New to Black Powder

[Ontario Hawken]

Hi all,

I recently bought a T/C Hawken percussion and must admit that it is inexplicably addictive. I went to my friend Steve’s place last Sunday for an early morning shoot. I was surprised at the overall accuracy of a 175 gr round ball, even out to 80 yards.

After shooting standard deer loads (100 gr equivalent FFG Pyrodex) we tried 40 gr with a 175 gr round ball on a helpless piece of white ash firewood at 25 yards. The purpose of this was to try the Hawken on a Snowshoe Hare sized target at the approximate distance we shoot them with .22 in the winter.

Steve had the honour of shooting and aimed at the top of the firewood block – it died a quick death with a “headshot.” We were able to retrieve the ball by splitting the block, which was now an oblong flattened lead mass that had buried itself an inch into the wood. It was Impressive that it deformed so much.

Also, shooting later by myself I only had a handful of Traditions “pillow ticking” patches. I substituted with Butch’s standard patches cut into quarters. Surprisingly at 35 yards the Butch’s patches shot 3 inches higher than the Traditions patches.