Bushfire's Hawken Thread

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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?

You will be fine :lewis: The Flush nipple is simply to make it easier, and less chance of getting Anything on your Stock.

I hear of guy’s using Carb, and Brake Cleaner, They remove the Nipple, Keep the Muzzle pointed down, Point the Nozzle in the the Hole and BLAST it, Flushing the Oil out. I have never used these myself, But imagine it would be fine? Again, you are looking for Something to Cut/Clean the Oil out. I prefer Isopropyl Alcohol
 
Had no issues with hangfires after my first session, so thanks for the advice Lewis!

I was a bit tooey about shooting, I had some concerns about the recoil from the toe of the butt. The set trigger was lighter than I anticipated meaning that my first shot went off a couple inches below the target before I had even got it shouldered correctly. Despite this it is an absolute delight to shoot. 90 grains volume weighed at 84 grains with a .535 ball and 0.015 olive oiled patch got about a bit under 2 1/2" groups at 55 yards. I'll play around further to tighten it up but when I moved back to 100 yards I hit the target in the kill zone every shot.

I'm new to sidelocks but not black powder, yet I experienced my first dry ball today. Thankfully getting it out wasn't too big an issue with the ball puller.
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I found some patches but not really sure what I'm looking for here? The bottom two were the worst I found.
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Looks like you tore up your puller.
If you have a next time, unscrew the nipple and pack the drum up with powder. Replace nipple, cap and fire. That will launch the ball right out.
Your patches look ok, a little frayed on the edges. Sharp rifling maybe?
 
Looks like you tore up your puller.
If you have a next time, unscrew the nipple and pack the drum up with powder. Replace nipple, cap and fire. That will launch the ball right out.
Your patches look ok, a little frayed on the edges. Sharp rifling maybe?

Yeah I didn't screw it in far enough and yanked it straight out first time, got it second go. Hopefully don't make a habit of it anyway.

Yes the rifling does seem to be sharp I guess, I notice it being frayed a little when using the short starter.
 
Yeah I didn't screw it in far enough and yanked it straight out first time, got it second go. Hopefully don't make a habit of it anyway.

Yes the rifling does seem to be sharp I guess, I notice it being frayed a little when using the short starter.
Recovered patches from my 45 look the same. It's a newish barrel with less than 50 shots through it.
There are methods to dull the sharpness. Polishing the barrel, etc.
 
This is my Tennessee rifle. With the curved butt it kinda hurts my shoulder after 8 or 10 shots.
My working load is 80 grains of 3f under the patched ball.
If I can get some more leather, I want to wrap the butt a bit better. 20200430_163607.jpg
 
Recovered patches from my 45 look the same. It's a newish barrel with less than 50 shots through it.
There are methods to dull the sharpness. Polishing the barrel, etc.
Lewis did a write-up on the subject a while ago. Also sometimes a wad of wool under the prb will help with cutting patches... y’all got any woolly boogers in your part of the world? :think:
 
After the long wait my Missouri River finally arrived, I have now found a reasonable load of 120 gr FFG and 250 gr Hornady Monoflex. Getting groups around 2" at 50 yards. I'm happy enough with that using the factory sights and for the short term, providing my buffalo hunt doesn't get covid postponed again I won't need the ability to shoot further.

My Lee Shaver globe sight that I bought 2 months ago still hasn't arrived, called Lee and he wasn't concerned so I'm still holding out for that. Also have my peep but will need to have the tang drilled and tapped. At that point I'll work on a better load.

Anywho, here she is.

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I think that's called Tiger maple.
Don't know if it originates from the U.S. ?
Some people call it Tiger Maple, I call it Fiddleback maple or Flame Maple. It’s a grain variation that shows up in most species of maple. In the denser species it’s a really great stock wood, but much heavier than walnut.

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It took nearly 2 months to the day after ordering hut my lee shaver sight is finally here. Unfortunately it's only two weeks until my buffalo hunt and I won't have a chance to re sight the Missouri in before then so it won't be coming with me.

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It took nearly 2 months to the day after ordering hut my lee shaver sight is finally here. Unfortunately it's only two weeks until my buffalo hunt and I won't have a chance to re sight the Missouri in before then so it won't be coming with me.

View attachment 15612
They are a great sight ,worth the wait !! /Ed
 
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