Heavy calibre long distance shooting

[OldMtnMan]

Years ago I got beaten in a long gong elimination at the three hundred yard line by a guy shooting a T/C Hawken with a .40 cal. Green Mountain drop in barrel. Me thinks you fellas just like a swift kick in the puss.
 I抦 currently building my nephew a .62 cal. Half stock plains rifle, to hunt elk, and bear with. When I finish it, I抣l get him to test fire it. My days of enjoying a double helping of recoil are pretty much over.

  Hungry Horse

Me too. I use a .54 PRB with 80gr of 2F sometimes 3F. It's my load for muley's, bear, and elk. It hasn't let me down yet. Recoil is just self torture.

[Mike Brooks]

Too much recoil if it ends up pointed at the clouds.

He's actually hunting ducks....

[OldMtnMan]

If he fires in that high position it will drive him in the ground like a stake.

A good way to get shorter.

[Mike Brooks]

The accuracy load for my .62 Hawken is 127 gr. FFg GOEX, .022" denim patch with mink oil, and .613" pure lead ball from a .610" Lyman mould.  My rifle weighs 12 pounds, and felt recoil is negligible.

I made a .62 flint rifle for a guy. I hit a sweet spot at 95gr 2ff. That was good as I couldn't have taken much more of a beating. The gun weighed 8lbs. He had insisted I sight it in for him with 140 grains, no more, no less. So when I sent it to him with the accurate load of 95gr. he threw a fit and loaded 140gr and complained he couldn't hit anything with it at 200 yards and immediately sold it. (at a profit) Things like this always makes me want to quit building guns for people....
 It's all about the twist with the big bores. If you want to take a helluva beatin' go with a slow twist and lots of powder....shoots a long ways. I prefer a faster twist and less powder and keep my shots at less than 100 yards.
 My observations of 18th century continental rifles is one twist in the length of the barrel. On KY rifles usually somewhere around a 1 in 48, or near 1 twist in the length of the barrel again.

[Mike Brooks]

If he fires in that high position it will drive him in the ground like a stake.

A good way to get shorter.

I stepped on a pheasant once and it climbed right up the front of me and helicoptered straight up. I pointed my 16 bore straight up and let fly, and it did indeed pound me in the ground. Something snapped in my back and I couldn't catch my breath for a while. back has never been the same since.

[OldMtnMan]

Oh man! That hurts my bad back just reading it.

On another note. What do you think the ideal twist is for a .54 cal and PRB?

[Dennis Glazener]

If he fires in that high position it will drive him in the ground like a stake.

A good way to get shorter.

I stepped on a pheasant once and it climbed right up the front of me and helicoptered straight up. I pointed my 16 bore straight up and let fly, and it did indeed pound me in the ground. Something snapped in my back and I couldn't catch my breath for a while. back has never been the same since.

Did you kill the pheasant or is it still laughing at you

[Mike Brooks]

If he fires in that high position it will drive him in the ground like a stake.

A good way to get shorter.

I stepped on a pheasant once and it climbed right up the front of me and helicoptered straight up. I pointed my 16 bore straight up and let fly, and it did indeed pound me in the ground. Something snapped in my back and I couldn't catch my breath for a while. back has never been the same since.

Did you kill the pheasant or is it still laughing at you

I 'bout blowed it in half!   It wasn't far off the end of the barrels. I was using an old Damascus barreled SXS Ithaca that was choked up pretty tight....great old hard shooting gun, I put a lot of birds down with. Shooting black powder of course and probably 1oz loads of #4's.

[Sharpsman]

Oh man! That hurts my bad back just reading it.

On another note. What do you think the ideal twist is for a .54 cal and PRB?

1-72"

[varsity07840]

The accuracy load for my .62 Hawken is 127 gr. FFg GOEX, .022" denim patch with mink oil, and .613" pure lead ball from a .610" Lyman mould.  My rifle weighs 12 pounds, and felt recoil is negligible.

I made a .62 flint rifle for a guy. I hit a sweet spot at 95gr 2ff. That was good as I couldn't have taken much more of a beating. The gun weighed 8lbs. He had insisted I sight it in for him with 140 grains, no more, no less. So when I sent it to him with the accurate load of 95gr. he threw a fit and loaded 140gr and complained he couldn't hit anything with it at 200 yards and immediately sold it. (at a profit) Things like this always makes me want to quit building guns for people....
 It's all about the twist with the big bores. If you want to take a helluva beatin' go with a slow twist and lots of powder....shoots a long ways. I prefer a faster twist and less powder and keep my shots at less than 100 yards.

 My observations of 18th century continental rifles is one twist in the length of the barrel. On KY rifles usually somewhere around a 1 in 48, or near 1 twist in the length of the barrel again.
[/quote
]I certainly have to agree. I have an original massive half stock that had a badly pitted .54 bore in a 1 5/16" barrel. I had Bob Hoyt fresh it out to .69 with a slow twist and shallow grooves, sort of like a Forsythe. With a reasonable load of 120 gr of 2F Goex it shoots clover leafs at 50 yards but needs 150gr to stabilize the ball at 100 yards.

[Daryl]

I would say that anything from 56" twist to 72" will suffice for a .54. I'd lean towards a faster number if you want it to shoot lighter charges.

My .69 has a 66" twist and shoots best with 140 to 165gr.2F of powder, so in ratio, a faster twist to bore size does not guarantee the gun will shoot well with a light load, as my .69 shows.

Buddy Keith's .75 shoots well with 160gr. of powder, but now, 20 years later, the recoil is a bit much. He shoots 120gr. 2F and puts up with less accuracy. Still shooting tighter than min. of deer. His barrel was made by D.Getz - don't know the twist, something around 56" to 60" iirc.

[OldMtnMan]

Rice picks 1-66 for the .54. I was curious how others thought about this. A 1-66 sounds fine to me.

[Justin Urbantas]

What's the twist on Taylor's .62 rifle?

[Mike Brooks]

Rice picks 1-66 for the .54. I was curious how others thought about this. A 1-66 sounds fine to me.

I'd go 1-48 to 1-56. For my own stuff I'm sticking with 1 in 48 from now on. Never shoot past 100 yards anyway.

[Daryl]

What's the twist on Taylor's .62 rifle?

That one is a 66", I think. Rice barrel.   I know darn well it will shoot even better, with a bit more powder, but that Hawken hooked butt plate,

even at 11 1/2 pounds, or whatever that rifle is, is uncomfortable.  With the very heavy loads I used in my .58 Hawken, it was not fun to shoot

on paper from the bench.  Offhand, was fine.

IIRC, Val Forget used 175gr. 3F GO in his .58 "Hawkens" he took to Africa. That powder charge was with a 610gr. Minnie bullet.

My own Hawken, a LOT heavier made than his little rifle, was downright obnoxious with 160gr. 2F GOEX and a 675gr. bullet, at 1,325fps.