Was gonna hang her on the wall

[rc2125]

Was gonna hang her on the wall for a decoration, but had to see if she could still shoot for me. (T/C cherokee .45cal) After having the ramrod get stuck in the bore, I put some penetrating oil to work overnight, got it unstuck and gave it a thorough cleaning. Commenced to loading and shooting, and as always, it shoots right where it's supposed to at 75yds.
The bore is actually missing all the rifling for the first 7 inches of the barrel, and the rest is pretty thin looking. Was lucky to keep even a few shots on a paper plate at 50yards with patch/round balls.
One day I decided to try some .45cal 195gr powerbelts for the heck of it, and it shot like i've never seen it shoot before! Not sure how, with the twist rate, but it works. 75gr of fffg or pyrodex, doesn't seem to care which, same poi, always the same size groups.
Glad to see she's still doin alright!

[tdillinger]

Dont put her on the wall, pass it on. I love my old T/C 50 cal i use 80 ffg with patch and ball. I actually getting it ready to go to the range and try mmp hph 24 and Hornady 250 xtp. I enjoy flintlocks and it is nice that PA has a late season just for flintlock.

[Al]

just look at it as 7" of QLA !! (couldn't help it, waiting for the coffee to kick in)

[rc2125]

The other end, down where the powder sits, not sure what the previous owner did to it, maybe just shot alot? ....somehow, it still shoots pretty good!

[jims]

I have a TC Cougar that shot very well also. The TCs were capable.

[smokepole50]

Was the Cherokee .45 a true round ball twist rifle???

I thought they were 1:48 or 1:32..........if so then you might want to try a sabot load using one of the 200gr SST 40 cal bullets and about 70gr of powder to start off.

I have a .32 cal Cherokee that will shoot round balls at lower powder charges. I also picked up a .45 cal barrel for it some years later. I am thinking the .45 was a compromise twist like the .32 and the regular .50 cal which was a 1:48 twist. (Neither a RB or Conical twist but a compromise twist to allow the shooting of both RB and conical) My .50 Hawken would shoot a round ball with a thin patch and 50gr of FF powder very well but if you pushed it any harder then the patch would tear and it would not hit squat. Round Ball barrels have deeper grooves and slower twist rates so the ball can be pushed fast without tearing the patch and breaking the ball and patch contact that makes the rifle accurate. I know T/C made Maxi-ball molds for all the calibers so I bet your .45 caliber barrel will shoot a saboted 200gr 40 cal bullet better then you think. The first few inches of the barrel are not nearly as important and the last few inches when you are talking accuracy.

Smokepole50