Hawken mold question

[Pistolero]

Hi Gents,[smilie=s:

I am planning the purchase of a .50 hawken rifle. I am going to buy a Lee round ball mold to go with it. Lee is pretty much all that is avaliable in Australia. I wanted to know what the best size would be??

.490?
.495?
.500?

Some advice would be great.

Never shot round ball before. I have a .58 Springfield and i shoot .575 minies in it. Works great.

Cheers!!!:cbpour:

[docone31]

I use the .490. I also have the R.E.A.L. in .50cal.
Both good stuff.
With the .490 ball, I use pillow ticking. I am satisfied. I have not fired a minie' in my Hawken. I do a lot of shooting so I need the R.E.A.L.s to clean the bore every once in a while.

[Marvin S]

The .490 will work and is what most 50s use. The .495 might fit but may be tight and hard to load but also be more accurate than the .490. The .500 is too big. What kind of rifle/bbl are you getting? This may have some to do with choice of dia. You you can just buy a hundred of each to try them first may be the way to go but sometimes cost almost as much as a LEE mold. Dont forget about different patch thickness.

[405]

Well, when you get the Lee mold make sure the block halves line up and the block faces are flat... you don't need to ask how I know to check the Lee molds. If all is well with the mold try pure lead or pure lead with a "touch" of tin.

As far as RB diameter? Depends on gun/bore specs. I'd say chances pretty fair that .50 won't work. So either .490 or .495. One size will generally shoot better than the other but it's a 50-50 chance in any particular gun. You can always flip a coin, get one of them then adjust patch thickness for best results. Use tough weave cotton. Pillow ticking of about .016-017" is almost universal. Some muzzleloader bores are a little rough when new so may take some break-in to smooth out. A lot of shooting will do it but the result for a while may be discouraging. OR JB paste or Rem Clean bore cleaner (with clay particles like JBs in a mineral oil solution) as patch lube for a few rounds will help smooth bore if rough. If bore is smooth... go straight to shooting for accuracy with different loads and patch material. Good luck!

[mooman76]

I'd go with the .490 to start. It will usually work well in a new gun. You can always go with a thicker patch if needed but you can only go so thin, even with .495. Some people find that after a gun id well worn in after years of use a .495 can bring some of the accuracy back. If you are getting a 1-48 twist it should shoot conicals well too and the Lee REAL usually works well in that twist. As stated a .500 won't work. As far as Lee moulds go they work well and most people even people that don't care for Lees think a RB is an RB so one mould works about the same as far as putting out good RBs.

[Gerry N.]

I bought a T-C .50 Hawken Kit in 1975. At the same time I bought a Lee .490" ball mold. I have cast thousands of balls with it and shot them out of my rifle with no problems and with sufficient accuracy that the local Coast Blacktail Deer community has a price on my head.

I use grocery store lard as a lube on pillow ticking patches. My working load is 50 gr. 3F GOEX and a .490" ball. Easy on the rifle, me and my pocketbook. Hard on deer, coyotes, grouse, bun-rabs, and paper targets. Haven't had a shot at a bear yet. I've been berated for using such a light charge. It's the most accurate load I've found over all those years. I suppose if I ever had to take a second shot at something that decided to hunt back at me, I could double the powder charge. From what I've read that was a common practice back in the day.

I bought and tested both the Lee "Classic Minie" and R.E.A.L. molds. I wrung 'em out the best I knew how with Goex 2F and 3F and as many lubes as I could find. My rifle simply does not like 'em, it scattered those things all over the countryside, so I traded off the molds. I've tried .495" balls from time to time with the same results, They simply won't go down the bore along with a patch, so I toss 'em into the pot and cast .490's out of 'em.

Your mileage, as always, may vary.

Gerry N.