Bushfire's Hawken Thread

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Bushfire

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So the first half of my brace of Pedersoli Hawken rifles arrived today.

Pedersoli Rocky Mountain .54 cal
20210515_131144.jpg

I picked up this one third or fourth hand off a used gun site for $1000. Bear in mind they retail new for $2400 here, so I was happy. Also came with 80 .535 balls, range rod and pedersoli .535 twin round ball mould.

The gun has a few knicks on the barrel and stock but given that its going to be a hunting rifle I'm not phased at all by it. I'll use it for a little deer stalking here and there, fox hunting and not much else.

Despite the plain walnut stock it really is a pretty rifle, I really love the aesthetics and balance of the rifle and with the Lyman GPR sight (not the SML I was expecting) target acquisition is very good. By target acquisition I mean taking aim at the sheep 100 yards behind my house, you do what you can.

20210515_131213.jpg

My wife works weekends so I'm watching the boys at the moment, haven't had a chance to give it a clean and check the barrel but the guy I bought it from assured me it's in good nick.

Only problem I'm noticing is around the butt. It looks like someone has tried to grind off the bottom and in the process made it quite sharp. As Lew has said before, you could skin a deer with it. The BACO rifle butt tamer I bought doesn't match the shape of the butt meaning the bottom of the butt sticks out through the pad. In this way it doesn't do a hell of a lot at all. Open to any and all idea on how to improve this?

Overall impression so far is I'm very happy, the guy before me had it shooting 3" groups at 55 yds with 80gr FFG, a .535 ball and 0.010 patches. Hoping tighter patches and maybe a hotter load might tighten it. If i can have it as a 100 yard deer gun I'll be happy.

It's really just the entree, I'm very excited for the maple wood Missouri River to turn up next month.
 
Lewis would be better to chime in here, but I’d either modify the stock or find a piece of leather and redo that. If you modified the stock to fit the leather cover, you’ll have to refit a new steel piece to fit the butt of the stock. Shouldn’t be too difficult with a grinder, a torch, a vise, and some patience. Personally I would cringe at cutting the stock off, and would try and fashion a new piece of leather to fit it.
i really think I would probably just shoot it without anything on the butt.
 
AWESOME on the New Rifle My Friend!! :lewis:

The Lyman GPR and the SML are the Same sight.

Here is a Lyman GPR Sight, The ONLY difference is the GPR comes with this Wedge/Shim and they Call it a GPR, If you throw the Shim away you have an SML :) The Sights themselves are identical
K1QaQxj.jpg
 
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The shape of the Pedersoli Buttstock (The “Toe”) Is longer, I have never handled or tried to fit a Lace up on a Pedrsersoli? I had a Lyman Great Plains Rifle that looked quite Similar to the Pedersoli, i was able to make it work :lewis: I had to Take the Sharp edges off the Steel as it was KNIFE Sharp for whatever reason? I filled the U “Crescent Butt Plate“ with a Filler (Memory Foam) Then Slipped the Pad over it. Your Pedersoli looks like it has a Longer “Toe” You might have to do some Extra tinkering to get it to Fit

This was my Lyman Great Plains
ecnjtar.jpg
 
Lewis would be better to chime in here, but I’d either modify the stock or find a piece of leather and redo that. If you modified the stock to fit the leather cover, you’ll have to refit a new steel piece to fit the butt of the stock. Shouldn’t be too difficult with a grinder, a torch, a vise, and some patience. Personally I would cringe at cutting the stock off, and would try and fashion a new piece of leather to fit it.
i really think I would probably just shoot it without anything on the butt.

