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Originally Posted by John Rogers
If you would like to see just how well the new Hawken shoots.....this Sunday we have our monthly muzzle loader match at the South Bay Rod and Gun Club. We get there about 8:30 AM or so and the match starts at 9:00 more or less. We use patched round balls, black powder and percussion caps and open sights. We have had folks come down from Riverside, LA, and such and many couples come down Saturday, spen the night then come do the match on Sunday.
John
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Boy, how I would love to join you guys. I haven't shot a muzzle loader match in probably 20 years. Unfortunately, I'm all the way up near Seattle. That would be one heck of a buggy ride for its first shoot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fanaudical
Beautiful work! I may need a new project...
Question about the ram rod: Do you use the wooden ram rod, or is that just "period decoration"? Several people have told me to leave the wood rod on the rifle and carry a fiberglass rod for strength...
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I have a one piece steel "range rod" that I use for all of my loading and cleaning at the range and final clean-up at home. It has a muzzle protector, a nice big handle, and is stout enough to be able to take care of any problems, like having loaded "just one more" ball that subsequently won't seat. I only use the ramrod on the rifle when out in the field hunting, if I need to reload.
The ramrod is actually another place where modern replicas deviate from the originals, and not in a good way. All of my modern ramrods are 3/8" diameter, where the ones on originals from .50 caliber and up are 7/16" diameter. Granted, a measly 1/16" probably doesn't sound like much, but remember, cross sectional area goes up with the square of the radius. Originals had substantially stouter ramrods.
Here are a couple of pics of my range rod, the ramrod from the T/C, and the new ramrod. Funny, the kit did not include any ends for the ramrod. I'll be running up to the shop later next week to show them the rifle, so I can pick up a couple ends then.
