Oh MY! Calico and big lead.

[Confederate rifleman]

Took a big gulp and went to the range with Calico, my petite .50 Firehawk, and some Lyman Plains 400 grain soup cans lubed with SPG.
The charge was 70 grains of 3f Swiss and I used a pre lubed Ox Yoke .54.56 wool wad over powder.
Recoil was... noticeable. She only weighs about 6 1/2 pounds...
The Lymans went in with thumb pressure and only a wee bit of coaxing with the rammer got it on powder.
Fouling was light on this very humid day. Swabbing between shot showed not a hint of lead. Nothing! Not a flake!
All that's very nice, but how'd they group?
Can NOT stop grinning!
First 3, at 50 yards, 3/4 inch
Next 3, 3/4 inch.
Last 4, 1 & 1/4. Lady next to me fired a split second before me.
3 of those 1 &1/8. I was getting a bit punchy... Even with my P.A.S.T. strap on recoil pad.
I moved the target around a bit, so I could catch the individual groups. I think its plain to see that it would've been impossible otherwise!
So. Calico is brilliant with sabots and at first blush, equally so with full calibers.
I must say that any questions I may have had about her versatility are now laid to rest. I think this is due to her not having a QLA muzzle AND, most of all, the 1-38 twist. Absolutely superb twist rate! In my experience, vastly superior to the 1-28, in .50 caliber.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Nice shooting!

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Thank you Sir.
I was really nervous about trying these in a rifle as light as the Firehawk. I've heard, that with heavy loads, they can break stocks around the recoil lug. That would be a catastrophe to me.
This load hits only about an inch under my usual sabot load at 50. I do expect quite a bit of drop at 100... Also need to chrono her. My usual 250 grain XTP with the same powder/ charge gives 1575 fps. I get 1630 with a 230 grain and 1500 with a 300. Swiss 3f is a wonderful powder.
I am very curious as to how the big leads expand in critters. I've gotten VERY spoiled by those XTP's and their hollowpoints!

 

[Matthew323]

Full length glass bed the action and barrel. Eliminate any doubts about the possibility of recoil fracturing the stock. Free float the barrel afterwards if necessary to regain the accuracy.

Replace the factory recoil pad with a Kick-eez Magnum, 1.375" thick, grind-to-fit recoil pad. It will make a BIG DIFFERENCE in taming the recoil of those big lead bullets.

Of course, adding a scope base, rings, and a scope to the rifle will add approximately 1.5 lbs that will further tame recoil, but take away the 6.5lb featherweight status of the rifle.

 

[Saxtonyoung]

Do you own more than one Fire Hawk ? I thought you mentioned having a QLA barrel in another post.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Nope. I only have one. Can't have too many though!
Calico's original barrel was an early blued that someone ( probably TC) put a QLA in. That one was nicely done too. But the bore was horribly fouled when I bought her. Not surprisingly, there were pits. I was going to part her out, this was my plan when I bought her, if the bore was thrashed. When I went on eBay, I spotted a 24 inch stainless .50 barrel for the " Buy it now" price of $150. Yeah... CLICK!
If I've spent a better $150 I'm not aware of it.
Calico is my most accurate muzzleloader to date, and on balance, my most accurate rifle breech or front stuffed.
Really fine little .50! Would not part with her for any consideration.

 

[Saxtonyoung]

I recently picked up stainless fire hawk myself and I wanted to try some bore sized lead bullets in it , mine however has the QLA. Following some other members post it seems that the QLA barrels can be very accurate if sub bases were used with the bullet.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

A properly done QLA shouldn't hurt accuracy. The sub base, or even a wad, is generally thought a good idea to protect the base of the bullet QLA or not. The QLA also protects the true crown, which is nice. Don't know know why TC makes theirs so deep though.
Best of luck with your Firehawk!

 

[sdporter]

Nice shootin’ CR! Can’t do much better than that!

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Could've knocked me over with a feather!
But! One good day does not a trend make. Must be able to repeat it or its worth little except to say " She did it once".
If I can get good, consistent results like these, then I will try them on deer and bear. Been 16 year since I dirt napped a deer with a full caliber. It was a Lyman 575213OS out of my repop P53 Enfield.