When i first bought my Lyman Great Plains Rifle i took it out to my Dad’s and Shot it, My Dad didn’t mind the Crescent Butt Plate, He told me he wouldn’t change anything about it if it was his. On the other hand, I didn’t like it at all, I feared getting Cut by it, My Lyman GPR was also the .54 Cal Fast Twist Version, I had BIG Heavy Bullets in mind, I knew recoil was GONNA be an issue, The first thing i did was grind off the RIDICULOUSLY Sharp edges of the Metal, Filled the U Shape of the Crescent Butt good & snug with Memory Foam, and installed the Leather Lace up Pad. Bushfire’s Pedersoli Buttstock appears to have a longer “Toe“ Than my Old Lyman had
 

I keep looking, i bet you can make it work, Fill the U shape up with a “Filler“ like Memory Foam, If you have any leather preservative that will Soften the leather a bit? I would treat the Pad Good with it, Slip the Pad over the Butt, and Simply allow the “Toe” to Protrude through, You might have to Skip a Lace hole to allow more room for the “Butt Stock Toe” to Stick through? Just tinker around with it, you will get it! :lewis:
 
It looks like it could hurt if you don't have it solid into your shoulder at the shot.
Shouldn't be too difficult to wrap it in leather like in Lew's photo.
 
@Idaholewis saw your 54 roundball vid from a while back and noticed you still had 1100 fps at 100 yards. Would that be enough energy and bullet performance for a clean kill at that range?
 
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How much energy is retained at the 100 yards using that ball and how large is your game? For an average whitetailed deer 1000 pds of retained energy is sort of looked at as the amount needed for a clean kill, but then much will depend on shot placement too. If you're talking a 500 pound animal, then I would say no. A 120 to 150 pound animal with a decent hit, perhaps. The longest roundball hit on a whitetail using a .54 was at 70 yards. The shot was in the boiler room and no bones, yet the deer went almost 60 yards after the hit. Bled well but still went 60 yards and I did get the ball back from just under the hide.

There has been tons of very large game killed with roundballs [elk, moose, bear], but I will argue about the clean killing ability of a .54 cal roundball so I am not going to minimize their effectiveness IF the distance the shot is taken reflects the size of the animal. Meaning the bigger the animal the closer the shot for an ethical kill.
 
@Idaholewis one more quick question, I followed your method of giving the bore a good coating of oil to the point it's all through the patent breech etc. I didn't catch the part on how you clean it out to ensure no hang fires, what's your method there?
 
How much energy is retained at the 100 yards using that ball and how large is your game? For an average whitetailed deer 1000 pds of retained energy is sort of looked at as the amount needed for a clean kill, but then much will depend on shot placement too. If you're talking a 500 pound animal, then I would say no. A 120 to 150 pound animal with a decent hit, perhaps. The longest roundball hit on a whitetail using a .54 was at 70 yards. The shot was in the boiler room and no bones, yet the deer went almost 60 yards after the hit. Bled well but still went 60 yards and I did get the ball back from just under the hide.

There has been tons of very large game killed with roundballs [elk, moose, bear], but I will argue about the clean killing ability of a .54 cal roundball so I am not going to minimize their effectiveness IF the distance the shot is taken reflects the size of the animal. Meaning the bigger the animal the closer the shot for an ethical kill.

Thanks for the reply, I guess I need to settle on a load first to figure out my limitations.

I always consider a deer that runs 60m a pretty good result. I've had them run further after being shot through heart or lungs with a magnum.
 
@Idaholewis saw your 54 roundball vid from a while back and noticed you still had 1100 fps at 100 yards. Would that be enough energy and bullet performance for a clean kill at that range?

ABSOLUTELY!! 100 Yards would be my MAX.

The .54 Cal throws a Serious Roundball :lewis: As with any Projectile when Hunting, Shot Placement is KING. Put the Ball through the Games “Living Room” and he can’t continue to live, He has no choice but to Die, Simple as that :lewis:
 
@Idaholewis one more quick question, I followed your method of giving the bore a good coating of oil to the point it's all through the patent breech etc. I didn't catch the part on how you clean it out to ensure no hang fires, what's your method there?

