...Anybody have knowledge of the maximum recommended black powder load in the TC Thunderhawk in line? I've converted mine to 209 primer use, but don't know the safe max load for this rifle. Any help?.....Any shooting/Hunting experience with the Thunderhawk?

....I plan on trying Barnes 250 and 290 gr. T-EZ Spit-Fire bullets with two 777 Magnum pellets,in the Thunderhawk on an upcoming bear hunt. Any experience with various bullets in the Thunderhawk?

It's 120 grains of loose, so 150 in pellets. I've got one that apparently came from the factory with a Timney trigger. It doesn't appear to have ever been shot. I paid $60 for it at a gun show in Virginia. The dealer that had it apparently didn't like muzzleloaders, cuz he sold them way cheap.

Thunderhawks, didja say? music to me ears.

have 4 of them, use 3 pretty regularly:


the top 2 are .50's, the bottom a .54...they are about my favorite inlines, been shooting them for years, killed a whole pile of deer with my guns.

i've had best luck as far as accuracy goes with medium heavy slugs in the .50's. my favorite is the Barnes 250 grain .44 in hornady sabots, followed by the Hornady 265 .44FP, and the Speer .44 270 gold dot.

accuracy fell off a wee bit with super heavy powder charges i pretty much use 100 grains (volume) Pyrodex Triple-7 as my standard load. with those bullets you'll plow through both shoulders & i never saw the need for more oomph.

The .54 is pretty light with that tupperware stock, has some enthusiastic recoil with heavy slugs. was using 45cal Hornady 300gr XTP's in sabots for that one.

Great little guns, good luck with yours.
Gerald

I had the TC Firehawk when I first started out. Terrific gun and the same barrel as the Thunderhawk. Mine was a .54 and I never once experienced a misfire. Killed several muleys with that great rifle.

Best load was 110 Pyro RS with a 535 No Excuses Conical. Kicked hard enough to knock your fillings loose, but sure was ACCURATE. Also had good success with Nosler 250 -260 grain Bullets loaded in the Red .54 Sabot. I miss that old gun!