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Cabelas Hawken.
chris_ce
Member Posts: 1,608 ✭✭✭✭✭
Just traded for a cabelas Hawken in 50 cal I basicly gave $100 for it. Looks great and I really like it. Where can I find info about it like an online manual?
If no manual is available how much powder can I put in it? Also has anyone ever shot the powerbelts from something like this?
If no manual is available how much powder can I put in it? Also has anyone ever shot the powerbelts from something like this?
Comments
90 grains of powder is usually enough, though I hear of those who load up to 150 grains. I wouldn't, waste of powder and changes the trajectory etc.
Unless you're a diehard traditionalist use the triple 7 powder. It will give a cleaner burn reducing the need to swab the barrel as much. Otherwise plan on swabbing the barrel every second or third time you get a shot off with Blackpowder.
I have also heard about the new inline magnums that can take upto 150 grains. A guy I know swears by his says it's good out to 200 yards.
These guns have slow twist rifling with relatively deep grooves... that means patched round balls or very short conicals (like the Hornady PA Conical or Buffalo Ballette). Yes, heavy conicals and saboted projectiles will go down the barrel, but accuracy will generally be lackluster and the bullet is likely to tumble due to the lack of stabilization. Also, plastic and powder fouling will accumulate more rapidly due to the deeper grooves.
The sidelock design will not work with pelletized powder without first putting some loose powder down the bore and then seating the pellet on top of that. Why? The pellets have a central flash hole and are intended for central fire (inline) ignition systems. If you use them in your gun, you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment and boucoup misfires. Also, Pyrodex is the worst sub for corrosion...it is flat nasty. Real BP is very easy to clean up and once your gun has been "broken in" (about 200 rounds usually does it) and assuming you are using a good patch lube, you should be able to shoot for a whole day without having to swab between shots or strings. I just shot 60 rounds the other day without swabbing and my last five-shot group was under 3 inches at 100 yards.
Real BP is the best thing for these guns. If you can't find it nearby, just get it from Graf and Sons. They have only a four pound minimum order, free shipping, and very reasonable prices. (Of course, no matter how much you buy, the $20 HazMat fee applies.) Either Goex 3f or the Graf brand 3f should fill the bill just fine. I also recommend using Hoppe's #9 Plus BP solvent and patch lube. It is quite good and reasonably priced.
As for how much powder, do yourself a favor and don't exceed 90 grains. It is completely unnecessary and counterproductive. It is also dangerous. Don't let anyone tell you that "you can't overload a muzzleloader"...lab tests have shown pressures over 100,000 psi with BP. If you can't get it done with 90 grains of 3f under a patched round ball or Ballette, it likely can't be done. Most target shooters run 40 to 50 grains. Don't drop below 35 grains because your gun has a "patent breech". This is a depression in the breech (on the inside) which must be filled up completely to ensure there is no air space between powder and ball. Air space between black powder or subs and the projectile basically turns the firearm barrel into a potential pipe bomb.
Sorry for the length of this post, but I hope some of this info is helpful.
[:D]
Sig232
Your Cabela's Hawken is probably a 1:48 twist barrel, made more for round ball and maxi balls. Also, being a sidelock, excess pressure can find its way out through the nipple.
Old timers would load gradually up, firing over fresh snow until they saw black spots on the snow. There they had reached the optimum load. I suspect that your Hawken will handle less than 120 gr before you waste powder.
Inlines are different. Like cartridge guns they do not loose pressure until the ball leaves the muzzle. Higher friction rates of ball act to increase pressures and they have more potential to fail.
Before I get flamed here, this post is not a recommendation to load your Hawken until it becomes a giant derringer/flame thrower. It is merely an attempt to explain the dynamics that occur when the charge is ignited. Like a boat and short of some real fine tuning, you will only get a limited velocity from your projectile given a constant bullet weight. 100 gr is pushing the limits but in terms of efficiency, not safety. I have been on ranges where a double charge of powder was loaded and touched off without any more recoil, accuracy or hazard to the handler.
Also, for best accuracy, sttart with a patched round ball before conicals. With a slow twist, round balls are uncannily accurate and not as sensitive to charge as are conicals. Read my Cliff Jackson post, his bench rifles would cut the x ring out consistently, sub MOA accuracy. That was with a longer barrel and 60:1 twist, if memory serves. That with 70 - 80 gr charges.
I can only find pyrodex around here. No one carries anything else except for the pellets.
I have also heard about the new inline magnums that can take upto 150 grains. A guy I know swears by his says it's good out to 200 yards.
An American marksman killed a British officer at over 300 yards with a patched round ball in the battle of Saratoga. 1770's
And not to step on any toes, but regarding the claim that you can load a muzzleloader to the crown and not worry...labaratory tests going back to the 19th century have shown pressures exceeeding 100,000 psi with overcharges of black powder (NOT multiple projectiles, either...just overcharges of BP), so that is a dangerous fallacy. I've personally witnessed a bulged barrel from 160 grains of BP under a single patched round ball. Another old wive's tale is that shooting over snow will show when a fully combusting load has been reached. It has been shown by scientific testing that it just doesn't work.
A wise investment for anyone interested in muzzleloading would be the Lyman Black Powder Handbook & Loading Manual. It dispels many of the common misconceptions and untruths about muzzleloading that seem to get passed around. It can keep you from blowing up your gun, yourself, or someone else.
[:D]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873495748/ref=nosim/002-2676720-6808040?n=283155
I can only find pyrodex around here. No one carries anything else except for the pellets.
I have also heard about the new inline magnums that can take upto 150 grains. A guy I know swears by his says it's good out to 200 yards.
I shoot a winchester x-150 and its good for the 150 mag load. Ive had it sighted in for 200 yards and it shoots great at that yardage. i dropped 2 mule deer does from 146 and 148 yards last year. It takes lots of practice!