gandilamont

I want to purchase a traditional black powder rifle for hunting in Oregon. I am looking @ one in the pawn shop. It says Hawkins 54 cal. 1 in 48 twist. Can you shoot balls as well as conicals with this gun? Also there is some rust in the barrel and around the hammer. I would like to re-blue it but will the rust be a problem? It is for sale for $200.00. Is that a fair price? It has a real nice wallnut stock which really caught my eye.

sabotloader

gandilamont

My first reaction - to much money

1-48 should be able to shoot PRB's as well as conicals

Check this one???

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1544734

cayugad

The first thing I worry when some one says there is a little rust in the barrel and around the nipple is, the rifle was not cared for properly. Also how damaged is the barrel because of the rusting. I think $200.00 might be a little high, it depends on how bad you want the rifle.

Also you said it is a "Hawkins" rifle. That is a general term for a style of rifle. Whether the rifle is worth $200.00 would also depend on the make of the rifle. Thompson Center, Lyman, Pedersolli, Traditions, CVA, who makes the rifle?

Have you looked on the gun auction sites? I picked up a .54 caliber Thompson Center Renegade in perfect condition for $150.00 and a Hawkins .50 caliber for $175 which I think had never been fired to be honest. There are lots of good deals out there if you watch for them.

eldeguello

"Also there is some rust in the barrel and around the hammer. I would like to re-blue it but will the rust be a problem?"

A 1/48 twist is a compromise, but with the right powder charge a 1/48" will shoot PRB and bore-size conicals as well. However, IF there is rust in the bore, forget it! Pitting makes it very difficult to get decent accuracy with soft lead projectiles or patched balls!

Find yourself a rifle that has a smooth, shiny bore.

gandilamont

Thanks, I think I will avoid that rifle. What twist would you guys reccomend? This will be just for deer. Can you use balls to kill deer?

cayugad

First off, I would still get the .54 caliber rifle. When shooting roundball the .54 caliber will out perform the .50 caliber at longer ranges, the ball is 33% bigger, bigger means more thump down range, and I find the .54 caliber roundball is a deadly deer combination out to 100 yards and more.

The longest I had to shoot was 80 yards with a .54 caliber roundball. It had enough powder at that distance to kill the deer I was aiming at in it's tracks, pass through that deer and hit a second deer which made the mistake of sneaking up behind it (I never saw it) in the spine, and took a chunk out of that deer's spine, knocking it to the ground. I had to tags to fill that day, so it was a fast day of hunting you might say. (A long day of dragging..[:@])

As for what twist, if you think there is a chance you want to hunt with conical and even sabots, then the 1-48 is the twist to get. Get a Thompson Center rifle and you are all set. I would suggest a T/CHawkins or Renegade. You can get the larger .54 calibers from Fox Ridge Outfitters (personally I would go with the .58 caliber.. ) they can also be found on the gun auction sites for some very reasonable prices from time to time.

The roundball in the larger bore will work on even bear and elk if you can place it right. If all you wanted to shoot was roundball, for deer and targets then I would suggest a Lyman Great Plains Rifle with a 1-60 twist. They are a real roundball shooter. Or get an Older T/C Renegade .54 caliber and down the road purchase a Green Mountian IBO barrel in .58 caliber that will drop right in there. Now you have the best roundball shooting rifle I have ever owned.

I am not going to say that the .50 caliber will not do the job, because without a doubt it will. All I am saying is I think the .54 caliber in tradition rifles is and always will be a better choice when hunting deer and larger game...

gandilamont

Hey cayugad,
I just looked @ those graet plains @ the Sportsmans warehouse. Those are nice. They are 379.00. How many grains do you use to shoot round balls reliably?

cayugad

When I hunt with a .54 caliberroundball twist rifle, like 1-60 or slower, I load them 90-110 grains of Goex 2f powder, a moose milk patch and a roundball. With the slow twist in them, it seems you can really put the horse to them. The same even my 1-48 twist rifles. With 90 grains of powder under them, that ball is really moving. It has a lot of energy and all you need do is put that in the right place. If you want to plink, you can load them down to 50 grains of powder and they are usually accurate with that (which by the way would still kill a deer).

Something else to keep in mind is if you were to get a Great Plains Rifle with a 1-60 twist for shooting roundball, you can also purchase a Great Plains Hunter barrel only with a 1-32 twist for shooting large conicals like the 385, & 410 grain Great Plains Conicals if you really want to shoot some long distance and still inflict a world of hurt on something. The barrel are not all that expensive and they just switch out...

Mount a Lyman 57 SME(T)peep sight on them and you might surprise yourself at the degree of accuracy you will get. I have a Renegade with a T/C Huntingpeep sight and I once shot a 2" three shot group at 100 yards with it. For me and my eyes, that is real good. Normally I hold 4" and under.

Underclocked

You might want to check what KTP has http://www.ktpguns.com/interior.php/pid/28/gid/1384

You can do a search there on the left side of the page to see what else might interest you.