I haven't shot this Hawken in 30 years at least. But I might give it a shot later on during one of the muzzle loader seasons up north some.

I am going to use the TC 275 Maxi Hunter conical in it over a 90-100 gr Hodgdon 777 2F charge and with a wonder wad in between. I think anyway.

Those 275s load easy enough into the Hawken, and are designed to obturate on firing. But they can be a bit loose too.

So I thought about using a thin paper patch just to hold everything in place.

Would you just cut a thin one from light copy paper the same size as a round patch and make sure it doesn't get too far up in the grease grooves - and load it like a patched ball. I think wrapping it like a patched cartridge load would build it up too much to ram it down the barrel.

Any suggestions? Or just load the Maxi and don't worry with it.

Thanks.

You could try copy paper and if it ends up too big (and you don't happen to have a push through sizing die) you could then try tracing paper which is much thinner.
The original match rifles using paper patched projectiles required only pushing the bullet down the bore with little pressure.
If you really want to pursue this then I would suggest buying a Lee sizing die which is the same as your bore diameter. You would be surprised how durable a paper patch is even when resizing patched bullets this way. Of course I am referring to the wet patched method.
I don't think paper will work if cut like a round patch. Maybe cut in a "+" will work.

Since when is a Hawken a black powder CARTRIDGE rifle?

Yeah I knew that was going to happen. I just thought you great guys would know a bit more about patching a round and share it. Thank you Huv.

Teflon tape works well too. and it is much easier to apply than paper. Freezer (paper) tape works too.
Who cares that this is the wrong forum? Not I.

Thank you dpcd. That Teflon wrap, and thin I presume, is a great idea. I shouldn't need but one of course, but I have to do some range work with it to get me and it back on page. That would work well to try there too. Thanks again.

I don't see why it wouldn't work. Seems like a lot of extra effort which is why I've never paper patched a bullet in my life. Sure would like to try some but I am loathe to add another step to the process.....or maybe the word is lazy....lol. And while I haven't personally tried it I know a few fella's who used the Teflon tape, as dpcd suggested, with good success. Frankly, for me, I never saw a whitetail that couldn't be taken down with a patched round ball.

Yes, patching is a lot of work and although I have done it, I use plain grooved bullets; but if you are wanting to make a bullet bigger, you might have to do a bit of extra work. Anyway, for a ML, you won't need many.

quote:

Originally posted by sharpsguy:
Since when is a Hawken a black powder CARTRIDGE rifle?

Thanks for the police report.

TexKD,

Your thread has been very productive for me.
It reminded me of the Lee R.E.A.L 320-grain conical + roundball 2-cavity mould.
It works great for producing 50-cal ML projectiles:



It is a tight fit to seal the grooves, not too hard to ram home with no patch.
Just lube with Lee liquid alox by shaking them in a tin can with the lube poured on then let them dry a bit on wax paper.

Teflon Tape:
Yep, that worked great for increasing a .605" diameter roundball to +.615" for my 20-gauge rifled shotgun,
shooting balls without patches, from a cartridge case:



And that reminded me to finally go ahead and order the RMC 20-gauge 2.75" brass so I can get a decent load made to regulate the RBL 20 ga double rifle.
I have done that.
I also have a .616" roundball mould for that one too.
Now with the brass finally on the way, I will gitterdun.

I have been too distracted by BPCR to finish my rifled shotgun roundball loading.
Now with your inspiration, I am back on the path.

Below is a 20 Ga 3.5" that can be used with 900-grain conicals, experimentally cut off to 2.75", but now I have some purpose made 2.75" on the way.
I might use BP, and that would be a BPCR,
back on topic.

That is some super nice work Rip.

Thank you for sharing that and for the pics too.

This site has the most information on all things cast.
http://castboolits.gunloads.co...aper-patching-the-ML