Paper patch slug for .45 hawken, TC?

[koger]

Hey all, just thinking, I know, that can be dangerous. I have 2 TC .45 hawkens, and lookin for a slug to size down and paper patch, want heavier than the .250gr TC maxi slug, but not too heavy. I was thinking the lee .452-300 gr slug, made for GC but would not use one. What size sizer do I need, to be able to paper patch, the barrels use a .440rball, can I size it down enough?

[True.grit]

Take your patch thickness and double it and add to .440 and that would be very close to what you need. I am sure there are others here that have more technical info that have done this.

[oldracer]

I would suggest finding the actual bore of the barrel using Cerrosafe as I did when I started working with my Pedersoli Gibbs and my home built copy. I used half a dozen patches down in the barrel about 4 inches and heated the barrel/Cerrosafe with a heat gun and just as I poured it in I stood up a small diameter machine screw in the middle of the bore. After a bit of cooling I pulled out the "slug" and measured it when cool. This gave me a true reading so I could then figure the bullet diameter needed along with whatever patch material I planned to use I.E. double wrap or single "Chase" wrap method.

On both my slug guns there is a slight amount of choke to the bore and the muzzle diameter is the smallest. On all my round ball guns there is no choke so it is hard to say what the diameter would actually be?

[bigted]

I also have a 45 cal TC Hawkens and I also am going the paperpatch direction to see what is possible in her.

what I have done so far is to use some of my onion skin paper for patching my 38-55's and 45-70's and taken some of my 458 diameter 350 grain rifle slugs and run them thru my .444 diameter Lee style push thru sizer 2 times with case lube on em. use water and soap to clean the lube of them and when clean I wrap em in the 9 pound onion skin paper wet [just like I do with my centerfire patch boolits] and allow em to dry over night in the warm sunshine laying in a tray in the window sill. this arrives at the needed .450 inch diameter size that will just slip down the bore of my Hawken barrel.

I have yet to go shoot any but I think that ... with my experience with the 50 cal Renegade and patchin ... that im on the rite path. im itchin to go see what they will do as im convinced that they should be mostly accurate and great boolits on game animals ... heck the 45-70 has taken everything on earth ... and ... the load I plan to use first is 70 grains 2Fg powder [GOEX] sparked by a CCI musket cap. I also plan on using 2 of my .060 inch vegi wads between the powder and the boolit to keep from burning the important base of my boolits.

another lesson I learned fast with the 50 was to swab the bore between each and every shot. doing this at 50 yards I can get very nice groups and knowledge that anything hit with those slugs is going to be very sick and wanna lay down for a while.

do keep us informed on what you do and how it werks out for ye.

maybe Idaho Ron will chirp in and give ya/us some more of his good advise as he has been here before a bunch of us with the front stuffers.

[crossxsticks]

I am casting a .446 bullet then pp and size to .446 casts 409 g bullet shooting in GM 45 stainless barrel

Happy, Happy, Happy

[idahoron]

Hey all, just thinking, I know, that can be dangerous. I have 2 TC .45 hawkens, and lookin for a slug to size down and paper patch, want heavier than the .250gr TC maxi slug, but not too heavy. I was thinking the lee .452-300 gr slug, made for GC but would not use one. What size sizer do I need, to be able to paper patch, the barrels use a .440rball, can I size it down enough?


Not knowing the size of the barrel I would say just guessing I would size to .446 like was said before. The Bullet that Crossxsticks is using is the same one I am, and the same sizer. In our Green Mountain barrels they are pretty lose fit but they are wicked accurate. That factory barrel is something I haven't messed with.

[kokomokid]

Oldracer, I for one would like to see a picture of your slug gun and know what kind of lock and trigger you used?

[bigted]

well I did use some of my patched boolits in the 1 in 48 twist original barrel of the TC Hawkens ... no joy for me. key holes at 25 yards all. round balls tho will now all go in the same raged hole at this yardage ... very happy about that ... but no joy with the paper patched boolits thru the 45 cal Hawken barrel.

[OverMax]

Go to your local hardware store slide a few bolts into your barrels muzzle. Buy the one that fits best. Go home and measure it with your caliper. BTW: Don't forget to try both SAE & metric.

[oldracer]

Well Kokomokid, I posted some pictures of the gun a short time after I finished it and if you search for posts started by me they should show up? If not then please let me know and I can redo them. I used a set of parts from Pecatonica River company and it is their Schuetzen Half Stock model. It uses a L&R lock and trigger setup and the lock has a huge reverse spring in it and very short throw from full cock. I had made a Gibbs style stock from scratch but decided to keep the Schuetzen stock for now. The barrel has 1 in 18 twist and so far seems happy with the 560 grain straight sided paper patched bullets I have been using. By luck more than anything, it seems to have the same exact bore and choke that my Pedersoli Gibbs has and that is why I did the pour of the barrel for a more accurate measure.

[oldracer]

Well what did I do, I did a search and could not find any pictures sooooooo, here are a couple:145929145930

[kokomokid]

Thanks oldracer. Would love to try and build a slug gun with false muzzle and chase patch it etc-etc. However the golden years seem to have spare time taken by doctors etc. Have fun with it.

[Nobade]

On this topic, FWIW, I have a TC 45 caliber Cherokee which absolutely refused to shoot accurately with anything until I tried the Lee 230gr. tumble lube TC nose 45 ACP boolits in it. Sized to .442", patched to .449", they load easy and are quite accurate to 200M. Over 50 gr. FFFg I basically have a very heavily loaded 45 Colt, quite sufficient for deer sized game.

-Nobade

[johnson1942]

Nobade, thanks for that reply and shareing it for others to try. it is so easy what you are doing and so very very effective. much easier than putting a patched roundball down the barrel. when i did about the same as you for a thompson hawken .45 i put 100 grains behind the bullet with a 60 thousands wad between powder and bullet. did just fine with that. kept tight groups at 100 yards.