Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders 1:48 twist - Patched round balls

Normally I shoot 70gr 3fg Goex in this rifle as its all out hunting load. Super accurate and dead on the money. Since I have a good supply of black powder, I tested some loads.

Traditions St.Louis Hawken .50cal with 1:48 twist, .499" lands - .503" grooves, 28" barrel. This is a kit gun that I put together back in 2016 and it has a bedded barrel,tang and trigger assembly. Also the rear sight is from a lyman great plains rifle and adjusted to my eyes by cutting a new dovetail 2" further up the barrel so the rear sight was perfectly clear.


Since 70gr 3fg is normal, I upped the 2fg Goex to 80 grains and took my first shot which was dead on the money where 70g 3fg hits!

Afterward, I went to 95 and two shots with 110gr 2fg goex to test its group size.


Really impressed me how 10 grains lifted that ball and pushed it to the left a bit. 110 grains really shows it going up high and to the left. If I were to ever shoot that load, I would need to order a front sight and file it just for that load. I have no intentions of using more than 80 grains of 2fg in this rifle. Those 110gr loads were also swabbed between shots. So much for the myth about 1:48 twists and high powder charges not being accurate with patched round balls. I was extremely impressed. But my neck was NOT! I heard a crunch and said to hell with that!

This was from last year before I went hunting. This was 70gr Pyrodex P at 100 yards. Notice how perfectly 80gr 2fg Goex ( Above) measured up spot on.


And as an update. That crunching in my neck I heard turned out to be an issue I had been suffering with since my early- mid teens and never realized was a serious problem.



Will a 1:48 shoot a heavy charge of black powder with great 100 yard accuracy? Yes it will!