A few Renegade questions please...

[cranky]

Hello all...this is my first post. I have been reading alot of posts here and at other muzzleloading sites...I feel this forum has the best info in my opinion. I just today purchased a T/C Renegade rifle from a guy at work. He says he never fired it. I forgot to ask him if he was the original owner. well anyway...It is in super nice condition I can't find any blemishes or dings or scuffs. no pitting no blueing wear, and the bore is bright and shiney. It has no safety writing stamped on the barrel. The only thing stamped on the barrel is "Thompson / Center Arms Rochester, New Hampshire CAL 50" I am not even 100% sure if it is a Renegade as I see nothing on the rifle that says "Renegade" However, after seeing pics of Renegades on here and gunbroker I am 99% sure it is. It has a black trigger guard, double set triggers, steel butt plate and a small cleanout screw on the snail(?). It does not have a QLA at the muzzle.

I have some quesions if you don't mind please.


1)I would like to know how old (aprox) this rifle is.The serial # is 120,xxx

2)it has a small screw between the triggers what does this screw adjust? should I mess with it?

3)Is this a 1:48 rate of twist barrel?

4)How do I tell if this has +P wood. The wood appears to be walnut, very shiney with lots of grain showing. very nice looking.

5)Lastly, it came with a solid brass ramrod/cleaning rod was this standard? or something purchased aftermarket (it fits perfectly where the ramrod goes).

Sorry to rant but I am really happy about this purchase...can't wait to fire it.

Thanks in advance,
Dreadnought (Dave)
P.S. BTW, I paid $150 cash for it...very fair I think.

 

[roundball]

Hello all...this is my first post. I have been reading alot of posts here and at other muzzleloading sites...I feel this forum has the best info in my opinion. I just today purchased a T/C Renegade rifle from a guy at work. He says he never fired it. I forgot to ask him if he was the original owner. well anyway...It is in super nice condition I can't find any blemishes or dings or scuffs. no pitting no blueing wear, and the bore is bright and shiney. It has no safety writing stamped on the barrel. The only thing stamped on the barrel is "Thompson / Center Arms Rochester, New Hampshire CAL 50" I am not even 100% sure if it is a Renegade as I see nothing on the rifle that says "Renegade" However, after seeing pics of Renegades on here and gunbroker I am 99% sure it is. It has a black trigger guard, double set triggers, steel butt plate and a small cleanout screw on the snail(?). It does not have a QLA at the muzzle.
I have some quesions if you don't mind please.

1)I would like to know how old (aprox) this rifle is.The serial # is 120,xxx

Sounds like 80's vintage to me

2)it has a small screw between the triggers what does this screw adjust? should I mess with it?

Adjustment screw for the set trigger...call TC Cust Serv and they''ll send you a free owners manual that covers a lot of things like that plus load data tables;

3)Is this a 1:48 rate of twist barrel?

If it measures 29" from the back of the breech plug to the muzzle it is their standard 1:48" barrel;

4)How do I tell if this has +P wood. The wood appears to be walnut, very shiney with lots of grain showing. very nice looking.

Except for special runs of the Hawken model, I don't know of any special or +P wood used on the Rendgade...however, in the 70's & 80's the wood used in TC's Hawken and Renegade was usually much prettier than that used since then.

5)Lastly, it came with a solid brass ramrod/cleaning rod was this standard? or something purchased aftermarket (it fits perfectly where the ramrod goes).

Aftermarket...TC ramrods were resin imprengnated wood.

Sorry to rant but I am really happy about this purchase...can't wait to fire it.

Thanks in advance,
Dreadnought (Dave)
P.S. BTW, I paid $150 cash for it...very fair I think.

[/quote]

 

[davy]

Any images of the perticular rifle in question Dread? That would nail it for sure!

Davy

 

[jethro224]

Sounds like you got a really good deal and a nice rifle. Enjoy! $150 is cheap. :thumbsup:

Welcome to the Forum! :hatsoff:

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Roundball has got it covered! My two cents is to try FFFg in that thar barrel: .490 ball with a .020 patch in front of 70 gr. of FFFg. This combo works well in my Lyman Trade Rifle yielding x's and 10's at 25-50 yds. A T/C 370 gr. Maxi-Ball is also very flat shooting at 50 yds. with the same charge of 70 gr. Won a turkey with it last November! :winking: All the best, Dave

 

[roundball]

"...If it measures 29" from the back of the breech plug to the muzzle it is their standard 1:48" barrel;[/b]

I need to corrrect my barrel statement...forgot that Renegade barrels are actually an inch shorter than standard Hawken barrels...the standard Renegade barrel should measure 28" from plug to muzzle, not 29", sorry.

