Pecatonica T/C

[IL Rifle]

I know the Pecatonica-T/C has been done before (Zonie built a nice one, RIP) but this is the first stocking job I’ve finished. The stock is from Pecatonica, about 30 minutes from my house, the .50 barrel, lock, triggers, and escutcheon plates are T/C Hawken/Renegade parts. The trigger guard is from The Hawken Shop and the buttplate is from Pecatonica. The idea was to put together more of a “local trade” rifle for the upper Mississippi River valley area- IL, IA, WI, MO- than a plains rifle. So, 15/16 barrel and a single key.

The stock is #3 maple stained with LMF Lancaster Maple and over stained with Feibings mahogany. Over that are four coats of dark walnut danish oil and a topcoat of satin spar varnish.

This is my test bed for the Pecatonica Hawken I started about 30 years ago and am still working on. Back when I started there was no internet and I came up against some “how do I ?” questions I wasn’t able to answer back then. This site in particular, and another, have been massively helpful in getting me to this point and I think I’ve answered enough questions so I can now finish my “first”rifle.

I know this one isn’t perfect, or a historic copy, and it’s a T/C at heart which some people aren’t fond of. But I wanted to start with known quantities and focus on the stocking work. Plus a .54 Renegade sn 6866 was my first ever rifle back in about 1973/4 (it was “liberated” from my house when I was at work one day otherwise I’d still have it). There are some things I’ll certainly do differently in the future, but here it is:

 

[SHAGBARK]

I know the Pecatonica-T/C has been done before (Zonie built a nice one, RIP) but this is the first stocking job I’ve finished. The stock is from Pecatonica, about 30 minutes from my house, the .50 barrel, lock, triggers, and escutcheon plates are T/C Hawken/Renegade parts. The trigger guard is from The Hawken Shop and the buttplate is from Pecatonica. The idea was to put together more of a “local trade” rifle for the upper Mississippi River valley area- IL, IA, WI, MO- than a plains rifle. So, 15/16 barrel and a single key.

The stock is #3 maple stained with LMF Lancaster Maple and over stained with Feibings mahogany. Over that are four coats of dark walnut danish oil and a topcoat of satin spar varnish.

This is my test bed for the Pecatonica Hawken I started about 30 years ago and am still working on. Back when I started there was no internet and I came up against some “how do I ?” questions I wasn’t able to answer back then. This site in particular, and another, have been massively helpful in getting me to this point and I think I’ve answered enough questions so I can now finish my “first”rifle.

I know this one isn’t perfect, or a historic copy, and it’s a T/C at heart which some people aren’t fond of. But I wanted to start with known quantities and focus on the stocking work. Plus a .54 Renegade sn 6866 was my first ever rifle back in about 1973/4 (it was “liberated” from my house when I was at work one day otherwise I’d still have it). There are some things I’ll certainly do differently in the future, but here it is:

Looks great, how does it shoulder and shoot?

 

[IL Rifle]

The sights come right up to my eye when I shoulder it. Sighting in is next.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I think it looks really good. I like the nose cap and ramrod entry pipe much better than the stock T/C..

 

[IL Rifle]

I think it looks really good. I like the nose cap and ramrod entry pipe much better than the stock T/C..

The nose cap is a 15/16 cap from The Hawken Shop. I just finished it and blued it. The T/C cap is much easier to install and doubles as the entry pipe so I can see why it was used on a production rifle. I deleted the entry pipe as I always preferred the way the Renegade was designed.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I know this thread is now a couple of weeks old, but I had not seen it before. That is a really good-looking, practical shooter. @IL Rifle did a terrific job with parts selection, assembly, and finish.

The nose cap is a 15/16 cap from The Hawken Shop. I just finished it and blued it. The T/C cap is much easier to install and doubles as the entry pipe so I can see why it was used on a production rifle. I deleted the entry pipe as I always preferred the way the Renegade was designed.

I was wondering about the nosecap also, but this answers the question. This is a vast improvement over the factory T/C Hawken nosecap. You mentioned the metal parts were blued… What type of bluing agent did you use? The color looks really good.

In expanding the photo, I believe I see a fiberoptic front sight, and a non-factory rear sight. What sights are these?

All in all, I would say that is a rifle you can be proud of. Excellent work, my friend. I’ll say you are more than ready to finish that Hawken project!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob