thompson hawken .45 round ball gun and more

[johnson1942]

today i paper patched a 250 grain .440 bullet with 2 wraps of 16 lb. paper sized them down to .451. i shot them over 80 grains of 2f black with a poly wad inbetween. kept all 10 in side of a silver dollar circle at 50 yards. wiped barrel fairly clean between rounds. i have a gost ring sight on the back of the barrel and i used a bale to rest on. going to make 100 more and hunt with it. johnson1942

[idahoron]

I had the same luck with some pistol bullets. The problem hit when I moved back to 100 yards. The difference is the rate of twist. I think I was spinning them a bit too fast. When I went to a longer bullet all was good. Sounds like your on the right road. Ron

[johnson1942]

ron the rate of twist on the thompson is 1 in 48, the bullet is about .70 long. i tried a bigger bullt but it went through the target sidways. the reason i tried the bullet it is about the same size as one you would use in a sabot for a .50 thompson 1 and 48 twist. so i figured if this bullet will shoot in a sabot in 1-48 i will just patch it for the .45 and the same rate of twist. worked. feels good to do something right once in a while. i even shot it at a hill behind the house 500 yards out and was real suprised that it didnt drop like i thought it would was compareable to being shot in a sabot, but alot easier to load.