Howdy folks:
My first post here and thanks for having me!
When I was a teen many years ago I built a Thompson/Center .54 Hawken kit and it came out great. I fondly remember browning the barrel in the oven, sanding and finishing the stock, many hours polishing the brass pieces, and casting Maxi-Balls, etc. I shot my first muzzleloader deer with it and fondly remember many hunts in the Vermont snow with it.
It was stolen from my mother’s house many years ago and lately I find myself doing the nostalgia thing and wanting another T/C Hawken.
For medical reasons (several detached retina surgeries) it is not a good idea for me to soak up massive recoil any more. Though I still take out the single shot 10 gauge to shoot the annual Christmas goose from a low flying flock over the house. I am not perfect and occasionally yield to temptation!
Anyway, I would rather keep the recoil low and am considering getting a .45 caliber T/C Hawken rather than a .54 like I had or even a .50.
I figure I will hunt deer with it for the most part and will shoot Maxi-Balls or Maxi-Hunters out of it for that purpose and may dub around with patched balls as well at the range with it.
I do want to shoot a Maine bull moose with a muzzleloader whenever I finally draw a tag however and so I come to you experts for your opinion about whether a close (100 yards or under) broadside shot from a .45 Hawken with either Maxi or Hunter is doable for moose.
I have researched the heck out of this online and cannot find a clear answer though it seems I am perhaps pushing it a bit. Perhaps I should suck it up and get a .50 but would REALLY rather get the .45. Honestly, I only have room for one more muzzleloader so this Hawken, whatever caliber I end up getting, must do it all.
Any wisdom you care to share on this topic is greatly appreciated.
You may get a kick out of this…I just remembered something about that .54 Hawken as I was typing this up. I had made a powder measure for it out of an 8mm. Rem. Mag case and at the time, I had thought I had measured correctly and that the volume of the case was appropriate for my desired load (I was going for 80 grains if I recall correctly?) I remember it kicking the living daylights out of me with that load. I remember the pressure being so extreme that it would blow the #11 cap off the nipple and blow the hammer back to full cock! I remember that the stock cracked after a few shots from the recoil at the small of the stock and I sent it back to T/C for warranty and they replaced it with a perfect replacement stock. Great warranty!
I only later discovered that I had BADLY miscalculated my charge and that this was WAY too much powder and that I had broken the stock, and probably almost killed myself, from my mistake. Ah, the cluelessness of youth. I forget what I measured it out to be with a proper measure but it was WAY more than the 80 grains I thought it was. Anyway, just reminiscing…sure miss that gun!
Chris T.
My first post here and thanks for having me!
When I was a teen many years ago I built a Thompson/Center .54 Hawken kit and it came out great. I fondly remember browning the barrel in the oven, sanding and finishing the stock, many hours polishing the brass pieces, and casting Maxi-Balls, etc. I shot my first muzzleloader deer with it and fondly remember many hunts in the Vermont snow with it.
It was stolen from my mother’s house many years ago and lately I find myself doing the nostalgia thing and wanting another T/C Hawken.
For medical reasons (several detached retina surgeries) it is not a good idea for me to soak up massive recoil any more. Though I still take out the single shot 10 gauge to shoot the annual Christmas goose from a low flying flock over the house. I am not perfect and occasionally yield to temptation!
Anyway, I would rather keep the recoil low and am considering getting a .45 caliber T/C Hawken rather than a .54 like I had or even a .50.
I figure I will hunt deer with it for the most part and will shoot Maxi-Balls or Maxi-Hunters out of it for that purpose and may dub around with patched balls as well at the range with it.
I do want to shoot a Maine bull moose with a muzzleloader whenever I finally draw a tag however and so I come to you experts for your opinion about whether a close (100 yards or under) broadside shot from a .45 Hawken with either Maxi or Hunter is doable for moose.
I have researched the heck out of this online and cannot find a clear answer though it seems I am perhaps pushing it a bit. Perhaps I should suck it up and get a .50 but would REALLY rather get the .45. Honestly, I only have room for one more muzzleloader so this Hawken, whatever caliber I end up getting, must do it all.
Any wisdom you care to share on this topic is greatly appreciated.
You may get a kick out of this…I just remembered something about that .54 Hawken as I was typing this up. I had made a powder measure for it out of an 8mm. Rem. Mag case and at the time, I had thought I had measured correctly and that the volume of the case was appropriate for my desired load (I was going for 80 grains if I recall correctly?) I remember it kicking the living daylights out of me with that load. I remember the pressure being so extreme that it would blow the #11 cap off the nipple and blow the hammer back to full cock! I remember that the stock cracked after a few shots from the recoil at the small of the stock and I sent it back to T/C for warranty and they replaced it with a perfect replacement stock. Great warranty!
I only later discovered that I had BADLY miscalculated my charge and that this was WAY too much powder and that I had broken the stock, and probably almost killed myself, from my mistake. Ah, the cluelessness of youth. I forget what I measured it out to be with a proper measure but it was WAY more than the 80 grains I thought it was. Anyway, just reminiscing…sure miss that gun!
Chris T.