a wise choice.
    I have had several T/C Hawkens and none would shoot well (ok) but not well or consistent.
    Failure is not an Option

  18. #58
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Did you go with round bottom rifling for any particular reason? I've got a swamped 42" Rice barrel with round bottom rifling, as that is what was offered with the kit I bought. I couldn't see any particular benefit or drawbacks compared to flat bottom rifling. I'm simply wondering if you prefer it for some reason.

  19. #59
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    Did you go with round bottom rifling for any particular reason? I've got a swamped 42" Rice barrel with round bottom rifling, as that is what was offered with the kit I bought. I couldn't see any particular benefit or drawbacks compared to flat bottom rifling. I'm simply wondering if you prefer it for some reason.
    I could be wrong, but I think Mr. Hoyt only offers round bottom.
    Failure is not an Option

  20. #60
    Moderator Emeritus / Trusted loob groove dealer

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    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    Did you go with round bottom rifling for any particular reason? I've got a swamped 42" Rice barrel with round bottom rifling, as that is what was offered with the kit I bought. I couldn't see any particular benefit or drawbacks compared to flat bottom rifling. I'm simply wondering if you prefer it for some reason.
    The last rifle I built was a .36 with round bottom rifling. Myself and other friends with this type rifling find it takes longer to clean for some reason, and needs the bore wiped fairly frequently to maintain accuracy, even with moose milk lube.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check