[Sixgun_Symphony]

I just bought a used Hawkins rifle at a local pawnshop for $130. It has a 1/66 twist for roundball which makes it a fine deer rifle, though it is a bit light for elk.

I had just bought my brother a new T/C White Mountain Carbine complete with possibles bag, powder horn and all necessary accoutrements. Its been new for sale at a local gunshop for about a decade and T/C does not make 'em anymore. A good deal at $235 new. After buying that and spending another $150 on the accoutrements, I had to go cheap for my own kit this year.

My Lyman Great Plains .50 cal flint rifle and my CVA Hawkins .54 percussion with all accoutrements were sold three years ago while in college and money was tight. Now I am taking a year off from classes and am making up for lost time. Were going hunting.

I will be at the range to see what this rifle can do. I have an elk tag as well as a deer tag, so I will try out various conical bullets to see if there are any that will get reasonable accurracy through the 1/66" twist barrel. I will probably stay with patched roundball though and just get really close before taking any shots on elk.

[rfb45colt]

I've got a Traditions Hawken Woodsman .50 cal percussion. Bought it new in about '94 or '95. Mine has the 1/48 twist... are you sure yours is 1/66? I wasn't aware they had a 1/66 barrel in that model. The 1/48 that I've got has great accuracy with both conicals and sabots, but not so good with roundballs. You might want to get a 1/48 barrel for yours. I'm sure Traditions still has them available.