Laods for .45 TC Hawken

[jaybe]

This post is for a friend who has an older TC Hawken in .45 cal. He's looking for info on good loads and projectiles for Whitetail Deer. Shots will probably be under 100 yards.
What has worked well for you that I can recommend to him?

Thanx.

IM jaybe

 

[n8dawg6]

i would go w/ maxi-ball style bullets, which usually weigh about 240 grains in .45 caliber. either the t/c maxi-ball/maxi-hunter or if he casts some of the lee REAL's. not sure if buffalo makes bullets in that caliber or not.

option two is to try some mmp sabots w/ 200 grain xtp's. that might work in the 1-48" twist, then again might not work so weel. i havent tried sabots in my renegade or grehawk, so im not sure.

w/ either of these loads i'd start w/ around 90 grain ffg blackpowder or pyrodex and work up and down till he finds the right load. 90 grains has always given me the best results in my renegade. you might prefer fffg, itll give a little better velocity (and higher pressure and a little less fouling).

you can use a roundball, but i wouldnt use it past about 50 yds. those .440 roundballs only weigh about 130 grains.

im sure cayuga will have some good loads for ya as well.

 

[cayuga]

I do not shoot a .45 caliber Hawkins rifle. But the T/C Hawkins has a 1-48 twist so it should shoot roundball and conicals both real well. The important thing is to find which one it likes.

If I had the rifle I would start with a patched roundball and 50 grains of 3F powder and start to shoot a .440 roundball and .018 patch. I would shoot for groups and keep increasing the charge up to about 100 grains but no more. Actually the T/C manual says they are good to about 110 grains of powder. I think they will tune in around 75-80 grains.

I would also try some maxi ball with the rifle. I would be sure to shoot a wad under them to make a more even pressure. Again, I would start them at 50 grains and work my way up. I think they would tune in around 80 grains as well. All rifles are different of course.

The .45 caliber traditional rifle a the smallest I would go for deer, but they are more then able to take deer out to some respectable distances with proper shot placement.

The reason you want to shoot 3f powder is because of the smaller bore, fowling can become a problem so you have to burn the fastest cleanest powder possible. 3f is a better grade for the smaller caliber rifle...

 

[jaybe]

Would that be 3f with any type (black, Pyro, T7, etc)?
Thanks for the good advice.

IM jaybe

 

[cayuga]

In .45 caliber people normally always shoot a 3f grade powder. No matter what kind of powder. I think in Triple Se7en you could get away with the 2f grade as that is a fine grade to start with. But if shooting Goex, Pyrodex, APP or Pinnacle I would go with the 3f grade. Actually I think the Pinnacle 3f powder would shoot good with roundball out of the rifle since it burns clean and leaves little to no fowling. On the otherhand the best all around powder for most traditional rifles I still find is Goex.

 

[n8dawg6]

the goex website actually recommends 2F blackpowder for the .45 caliber:

http://www.goexpowder.com/load-chart.html

those are probably some good loads to start with. however, having personally used 3F powder even in .58 caliber rifles, i think you should definitely give it a try.

 

[cayuga]

I see that Goex also recommends 2f for their 40 caliber rifles as well. The old rule of thumb (that no one really pays attention to much anymore) is .50 caliber and larger use the 2f and .50 caliber and under use the 3f.

I've shot 3f a lot in my rifles all the way up to .62 caliber. I will say that some of the large bores like my .58 caliber and two of my .54 calibers get better accuracy with 2f powder then 3f powder. All you can do is try them.

 

[richdeerht]

My first flintlock was a TC .45 Hawken. It was very accurate with 240 gr Maxi balls ans 90 or 95 gr of Goex 3f. Like 3" 3-shot groups at 100 yards. I sold it when PA originally mandated patched round balls only.