Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders What bullet and propellant for elk in Hawken 50 traditional.

Jimbob. please ignore swampman. I'm not sure what his "issue" is, but I'd guess it has to do with medication, or lack thereof.

Edited to add: swampman, you're a fool. I'm not talking about your normal schtick where you post things you know not to be true to stir up nonsense, I'm talking about this thread right here.

You have a guy who's 73, possibly going on his last elk hunt and asking for advice. You have no experience, yet you persist in posting inanities and giving bad information in a situation like this.

Give it a break son. Someone outta put their foot square in your ass for this.

I gotta agree. ALL my 1:48's handle conicals very well, provided they are not too long. The .50's work well with the 385gr Great Plains, the .54 with the 425gr. Seems like that should be enough lead. He really does not know what he is talking about, and I don't understand it.

I would agree . The 1 in 48 should be fine if you take alittle time to find the most accurate charge to match the conical .
This goes for all twists really .
My long rifle has a 1 in 60 twist and she will shoots a hollow based , thick skirt. 435 grain Bernard Mini to a 3 inch group at 100 yards , off hand with 110 grains of 3 F goex .
Granted that 2 inches bigger then a RB group at 100 . But its still acceptable IMO

Less we forget , the 1853 Enfield had a twist rate of 1 in 78 shooting a 530 grain Pritchett
Granted the rifling was very shallow . But even with that it stabilized the big conical well enough

My thanks to all for the great advice. I learned a lot. Now to get the bullets,powder and some 209 primers. I have some power belts but won't use them now. My powder and primers are a little too old for me to trust to an elk hunt.
I have a tang peep sight that I am going to install this week.
I will hunt some of my favorite unit 61 spots.

Thanks again.

Jimbob: I wouldn't throw the powerbelts in the trash just yet. Not sure which ones you have, but I've drawn down on 5 with the 348 grain Aerotip and none lived to tell about it. One was throgh the shoulder bone.

If they shoot well in your rifle, I'd consider them but personally I wouldn't go lighter than 348 grains.

Ditto what Smokepole said.I have never tried theheavy weights in my Hawkin,but it sure didn't like the 295's

If you are using a traditional Hawken, go with real black powder and the biggest lubed, lead Maxi you can get to shoot well. I can't imagine what you would do with 209 primers on a traditional Hawken as they would either be flint (rare) or percussion. The black powder substitutes don't work very well with percussion caps.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawken_rifle

His Hawken is modified for 209 primers, so he can use whatever powder he wants.

Yep, I am aware they make sabortooth, powerbelt like bullets, but he was using the PT gold sabot.

The Colorado regs are confusing:

"During the muzzle-loading firearm seasons for deer, elk, pronghorn, bear, and
moose the following additional restrictions apply:
1. Propellent/Powders: The use of pelletized powder systems and
smokeless powder are prohibited."

Is a BP substitute considered "smokeless" ? All pelletized powder systems are just reformed BP substitutes so...... Has this been answered in the regs ?

BP substitutes are legal, even if they don't come with the white cloud of smoke. Powder that comes in pellets is illegal, regardless of what kind it is.

Good catch TX, that got right by me.

I have used black powder, Pyrodex, and 777 in my TC Hawkin. Never seen any differnce in accuracy.The Pyrodex seemed to degrade faster, and I have seen some degradation with 777,but now I keep the jug in a baggy in a 50 cal ammo can and the 2 yr old powder shot as well as new stuf.I do buy a fresh can every hunting season that I draw a tag.
I can't say about BP as it has been many years since Iused it.

I use the 777 in both an inline and TC Hawkin, Caps and 209's again I have seen no difference in ignition, not have had problems.

Sometimes the purist get a little anal about all this stuff.I just use them for hunting and go out and kill elk.

Thanks, I guess that says a lot about the knowledge residing in the Colorado Fish & Game dept.

Okay to use loose powder but we don't want you to be able to reload quickly if you have an animal down and need a followup shot.

Charter Arms 44 special Bulldog carried concealed anyone ?

you dont need pellet powder toload quickly .
you think using quick loaders is slower then fiddle farting around with trying to get a couple pellets in your bore ?

if this is your first muzzleloading elk hunt and you get a bull down . its isnt going to matter , most of your loading going to miss the bore anyway LOL

Hey guys thanks for all the input. Please pardon my memory loss regarding the Hawken using 209 primers. I had them for my Sons inline. I went out and bought a box of 209 primers. (Dum Azz me)
Havent had the Hawken off the wall in a couple years. It takes standard Hawken caps.
Thanks Smokepole for all your advice and support. I have some powerbelts and they shot ok my gun. Now to start getting ready.

Thanks again to everyone.

+1

Good Luck!! Keep us posted! No matter what you end up using, I for one am rooting for you!