Blown Smoke

Cayugad,
I used the bore light suggestion, (357mag casing in my 45 cal).
And it lit up like a new coin in there. The bore had a mirror gloss
shineall the way down. There was a small amount of pitting at
the top of the muzzle to a depth of about 2" to 2 1/4", but the
rifling looked good all the way. I'm hoping it's the powder now.
Our local wally-world only has Hogdon 777 left on the shelf. I've
seen alot of post about the "crud ring" with 777. Do you have to
swabafter every shot with this powder to avoid this? What load
are you using on the squirrels in the 54? Just curious. I have two
54's, one TC Hawken and a Cabelas Hawken.

Roundball,
I think you deserve the bright bore credit. I used your cleaning recipe last
night, and worked on it for an hour and a half scrubbing, scalding and
soaking. I had to substitute some of the ingredients as I didn't have them
on hand. But I intend to get them for future needs. I was amazed to see
how nice and clean the bore turned out. I see no reason the barrel would
be an accuracy problem now. I'm going to take it out to the firing line within
a few days and pop her off and see what happens.
I agree a 100% on the actual practice simulations.
I will have to say though, if you and I were in a tennis match you would
have to serve. Because theirs no way I could hit the ball at 50yrds right
now. The net maybe but not the ball. (LOL)

I am most greatfull to you guys for your help. And I'll post back shortly
with my results.

cayugad

Normally I shoot 90 grains of Goex 2f and a patched roundball in my .54 caliber Renegade with excellent results. Today I was shooting some 310 grain Buffalo Bullet Ball-ets with 85 grains of Goex 2f. I shot some 405 grain Powerbelts first with 100 grains and the blue marks show where they hit. Once I saw where the ball-ets were hitting, the rest was easy. I missed the squirrel today but the other days I was hitting them with my .50 caliber Hawkins and they never stood a chance.




I'm glad it all is working for you and that cheap bore light is a nice little trick... I'll be looking for your results.

Blown Smoke

Update,
Guys, I believemy powder was the biggest part of my problem all along
now. I picked up a fresh can of Hogdon 777 ffg last night. Today I took
it out to the firing line. And at 50yrds it shot within 4" groups constantly
and stayed within the 8" dia black circle just above the bullseye on a 100
yard smallbore target. Funniest thing happened though, on one of my
loads my ball starter kinda wobbled and deformed the hollow point on the
conical. It was the only shot that cut through the quarter sized bullseye.
There were no strays, flyer's etc...Istarted out with 60grs and worked
my way up to 75grs of powder. I was shooting both Maxie-Balls 240gr and
and Hornady 285gr HP. I think I can play with someloads and tighten the
groups up now. "Hopefully"

The old PyrodexRSpowder,
The reason I didn't give the powder much thought before is, I was on
Hogdon's website reading the FAQs. There was a statement on there
about aged powder. I think they were referring to Pyrodex, but it may
have beenpowder in general. They said if it didn't have a strong odor
and wasn't rusty or reddish in color, it should be fine.Going by this I
assumed mine was ok. It shot as good as ever with no mis-fires or
hesitation in the shot. But apparently it does lose it's spunk over time
regardless.

Cayugad,
With the grouping in the pic, I'm saying your squirrel problems should be
over real soon. (Nice shoot'n) When I get my 45 tuned in, I'm going to
take out my 54s and play with them some. Now that I've changed powder
I'll have to work up a new load for them aswell.

Many Thanks!
B. Smoke

sproulman

t/c hawkins .50 cal barrels will not stablize the smaller length bullets.many are using new MAXI-HUNTER BULLETS. dont use them.go with the longer MAXI-BALL in the 370 grain .i like 80 grains of 2f.