I am working on TC Hawkens .45 that my nephew inherited from his Father in Law. The gun came from a kit. Unfortunately (and a crying shame) the gun was not cleaned after the last firing. Could not see lands for the rust. After some effort looks like it might clean up. Land are still there.

BTW - I have a TC Hawkens in .50 that I built from a kit in 1978, so I'm not new to muzzle loaders. Just stayed with Maxi- bullets.

.45 stuff is hard to find locally. Apparently the .45 fell out of favor over 20 years ago and .50 is pretty much standard now.

Question- I want to shoot the .45 this weekend.
I have some .445 round balls. Only data I see is for a .440 round ball and a .018 patch. I have some patches that are .010.

I called TC support - not much help.

Do you think it is safe to shoot the .445 round ball with the the .010 patch? I think that if I can seat the bullet on the powder it should be ok to shoot.

Yep, if you can seat the ball it will be ok to shoot.

There aren't really any hard and fast rules as to what diameter of ball and thickness of patch to use. I have two .50 caliber rifles... with .490 balls, one likes 0.018 patches, and one works better with 0.010 patches.

Go ahead and try loading it, as mentioned. Might need to use a starter.

If the ball will load for you, it will shoot too. Worse case scenario is you can put a paper wad over the powder and just load the ball.

Thanks for the replies. Will try this weekend.

it will be fine just be sure you grease the patch good

Well - it still shoots. Tried 60 grains of FFG with the .445 ball and .010 patch with CVA patch lube. No problem seating the ball. First shot high at 25 yds. Cranked down the rear site. Next two one inch apart and about 6 inches lower. Fourth shot made a 2.25 inch three shot group.
Last shot could well have been the shooter. Too hot and humid for me to continue. Looks like it might work out. Will try some maxi bullets.

Forgot how much fun it is to shoot these.

My uncle did just about nothing but blackpowder for the last 40 years or so and he always recommended the tighter ball over the looser. For instance he aways got much better accuracy from a .495 ball over the .490's in the 50 cals. I would imagine the 45's are the same way. He'd work up a load with them the same as someone might with a centerfire. Pick your ball size, try a few different patch thicknesses and lubes, and then work up your powder charge in 2-5gr increments. He said they always followed the same tendency to open up, then shoot smaller and smaller groups, then open up again. He was usually able to shoot a group less than 1" (actually he said small enough his thumb would cover it) at 50 yards. He built a lot of custom muzzleloaders and also restored many originals including freshening out the bores and making proper size molds for them if they weren't available from Lyman. I really miss my long talks with him.....

In removing rust from metal ANY organic acid works well

Even simple white vinegar reduces the worst crusty rust to a fine patina that rubs off with nothing more than fingers.

what works better is homemade cider vinegar which is a combinations of Acetic acid (the vinegar) with Malic acid (from the apples)

other acids that remove rust from iron and steel without eating the parent metal are:
1)Oxalic Acid ("barkeepers friend" cleaner)
2)Citric Acid (lemon juice and various drink mixes)

These acids generally wont remove coatings like bluing and can be left in contact for prolonged periods of time (days to weeks)

If you are impatient try putting a piece of rusty tool steel in Muriatic acid (dilute hydrochloric) depending on how much you did or did not dilute it bubbles will form on the rust and it will
fall off while the acid bath turns Yellow.

the yellow color is due to the formation of Ferric Chloride which is used commercially as an etchant for copper (manufacture of printed circuit boards) and nickel (raising the dates in worn cupro-nickel alloy coins

I do a lot of restoration work on old Coleman lanterns and removing corrosion is a major part of the job

No need to worry about ball size; just match the patch so you can seat it and it will be fine. Now, my first ML, I built in 1970. I wanted a TC Hawken, but they cost way too much, so I got parts from Dixie and made my own, a .45. No money for a bullet mold, but I already had one for my Cap and Ball revolver, a .451. So, I just used a plastic hammer and smacked them into the muzzle, and seated them on the powder; no patch. You know, these things shot better than any patched ball ever did from that rifle. Point is, you can be creative.

Like some have said, match the patch, I have noticed from shooting old muzzle loaders and especially old Winchester lever guns, bore condition with those slow velocities don't seem to make a lot of difference..I have a couple of rifles with absolutely horrible bores, pits that you could almost bath in, but they shoot incredibly accurate..