Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Recieved my new Hawken rifle!

Just a little report on range work to date. I began load development starting with the same load my 54 caliber Deer Creek rifle likes 2-f powder, 530 cast ball, and ticking patching. Five shot groups at 25 yards with increasing powder charges were tested. While shooting these groups I noticed an occasional delay in ignition.


Inspecting the fired patches I saw cuts and burn through on all. That patching is too thin for this rifle. The next session I switched to 3-f powder and eliminated the ignition delay. I believe the 2-f granules did not go down into the fire channel of the patent breech consistently. In any event, the 3-f granulation solved that issue. I also tested pocket drill, Twill, and denim fabric for patching. All those show good tight groups and no issues with cutting or burning through. Seeing little difference in group size, I went with the pocket drill simply because it loads easier than the others. 70 grains of 3-f Goex powder showed the tightest groups.


The next experiment was with patch lube. 3 parts water to 1 part Ballistol lube proved best and after confirming all that with a few more five shot groups I began filling down the front sight to get it hitting here.