For a Rifle that i am preparing to Hunt with, This is my method. A Magspark 209 is REALLY slick for this :lewis: Their is nothing like the power of a couple 209s Through the Flame Channel, Patented Breech of a Sidelock ML, the 209s leave a SLICK Black soot Coating on the interior metal, Allowing the powder charge to Flow through like Butter, and settle good under the Nipple where it belongs :lewis:
 
@Idaholewis saw your 54 roundball vid from a while back and noticed you still had 1100 fps at 100 yards. Would that be enough energy and bullet performance for a clean kill at that range?
I’m obviously not Lewis from my experience with .54 round ball on elk I would say yes... you should be fine on red deer sized critters.
 
For a Rifle that i am preparing to Hunt with, This is my method. A Magspark 209 is REALLY slick for this :lewis: Their is nothing like the power of a couple 209s Through the Flame Channel, Patented Breech of a Sidelock ML, the 209s leave a SLICK Black soot Coating on the interior metal, Allowing the powder charge to Flow through like Butter, and settle good under the Nipple where it belongs :lewis:


Without the air compressor and using #11s do I just need more caps?

I'll be working on a load and possibly going for a hunt this weekend coming. Missus is letting me camp out Saturday night so I have time up my sleeve for once!
 
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Swab your Bore really well first.

With muzzle down flush the Fire Channel/Patented Breech out with High Content Isopropyl Alcohol, You just need something that will Cut the oil :lewis: Now Swab the Bore again with another 2 or 3 Dry patches.

I advise purchasing a “Flush Nipple” Kit, or make your own by Drilling out a Nipple and using a piece of tubing, get a Small O-ring to Seal. I have 2 Different Store Bought ones, I prefer this one
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/66/1/FLUSH-RST
oVxCeYZ.jpg


I have one of these RMC‘s as well, they don’t come with the Little Sealing O-ring, and that is important, Without the O-ring you can get some leaking around the nipple Base (Especially so if using these to Clean, Push pull in Water)
https://rmcoxyoke.com/product/ox-yoke-muzzleloaders-black-out-flush-cleaning-system/
MxjHKz1.jpg
 
Without the air compressor and using #11s do I just need more caps?

I'll be working on a load and possibly going for a hunt this weekend coming. Missus is letting me camp out Saturday night so I have time up my sleeve for once!

I am not familiar with Pedersoli’s Fire Channel, patented Breech system? Without seeing one i can only assume? I have a pretty good feeling they will be similiar to the Green Mountain Style Breech Plugs, If so, Wrap a Dry clean Patch around a .30-32 Cal Bore Brush, Gently run down and Push this Patched Brush inside the Powder Chamber (Patented Breech) and simply Turn it.

Here you can see a Crude Drawing i did of the GM Plugs VS TC, The Stock TC Barrels have the ODD Shaped Patented Breech & Fire Channel, Breech Plugs
Cf1Uptt.jpg


Green Mountain, Here you can see an Actual Plug, Now imagine the .30-32 Cal Bore Brush Wrapped with a Dry/Clean Patch, Pushed inside here and Simply turn it :lewis:
6qP2X8Q.jpg


And the TC
EJcSAzp.jpg
 
I am not familiar with Pedersoli’s Fire Channel, patented Breech system? Without seeing one i can only assume? I have a pretty good feeling they will be similiar to the Green Mountain Style Breech Plugs, If so, Wrap a Dry clean Patch around a .30-32 Cal Bore Brush, Gently run down and Push this Patched Brush inside the Powder Chamber (Patented Breech) and simply Turn it.

Here you can see a Crude Drawing i did of the GM Plugs VS TC, The Stock TC Barrels have the ODD Shaped Patented Breech & Fire Channel, Breech Plugs
Cf1Uptt.jpg


Green Mountain, Here you can see an Actual Plug, Now imagine the .30-32 Cal Bore Brush Wrapped with a Dry/Clean Patch, Pushed inside here and Simply turn it :lewis:
6qP2X8Q.jpg


And the TC
EJcSAzp.jpg

I'm pretty sure it's more like the TC, I think i read somewhere most Italian muzzleloaders are like that. The guy I bought it from did say it was a classic patented breech so I assume that's what he meant.

Anything blackpowder takes a long time to get here, so you think I'll be right just doing the swabbing, firing the caps and squirting the alcohol down there for the time being?
 

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