Load for a .50 Hawkin flintlock

[Remington788]

I picked up one at an auction over the weekend. It was made or imported by Armsport.

How would one go about determining what size ball to use and what powder charge?

[john s mosby]

For a 50 cal you could start with a .490 round ball, .010 greased patch and 50 grains of black powder. That makes a good target load.
You'll have to play around some to get the best load for your rifle. You may find 45 grains with a .015 patch works better.

In most cases use the same amound of powder as the cal of the rifle. 45 cal use 45 grains, 50 cal use 50 grains and so on.

I use 3F black powder in my 50 cal rifle. 3F will also work for your priming powder.

For a hunting load you could up the powder a bit.

Check out Dixie Gun Works on line. They have lots of information on black powder guns.

Regards

JSM

[Remington788]

What is a .10 greased patch?

I assume it is a .10 inch thick piece of cotton, soaked in bacon fat or something.


Not being crass, just acknowledging my ignorance. six months ago I didnt know what a primer was. Now I load a hundred an hour. This however, is a muzzle loading flintlock, not a 9mm progressive loader.


I admit, I am a fish out of water.

[john s mosby]

No problem sir, we all started somewhere.

Muzzle loading rifles use a round ball that has to have a patch wrapped around it. To load you dump the powder in first, then place the patch over the muzzle, then place the round ball on top of the patch, then using the ram rod you push the ball down until it touches the powder.

The patch makes it possible to load the ball tight enough so it takes the rifling.
Patches come in different sizes for different cal rifles, .010, .015, .020.

Then for a flint lock you have to put a very small amount of powder in the flash pan. It requires a good flint to set the priming charge off.

All of the above is if you want to shoot your rifle the way it was meant to be shot.

Your Rifle has a set trigger so you need to pull the rear trigger until it clicks to set the front trigger.

Your best bet is to check out the Dixie Gun Works site, or better yet order their catalog. Everything you need to know you'll find in that catalog.

You'll find tons of information on line, just type in "loading a muzzle loading rifle".

Theree are other types of bullets you can use that don't require a patch.
I like doing it the old way it was meant to be.

For a flint lock be sure to use real black powder, not the fake black powder.
And never ever use smokeless powder.

Most gun shops carry everything you'll need to shoot your rifle. Cabelas has a good selection of BP stuff.

Regards.
JSM

You can use

[daschnoz]

Black powder (BP) muzzle loading is most definitely a different animal than smokeless/metallic reloading.

1. When loading BP, your powder is measured by volume, not weight.

2. Make sure that your projectile (whatever it may be) is seated all the way down on the powder charge. With BP, you do not want an air gap between the powder and the projectile. If that happens, the projectile becomes a barrel obstruction and you have a bomb. THIS IS VERY BAD!!!!

3. You're not going to see much of a difference in performance until you start to vary the charge by 5 or so grains of powder, so don't worry if you want 50gr and you only dump in 48gr.

4. Get a good quality English rock. IMHO, the synthetic stones just don't round out the look of an old school front stuffer.

5. Buy a piece of 7/16" oak dowel and put a piece of 44 brass on the end. Use this as a range rod. No sense using your nice ramrod at the range. Besides, you'll send your ramrod at the target at least once.

6. A ball starter will do you wonders. Get one.

7. You need to know when you have an empty barrel. The ramrod on my gun has a brass end cap. When the ramrod is all the way down inside an empty barrel, the line where the wood ends and the brass begins is right at the muzzle. If it bottoms out before this line is at the muzzle, I know I have a load in the pipe. If you don't have a defining line like this on your rod, make one; a good one that you don't have to look for in the low light of early morning or dusk - a sharpie marker works well. If you make a range rod, mark this line on it as well.

8. Buy a ball puller and a patch hook. Trust me - you're going to be so stoked at the range that you forget to put in the powder first at least once. These also come in handy when your powder gets too damp to ignite. (I've experienced both.)

9. Like others have already stated - use real BP. The flash point of the synthetics is much higher than that of BP so you'll have ignition issues.

10. Do not use any petroleum based cleaners or oil. Petroleum + BP = tar. Soap and water to clean, vegetable oil to lubricate.

11. Wear safety glasses when shooting it and be mindful of the flash hole. Powder and fire will flash back into the pan when the main charge ignites. You will only make the mistake of putting your support hand in the line of fire once. Also, if there are others on the range, they can get hit with flying bits of powder that exit the flash hole. Keep some space between you and the guys to your right - or better yet, grab the bench at the far right.


Check out this forum
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/fusionbb.php
There are a lot of guys here that really know their stuff. The mods are a bit fuddy-duddy about what is posted - they don't look very kindly on the modern in-lines. It's their sandbox, their rules.


http://www.trackofthewolf.com has a lot of good accessories at reasonable prices.


For my 50cal smoke pole, I run a 0.490" round ball with a 0.018" thick patch, over 80gr of 3F. I have not clocked this load. I also cast and load the LEE 320gr REAL bullet over the same charge. That load clocks in at about 1600fps out of a 29" tube.

I lube my patches with some home-brew lube. 50% bee's wax, 40% Crisco, 10% canola oil (all parts by volume). Throw it all in a double boiler, heat until the wax is totally melted, mix for a few minutes, then pour into a container that can handle it. I used those small 3"-ish round gladware snack containers. When you're ready to load, take your dry patch and run it over the surface to coat it with a thin layer of lube. This side of the patch should be placed so it will engage the barrel. The "dry" side should engage the ball.


I hope I didn't miss anything.....

[eddyb74]

I shoot 90 grains behind a patched ball in my .50 cal. T/C Hawken. Since Pa started allowing other types of ball, I started using a .44 cal hollow point pistol bullet in a plastic sabot.

Screw those wooden ramrods. I got a brass one. A little heavy but worth it when the barrel is dirty and it becomes tough to seat a ball.

Not the one I have but the one I found...
http://www.rmcoxyoke.com/inc/sdetail/150

[hunterdan]

When I used my flintlock for hunting, I used a 100 grain charge behind a T/C maxi-ball.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoot...3Bcat104547780
I used it to drop a doe in the late season and was/is a fun gun to shoot. I can't remember if I used 2F or 3F powder for the main charge, but I know I used 4F for the pan. I might have to break out the flintlock again to play around some more.

[palabman]

I also use 90 Gr FF behind a round ball. I've been using that load for years in my T/C Hawken.

[Hawk]

I use 60g of 2FG, .490 ball and .015 cotton patch with Bore Butter in my 50.
Of course I'm only just punching paper or hitting steel at 35-100 yards.
I like to conserve powder.

[tobyje]

All excellent info so far. Don't use bacon grease or any fat that has salt in it. Salt=rust. I'm a round ball shooter, don't know or want to know about bullets. A liquid lube will allow more shoots between cleaning than a grease lube but the liquid lube is no good for hunting because it will dry out over the day.

A good starting load is 150% of the caliber. .50 caliber/75 grains. Depending on the rate of twist in the barrel you may have to go up or down. Round balls like slower twist, bullets like fast twist.