Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders T/C Hawken .54

Just picked one up. Did a little research and found that it most likely has a 1/48 twist. Lots of posts saying that this is a compromise and that it won’t shoot patched round balls or conical well. Does anyone have one? Suggested loads for conical/maxi ball or patched round ball?

i have 2. one shoots both into nice little one hole groups at 25 yards. 50 yards it is cloverleaf. 100 yards 1.5 inch. off the bench
the other shoots both into 1.5 inch groups at all ranges. may be the sights i don't know..
round ball are .530 patched with spit patch of .010 100% cotton over 60g fffg .
maxi ball over a wonder wad over 70g ffg.
all powder is homebrew so your mileage will vary.

sorry about my ball size! corrected.
have 50's also

Try it and see.

Get some .530/.535 round balls, .010 and .015 patches and see which shoots acceptably.

Just make sure the combination isn't too hard to load for hunting/multiple shot purposes.

Well took me years to find one in 54 cal but I finally did. The lyman bp book is a good investment for you. My 45 and 50 T/C Hawkins are twisted like that too and they shoot round ball fine as well as sabots / pistol bullets in the 50. Real round ball only barrels are usually 1 in 60 or slower. My 50 cal roundball loads are heavier than deerstalker's are but you do what your gun likes get the 2nd edn lyman bp manual it will help. Mb

Thanks. I’ll check into the Lyman BP book

Tom.

I have the Renegade in.54 cal. which has a 26 in. 1/48 twist barrel. I use the T/C 430gr. Maxi Ball. That is the middle weight bullet T/C offered for the .54. With 100gr. of FF I usually put two touching and one just off for about a 1-1.5 inch group at 100 yards using peep sights. That's without swabbing the bore between shots.

Same results with mine. Somewhere around here, I’ve got a target with 3 round balls touching at 100 yards with that same load. But my eyes were much better way back then! 🤠

Mine loves round balls. But it wouldn’t shoot any plastic sabo bullet combo worth a damn. No matter what I tried

I will add that the only thing I’ve ever treated the bore with is T/C Bore Butter. And I only shoot real BP.

Also, The Lyman BP Book mentioned above is the one I highly recommend for beginners. Great source of info!

I just bought a .54 Renegade and still waiting for it to arrive. If I can get an inch and a half like some of you I'll be reall happy.

I’ve never seen one that wasn’t accurate.

Fun to shoot deer and pigs with too !

My Renegade was supposed to be the only MZ that I would ever need. Then came the in-line revolution along with more rifles being bought. And the honest truth is the Renegade would be the last one I'd get rid of. Love that gun.

I've never tried round balls and have only used black powder. Additionally, primer choices matter. I use RWS primers. CCI primers did provide good accuracy but POI was five to six inches lower than my sight in with the RWS. I've stocked up enough primers and Maxis to last me till I'm done.

I bought a T-C Hawken in .54 caliber back in 1984 and found that it shoots T-C Maxi-Balls great. The Hawken is a nice rifle, but the in-lines chased the traditional side-hammer guns out of the market. I hope that your rifle shoots as good as mine does.

I don't have a TC, but currently have 5 Investarms side locks. I like them, and can't imagine that an inline does anything better...

I have owned a bunch of T/C and Lyman guns over the years. All flints. None shoot great with patched round ball and my charges. By that I mean around 5-6" group at 100 yards. I currently have a Renegade with a .54 Green Mountain barrel with 1-70" twist. It loves a patched RB and 90 Fffg. My first goups with the gun cloverleafed at 100 yards. But the big 32" barrel is real heavy. But it helps with recoil. I just wish the Renegade had more stock drop as with the Lymans.

They are easier to clean. More convenient, but not necessarily better.

I have both a Hawken and a Renegade in 54 caliber. They both shot very well with Hornady Great Plains bullets using Pyrodex Select.

I was looking for next level accuracy and switched to real black powder and No Excuses conical bullets and that did the trick! Both prefer 105 grains of bp.

I switched out both rifles nipples to accommodate musket caps and have had exactly zero misfires.

Would highly recommend you check out No Excuses ml bullets….they are a game changer.

Musket cap and real BP if you can find it.
Worked great for me on several TC sidehammers

I've burned probably 10-12 pounds of Goex FFFG in my T/C Hawken and have never experienced a misfire using CCI #11 caps and hot shot nipples.

In 1/48 twist the rifling is shallow. TC made the barrels to be mated with their maxi ball. PRB is OK, but I found 80g to be about maxp

I have a 50 cal. with a 1/48" . It shoots good enough for deer but my eyes are not good enough for real accuracy anymore with a peep sight. I went and got a Green Mountain in 1/66" twist and it is noticably more accurate, however, it is no cure for blurry eyes. SOme days I can really shoot good with the Green Mountain , and some days I cant so it is not the barrel.

Load up 90 to 100 grains of real black powder behind a patched round ball. You’ll soon see how well it shoots! 🤠

I’ll check them out!

That’s the plan! I LOVE black powder. I have inlines that shoot the substitutes well, but I usually pass them up in favor of a traditional smoke pole.

