Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders TC hawkens loads from a newbie

I have a T.C. Hawken in .50. She likes: 70 - 80 grains FFF Goex under round balls with CCI #11's, 350 grain T.C. Maxi-Hunters over 90-105 grains of either RS Pyrodex or same FFF Goex and same CCI # 11. Both kill quickly and cleanly inside 100 yards and group very well out of my rifle, have for a couple of decades. And either load will not break the bank, so you can practice a lot to learn how to shoot, clean, and get a consistent reloading technique for your new muzzleloader. If you look on ebay or other auction sites you can still find T.C. bullet moulds for the Maxi-hunter and Maxi-ball bullets to save even more on your loads.

100 grains of FFG black powder and the 370 T/C maxi-bullet. E.O.S. DRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck. Don't mix traditional with modern.

What I ended up doing was using three 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of black paper on a white backgound to make an upside down "U". It gives me a place to center the front sight on both the top and sides. It worked out pretty well too.

I use a six o'clock hold for short range and when the distance gets out there, then the front sight/dot is held on center mass. It's a so-so accurate way of not only judging range but is also allows for drop. My front bead covers approximately 8" at a 100 yds. You can go from there. It's not a perfect sighting method, but there is some merit to the idea.

This year I hunted in Utah and used a 1X power scope. I like it a lot better than a peep and front fire sight. My comfortable shooting distance is still limited but it's slightly extended.

Saturday I picked up a pound of pyrodex rs select, a box of round balls and a box of 385 great plains, #11 caps and lubed patches. Sportsmans warehouse didn't have any TC maxiballs, but did have the maxi hunter, wasn't sure so I didn't get them at this time.

Hope to go out tomorrow after voting.

Kent

krp,

You have to make-up your mind with what you want to hunt / kill with. Conical or round ball. You can't shoot both and expect the same point of impact results. If you sight in with conical at 100 yards the round ball will hit 8 inches higher. I've owned my Hawkens since 1985 and have tested both types of bullets. The T/C 350gr maxi hunter & the 370gr maxi ball will impact the same POI with 90grs of Goex. I still have & hunt with my Hawkens. It will go to the grave with me. Also get yourself some T/C bore butter and season your barrel. Best lube on the market that i've found.

Ken

You can tune your round ball load to match the POI of the maxi by cutting the load down to 80 gr or so and that will still sure kill a deer

saddlesore,

That is a very good point. He did mention that he purchased both round ball & conical. For somebody starting out new to black powder he needed to know about POI with a lite round ball versus heavy conical. Can picture him cranking on the site up & down plus scratching his head and butt at the same time going what the heck ! Don't know how much velocity he would lose with the round ball and a less powder charge.

Ken

He should not lose much as the RB is about 180 gr as I remember and the maxi 350 or so. He might even pick up some FPS

Krp,

I have shot both the Maxi-ball and the Maxi-hunter. I prefer the Maxi-hunter on deer. T.C. designed the Maxi-hunter for deer sized game. The Maxi-ball penetrated deeper and works better on larger game. I shot one end to end in a 225# hog a few years back. In my experience with both, I always felt the hunter dropped deer faster. Having said that if you are hunting in close cover where shots are under 50 yards or so, a round ball over 70-90 grains of powder is a real killer. I have taken hogs and deer very efficiently with roundballs in close cover over the years. Either way let us know how you do.

Thanks again.

I did weigh the balls when I bought them and they were 178 gr. So I know they are different than the conicals. I figured on taking my experience with archery and reloading to try different projectiles for accuracy at my intended range and go with the one that performs the best. If they had the maxiballs at the time I'd bought those also to test in my gun... I didn't remember the maxihunter being mentioned so decided to wait till I asked.

My idea today is starting at 80 and working up with the balls for accuracy. If that goes smooth, then starting with 80 and then the greatplains working up, or waiting for another day on that, no rush.

Kent

I'm a little late here but have a TC Renegade in .54 that has 1 in 48 twist and have had good luck with the Hornady Great Plains bullets in 420 grns w/ 100 grns of bp behind it. Using iron sights I've got baseball size groups at 100 yards which is plenty good enough for deer.

I normally hunt w/ a Lyman Great Plains Hunter (1 in 32 twist)and 90 grns of Pyrodex behind a 330 grn sabot (which groups about 2") but wanted a little more "slam" when hunting in the pocosin swamps around here. Following a blood trail across water is more than I'm capable of..

Get some real BP and don't worry about the primer.