Specifications
- Manufacturer: Thompson/Center
- Year Manufactured: 1980’s – 2000’s
- Caliber: 50
- Projectile (Ball): .490″
- Overall Length: 45 1/4″
- Barrel Width (across flats): 15/16″
- Barrel Length: 28″
- Barrel Type: Octagonal, Hooked Breech, Blued
- Rifling Twist: 1:48″
- Groove Depth: .006″
- Sights: Rear Adjustable Buckhorn, Front Blade
- Weight: 8 lbs. 4 oz.
- Ignition: Percussion, #11
- Availability: Used
Review
My rifle, made by Thompson/Center, has a blued, 28″ hexagonal barrel, hooked breech, wooden stock, #11 percussion cap ignition, double set triggers, and adjustable rear sights. It has a brass cap on the forend, brass patch box, brass trigger guard, brass ferrules, brass wedge slot and wedge, and a brass butt plate. I bought it used and have taken the lock work apart once after a couple hundred shots for what appears to be no reason. A bullet proof design for a lifetime of shooting and beyond.
Hodgdon Triple-Seven Warnings
The following are quotes copied from the “Hodgdon Muzzleloading Manual”:
Triple Seven granular powder is intended solely to be used in modern inline and cartridge firearms which have been found by a competent gunsmith to be in safe, shootable condition.
Blackhorn and Triple Seven are not designed for use in guns originally proofed for black powder use. However, Pyrodex is intended to be used on a volume to volume basis the same as the appropriate granulation of black powder and will give approximately the same velocity and pressure as black when used in this manner.
Pyrodex, Triple Seven or Triple Seven Firestar® Pellets, as well as IMR White Hots Preformed Charges are designed for use in newly manufactured muzzleloading, inline rifles in calibers 54 and 50.
Pyrodex may be used with standard cap, musket cap or 209 primer ignition systems, while Triple Seven and IMR White Hots use only a 209 primer ignition system.
Loads
The following should be referenced with the above section regarding Hodgdons’ recommendation regarding shooting Triple-Seven with black powder proofed guns. I was shooting a patched .490″ round ball over 70 grains of Triple Seven FF with good results at 100 yards. I don’t have any data from that time as far as velocity and accuracy, aside from a general impression. Recoil was fairly mild. Of course, I will not be repeating that load based on the recommendations in the section above. I will be going into more detail on gallery, target and hunting loads in future posts.
After all the ranges were closed, I decided to start shooting inside my attached garage situated in our suburban neighborhood (“Introduction to Gallery Black Powder Shooting”). A load of 7 grains of Triple Seven FFF was sufficient to achieve accurate results (3/4″ groups) at 7 yards, using a .490″ round ball with an ungreased linen patch.
I also started using two different conical loads using recovered round balls. Drilling through a 1/4″ steel bar with a 1/2″ drill and a 15/32″ drill, I produced conicals which were good gallery loads and showed promise at longer ranges with higher powder levels.
Going Forward
I will be continuing load development, both with gallery loads, and higher power loads. My plan is to is to swage round balls into conicals and explore how fast I can drive them for accurate long-range shooting. Also, I plan to use “cowboy” conicals and re-swage them for the same purpose. I will be using crosspatches for some loads and none for others.