First thing I always did with my TC rigs was to swap out the front sight with a smaller one. I could never hold those factory ones tight enough. And did add peeps also. That was all I ever did to them. Still have my Renegade from the late 80s and its killed a variety of stuff.

Any muzzleloader will likely benefit from a good barrel scrubbing. I use a bronze brush with JB Bore paste or polishing compound. You will be surprised how much black junk you get out of the bore. Switching to cloth patches and the compound and then patches with alcohol complete the task. My final step is to clean with hot water and while barrel is still warm treat it with 1000+ on patches. An hour or so in time has always lead to better groups for me.

No issues w misfires, I just like the musket caps as they are larger and easier to get a handle on, especially in cold ass temps.

A good thing to try w shallow rifling is a .535 ball and .015 or .018 patches. Snug the fit up a bit but not too much.

#11 caps fit in my speed loaders and are quick and easy to apply on the nipple from them. Don't know if they make similar for musket caps or not but since performance with #11's has always been good I've had no reason to look.

The musket caps are easier to handle, and won’t get lost in a shirt pocket. They also are just a good option to have, needing only a nipple swap, in times like these. Before I sold my last TC, I had nipples for both and a 209 adapter, JIC. My Knight will accept all three with the right parts too, at need. Now, with a musket, a .36 single-shot pistol, and a couple of inlines, I need all three on hand.

Why would I put caps in my shirt pocket ? They go directly from the can into my speed loaders before I leave home to go hunting. I don't find them at all difficult to load into the speed loaders.

I just keep em in the tin, carry it w me in my little pouch that has 2 or 3 speedloaders in it.

Different strokes for different folks.

I will give the 90 gr. a try, however, I have done quite well with 50 gr. of 3F and 2F . I have gone to 60 & 70 gr. and saw no difference. I hear 80 gr. is standard.

Seems like 90-100 grains of powder is a standard hunting load. I hope to find a bullet that shoots good in that range.

250gr. XTP.

I have a TC Hawken in .54 . I shot patched roundball and lead Powerbelts with it, and eventually settled on the cast bullets using the Lee R.E.A.L 300 grain.

Normally I used FFg black for round ball and 90 grains of 777 for the cast bullets.

I forgot about the R.E.A.L.!

Hello Tom, the 1 in 48 twist can shoot ball or bullet as good as any providing you stay in the neighborhood of around 90 gr. of powder. I've been in shoots when 1 in 48's shot 1/2" groups at 50yds consistently. Develop a good loading technique / ball and patch combo and you'll be very happy. In my 54's I use a .530 ball with a .015 lubed patch also use a range rod with a bore guide save your ram rod for the field. Hope this helps.

The issue is not the twist rate in the TC rifle. Many old guns, now 180 to 240 years old had "a turn in 4 feet" twist. I have made many barrels that were one-holers" with a 1-48 twist.

The issue with the TC barrels is that they are rifled to take bullet and not specifically made to take the cloth of a patch. The rifling in them is about .004" deep. A barrel cut just for a cloth patch is from .008 to .014 deep. and the very best 'ball rifling" is made with lands that are narrow enough to grab and leaves the grooves more open, to load easier and collect less fouling. Enfield rifling like what TC used was made from the inception to engage metal to metal, steel to lead or steel to copper.

But loaded with a patch and ball combination that holds into the somewhat shallow riffling of the TC barrels, they can be super accurate. You just have to do some load work. That's all. In every case I have seen in 50 years of making and using muzzleloaders the patch is the issue. You can use .530" or .535" balls and do well, but you NEED to get a patch that fits both barrel and ball. Once you do that, the TC Hawken is as accurate an any muzzleloader made.

I have two TC .54 cal muzzle loaders. One's a Renegade and the other a New Englander Carbine. Both love Hornady .535 round balls wrapped with a .015" greased (w/bore butter), and either 85gr Goex 3f or 110gr Goex 2f, depending on how much punch I want. Both charge weights are capable of shooting within 2" @ 100 yards.

I've been looking at Olde Eynesford BP from Powder, Inc since my stash of Goex is about gone and I'd like to shoot the same brand in my muzzleloaders and my Sharps.

BTW, I have killed two Black Bears with my New Englander, both with the old 435gr Buffalo bullets which are very similar to the LEE R.E.A.L. bullets.

Best wishes with your new acquisition!

Ed

Love the way the 54 sounds with ffg black powder ..

I have a Lyman Deerstalker 54 cal with a beautiful walnut stock that shoots Hornadys 530 RB into tight groups @ 80yds, it's is impressive.
I used to use pyrodex at 90grs 10yrs ago when I shot it last. I don't use it no more, it's a damn shame too. Octagon barrel adjustable Lyman sights.
It don't do to bad with plastic & 45cal bullets, but I always used a ball and #11's, never failed to fire. It even works good with 777 @ 80grs.

I have that rifle in .50 and it shoots just fine. As accurate as you need to be. And using the round ball it kills deer real good. Wild hogs too.

I hope to take a deer or two with it this fall!

^^^^listen to this guy^^^^