Got the Cherokee Ready

[airedale]

Decided to use my little Thompson Center 45 cal Cherokee sidelock this week for the muzzleloader extension, it is a very nice light weight rifle, I shoot the TC Maxi Balls which are a conical style lead bullet over loose Pyrodex. This is a very finicky rifle, after all kinds of powder-bullet combinations the TC Maxi Balls are the only thing I can get to shoot accurately, which is OK because they will work if I do my part.

Power is about the same as a 44 mag. 

Al

Edited December 6, 2022 by airedale

[First-light]

Nice looking gun!

[Daveboone]

I wish we had the late ML season where I am at (east of Lake Ontario Tug Hill.). I love hunting the late season, but the deer yard up to consistently and they would be slaughtered there that late. I cant complain though, I made meat with my Lyman GPR during the early northern tier ML season, and bucked out during regular season.

[Lawdwaz]

Nice gun Al.

I shot my T/C Hawken flintlock last Sunday.  I plan on carrying it this weekend, weather permitting.  Patched round balls and 3F powder for the projectile. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Lawdwaz

[wolc123]

11 hours ago, airedale said:

Decided to use my little Thompson Center 45 cal Cherokee sidelock this week for the muzzleloader extension, it is a very nice light weight rifle, I shoot the TC Maxi Balls which are a conical style lead bullet over loose Pyrodex. This is a very finicky rifle, after all kinds of powder-bullet combinations the TC Maxi Balls are the only thing I can get to shoot accurately, which is OK because they will work if I do my part.

Power is about the same as a 44 mag. 

Al

That reminds me of my Traditions Fox River 50, which is also very small and easy to handle.  I haven’t used it for deer hunting, since I bought my T/C Omega 50 cal, about 25 years ago.  
 

I used that sidelock for about (5) years, only shooting it at one deer, a 2.5 yr old buck that had already dropped one side antler.  Only the cap went off, when he walked right under my stand.   That “snap” scared him a bit, but caused him no harm. 
 

I also had a hang-fire with it one time, shooting at a big grey squirrel, which showed up at dusk on the last day of late ML season.  I held my aim, and the patched round ball neatly beheaded it, about a second and a half after the cap went off.  

A couple years ago I got that gun out and put some new fiber optic sites on it.  I shot it a few times, and it worked pretty good, with some green-plastic sleeved pistol bullets, one 50 gr T7 pellet, and 25 gr of loose T7.  
 

Mt plan was to use that, as I waded the creek up at my In-laws Adirondack retirement place, during the early ML week.  I was going to bring along a fly rod also, and try for Brooke trout at the same time.  The gun was so light, that should be doable.  My big heavy Omega would never work for that. I’ve seen lots of deer sign, in the swampy creek bottom, thru the years on early ML week up there.  

I also had a rough streak with my Omega, blowing good chances at 4 or 5 consecutive deer, and that pushed me back towards that old sidelock.  I finally broke that bad streak with the Omega last fall, on a big Adirondack doe, and it also got the job done perfectly, on the next two deer I shot it at, this year. 
 

Despite the restored effectiveness of my Omega in-line, I still would like to give that old sidelock a try.  I’ve already put (3) in the freezer this year, but I could use one more average-size one.  I’ll likely stick with the Omega, until I get that.  I am planning to hunt every day of the Week long Holiday ML season this year.
 

 If I do manage to get one more deer, before or early during that, then the odds are good that my old sidelock will see some action.  It is definitely fun to shoot. Cleaning it was always a pain though.  That has been a piece of cake with my Omega and T7 powder, since I started using foaming bore cleaner and a bore snake.  
 

You can’t use a bore snake with a side lock, so cleaning that will still suck (literally), even with foaming bore cleaner.  I’ll probably save that for my Omega, and just use dish soap and hot water.  I’ll have plenty of time, being off of work for all 7 days that week.  

Edited December 7, 2022 by wolc123

[airedale]

I would say this TC Cherokee is the most disappointing firearm I have owned. I have shot this rifle more than I have my other three black powder rifles combined testing powders and bullets looking for accuracy, and while I finally found a Maxi Ball load combination that shoots good I think it's patched ball and sabot performance is horrible. The only thing I can come up with is that Thompson Center designed this particular rifle barrel to shoot their propriety Maxi Ball period.

I became so frustrated normally I would have wrapped this SOB around a tree but I was in love with the rifle itself and determined more than ever to get it to shoot. Once you pick one of these Cherokees up and shoulder it the infatuation begins instantly.

I guess all is well that ends well but I still wish this rifle was a bit more versatile with what can be shot out of it.

Al 

[airedale]

16 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

I shot my T/C Hawken flintlock last Sunday.  I plan on carrying it this weekend, weather permitting.  Patched round balls and 3F powder for the projectile. 

Hey Lawdwaz what kind of ignition reliability do you get with that flintlock? Never tried one myself, I am a "chicken" to use one for hunting, bawk bawk!!

Al

Edited December 7, 2022 by airedale

[wolc123]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:58 AM, airedale said:

Hey Lawdwaz what kind of ignition reliability do you get with that flintlock? Never tried one myself, I am a "chicken" to use one for hunting, bawk bawk!!

Al

I’m not Lary and I have no clue on flintlocks but I started having much better ignition reliability with my #11 percussion cap side-lock, after I started removing the little screw from the end of the nipple extension, and priming that channel with some loose powder.  I would use a nipple pick, to help force some powder in there until it was full, then reinsert the screw.  
 

I didn’t have any more hang fires or mis-fires, with the  # 11 caps after I started doing that. If I do hunt with it this year, I’ll be sure to do that. 
 

I still have to get thru (4) more shotgun hunts for deer this weekend, but I am really looking forward to the late ML and Holiday ML seasons this year.  I’ll have at least (2) tags left for those, even if I fill my other (3) this weekend with the shotguns.  
 

It would be wonderful to finally get a deer, with my side-lock.  One issue I have with it though, is that the fiber optic sites are not much good for the extra half hours that we get now, before sunrise and after sunset.  
 

 The old 2-7X Redfield on my T/C Omega is great during that “extra” time.  That is the main reason why I won’t bring out my fiber-optic sighted side-lock, until I have one more deer in the freezer.  

Edited December 9, 2022 by wolc123

[airedale]

I had some slight difficulties with ignition using 777 powder in my sidelocks which was no surprise as it is not recommended for use in sidelocks for that reason. I got around the ignition problems with a nipple conversion that allows use of 209 shotshell primers and will give 100% positive ignition. The downside is very slow reloading if a follow up shot is needed.

For regular black powder and pyrodex a standard hot shot nipple and mag percussion caps gives me flawless ignition.

Al

[wolc123]

6 hours ago, airedale said:

I had some slight difficulties with ignition using 777 powder in my sidelocks which was no surprise as it is not recommended for use in sidelocks for that reason. I got around the ignition problems with a nipple conversion that allows use of 209 shotshell primers and will give 100% positive ignition. The downside is very slow reloading if a follow up shot is needed.

For regular black powder and pyrodex a standard hot shot nipple and mag percussion caps gives me flawless ignition.

Al

On the target range, I used 25 gr of loose FFFG T-7 on the bottom, then a 50 gr T-7 pellet, without priming the nipple channel, and I had no hang fires with the standard #11 caps.   I’m thinking that, with the smaller grain size of the “FFFG”, extra priming of the nipple tube should not be necessary.  
 

What happens out in the damp and cold woods seldom replicates what happens on the target range though.  For that reason, I am not going to try it until my freezer is nearly full of venison taken with my shotguns, in-line ML, or crossbow.  Most of them never fail to fire on time, when I pull the trigge.  
 

I do have one shotgun (Marlin 512) that does not always cooperate when it’s real cold out.  I finally learned my lesson on that one, after the froze up firing pin saved a second doe at point blank range.  Now, I only use that gun when the temps are above 32 degrees thru the whole hunt.   
 

 

[Pygmy]

6 hours ago, airedale said:

I had some slight difficulties with ignition using 777 powder in my sidelocks which was no surprise as it is not recommended for use in sidelocks for that reason. I got around the ignition problems with a nipple conversion that allows use of 209 shotshell primers and will give 100% positive ignition. The downside is very slow reloading if a follow up shot is needed.

For regular black powder and pyrodex a standard hot shot nipple and mag percussion caps gives me flawless ignition.

Al

I have a T/C Hawken that my ex-wife bought me for my birthday in 1973...It was always dependable with black powder and Pyrodex,  but while gearing up for an elk hunt in 2004, I switched to 777 because that's what my partners were using ...

After that hunt, I began to have ignition problems, so I bought what is probably the same  209 nipple conversion that Al has.. 100% reliable ignition now, but as Al says, it is slow to reload and also offers the possibility of losing it in the leaves or snow, rendering the rifle useless, unlss you want to use it as a club, as Jerimiah Johnson did at times..

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Pygmy said:

I have a T/C Hawken that my ex-wife bought me for my birthday in 1973...It was always dependable with black powder and Pyrodex,  but while gearing up for an elk hunt in 2004, I switched to 777 because that's what my partners were using ...

After that hunt, I began to have ignition problems, so I bought what is probably the same  209 nipple conversion that Al has.. 100% reliable ignition now, but as Al says, it is slow to reload and also offers the possibility of losing it in the leaves or snow, rendering the rifle useless, unlss you want to use it as a club, as Jerimiah Johnson did at times..

All of my hang fires and misfires were with pyrodex.  I am hoping that the 25 grains of loose T-7 FFFG, below my 50 gr T-7 pellet, does the trick for me with a # 11 cap in my side lock.  Time will tell.  Hopefully, I’ll find out before January 2 ‘23.

(2) T-7 pellets, above a 209 primer has never hesitated for even a millisecond in my in-line, even after being in there almost a month.  This was January 1 of this year and that load had been in there since early December of ‘21:

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by wolc123