On the range with The Hawken Doctor Nipples

I got these in almost a week ago and haven't had time to shoot due to snow storms blowing in. Today was gorgeous! 50* and a nice sloppy mess on the range where the snow is melting.

I am shooting my Traditions St.Louis Hawken .54cal 1:48 twist.
75gr Gearhart-Owen
.020" patches lubed with Frontier's Bearpaws patch lube
.530" home cast round balls weighed at 224-224.6 grains
CCI #11 caps ( Non Magnum )
The bullseye is 3" diameter.
50 Yrds
Just resting the forearm on the shaky gun rest I use to do quick sight ins/tests.

I did not swab the bore once the entire shoot. The last loaded just as easily as the first and all recovered patches were in excellent condition.

Overall I am happy! The nipples seem to be accurate, consistent and the fact that the caps do not explode into pieces, is a very nice thing.

The nipples did one huge thing that I noticed right off the bat. The nipples did not explode and get stuck in my hammer cup and I never felt any debris hitting me in the face.





normally I do not bother with 5 shots, but what the heck.


now 5 shots is a lot for me on the range... But what the heck, lets do 10 shots, no swabbing. Yes, I pulled a couple out, but hey, it happens.

Got back out after I swabbed the bore.

Same distance, no swabbing, changed to 75gr Schuetzen 2fg. Reloading was an eye opener. Very sticky the last 6 inches of the bore. With the gearhart owen, I had zero issues reloading. Accuracy was still spot on however!

First 5 shots. First shot on a clean bore, was the one out in the white. Next 4... Beautiful!

10 shot group.

Patch from the last shot. Perfect shape, no stretching, tearing or burning despite having to rough it down the bore.

Never heard of them. Where do you get them?

FrontierGander wrote:
The nipples did one huge thing that I noticed right off the bat. The nipples did not explode and get stuck in my hammer cup and I never felt any debris hitting me in the face.

Never had that problem. Caps yes, but nipples? I would hope not!

Yea, I'm a smart Alec! Couldn't resist, though I tried....

~Kees~