hoyt19 Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 A friend of our family recently passed away and his wife game me a rather new CVA Hawken rifle. She told me he only shot it twice and wanted me to have it. The rifle is in great shape. All that she had to go with it was a package of hornady round balls. Im fimilair with modern muzzle loaders but not the old style. Can I shoot pyrodex pellets from the rifle, and should i stick to patched round balls because of the twist rate in the barrell? Anyone have any suggestions??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoyt19 Posted December 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 Re: HAWKEN HELP The barrell isnt marked with any twist rate but I went on the CVA website and found a gun the looks identical to it with a 1:48 twist rate. Sounds like it will be a 50-75yrd gun. And I for sure can not use pellets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnatecsteve Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 Re: HAWKEN HELP You can check the twist of your barrel by running a cleaning jag with a patch down the bore, make sure it's a snug fit. Mark the ramrod, and then pull it out until it makes one complete twist. Mark the rod and pull it out. Then, just measure the distance. Like the others said, a faster twist is needed for conicals. I've seen a slow twist barrel try to shoot conicals. The twist wasn't adequate enough to stabilize the bullet, so it started tumbling end for end. We checked the target, and not one hole was round. It's like trying to throw a football really hard without a spiral, looks like a wounded duck. I would definately stick with loose powder too. Use some good tight weave cotton patching if you shoot round ball. Most guys go to the fabric store and buy some "pillow ticking". It's an older style of fabric that was used for pillows and matresses..Off white with blue stripes. It has a good weave and will resist being cut by the rifling some. I would use a .490 ball with a ten thousandths thick patch with Thompson Center Bore Butter lube. A good tip it if you buy a tin of caps, use the lid to place on the fabric and cut around it, the size is almost perfect for pre-cut patches for 50 cal. I would suggest CCI caps, CVA and Remington have had problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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