 

[ldykeman]

If you want, you can download a copy of the T/C manual "Shooting Thompson/Center Sidelock Black Powder Firearms" here:[url] http://www.tcarms.com/assets/manuals/current/Shooting_TC_Side_Lock_Black_Powder_Guns.pdf[/url]

It is an excellent owner's manual, with a great deal of vital information, and there is a section on adjusting your set trigger.

Larry

 

[faw3]

roundball since you know all that can be known on these, about this one..Except for special runs of the Hawken model, I don't know of any special or +P wood used on the Rendgade...however, in the 70's & 80's the wood used in TC's Hawken and Renegade was usually much prettier than that used since then... mine is a very white wood when I sanded it, any good ideas on how to go back with some color? Fred :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

roundball since you know all that can be known on these, about this one..Except for special runs of the Hawken model, I don't know of any special or +P wood used on the Rendgade...however, in the 70's & 80's the wood used in TC's Hawken and Renegade was usually much prettier than that used since then... mine is a very white wood when I sanded it, any good ideas on how to go back with some color? Fred :hatsoff:

No 'expert' here, just willing to share whatever I've learned from dealing with them.

Well, I don't know how white you're talking about or how dark you want it to be...but from my own personal refinishing work on Hawken stocks, I've come to really like the looks of some of the lighter colored stocks using only Tru-Oil to refinish them...several coats of Tru-Oil by itself darkens a stock significantly and accentuates grain + highlights at the same time.

One time I stained a stock first, then applied several coats of Tru-Oil and the end result was a stock almost black...the grain disappeared from view, etc...I've never used stain again when refinishing a TC factory walnut stock.

One approach might be this...try several coats of Tru-Oil by itself...if you don't like it you can strip it back off fairly easily and go with stain then Tru-Oil.

But if you stain the wood first and it's too dark, it's a lot of trouble to get all that stain color back out...often have to sand it out then you're changing the dimensions of the stock whenever you sand on it.

 

[faw3]

Will try Tru-oil first, dang if I see any grain at all! Thanks much, Fred :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

Will try Tru-oil first, dang if I see any grain at all! Thanks much, Fred :hatsoff:

No grain? Maybe it's not a TC walnut stock.

Maybe it's an aftermarket stock...birch or something...did you buy the rifle new yourself?

 

[davy]

Fred

I did not stain my Renegade stock when I redid it ... Roundball is rite as rain about that! It came pretty nice even if I was the one that did it! :hmm:

Davy

 

[Rick Davis]

From my observations, there are many more variations on this:

Hawkens usually have a bright brass patchbox, a forearm end cap, a curved buttplate and measures 15/16" across the barrel flats. Most appear to be 50 caliber.

Renegades are less ornate than the Hawken. They lack the end cap, measure 1" across the barrel flats, came with & without set triggers and lack a patchbox. They often come factory bored to 54 caliber, but other size & variations are often encountered. The buttplate resembles a much more modern firearm. Because the 1" barrel can be bored out to large sizes, the Renegade is a very popular gun for people who want to switch barrels (and thus) bore sizes quickly. There's a flourishing industry making replacement Renegade barrels even though the Renegade is no longer in production. Since the barrel isn't marked "Renegade", there's good chance it's a Green Mountain or other aftermarket barrel.

Without set trigger (above) and with set trigger (below)

 

[roundball]

The barrel is stamped Thompson / Center Arms, NH...just doesn't have the word Renegade stamped into it...which probably put's its age back before the 90's as I believe they started stamping model names like Hawken and Renegade on barrels in the 90's.

 

[ldykeman]

Just browsing some old posts and found this thread....
As a point of interest, I bought my older .50 Renegade, serial number 177xxx, on 5/4/1983, and it does have "Renegade" stamped into the barrel flat.
Larry

 

[roundball]

Earlier than I thought, good to know...remembering it is the problem :grin:

 

[faw3]

Not sure what the wood is, its a yellow white, has Rengade on barrel and is kit from letter + # inside stock and on barrel K 32,xxx. FRed :hatsoff:

 

[Geraldo]

For what it's worth on the Renegade rollmark, my old Renegade is from the 12XXXX range and is so stamped. IIRC I bought it in 1982.

 

[oldwolf]

Mine has the serial #357255 and it was built in 1992.

 

[faw3]

Do you mean 12,000 or the 12XXXX , a extra X maybe? That would make mine really old and it dont look it unless the kits are #red different, how about it roundball? fred :hatsoff: