Converting T/C Hawken from Perc to Flint?

[NoJacketRequired]

Howdy folks,

It's been a while since I last posted here. The indoor pistol shooting season has been going hot and heavy so that's where my attention has been focused for the last couple of "icey" months.

Now that spring's around the corner (oh ye of little faith, I can assure you that spring WILL come! :: ) I'm thinking about shooting m/l again. A friend of mine has offered me a deal on a T/C Hawken .50 cal percussion gun that was built from a kit. Everything touched by this man is done to the highest standard so although I haven't yet seen it I told him I'd buy it.

Now my question is as follows... The gun has a spare percussion barrel. I'd really like to get a flintlock rifle so I was thinking of acquiring a new barrel with a breachplug made for flint, and acquiring a T/C flint lock. Voila, I'd have me a flintlock! Or am I missing some important details which make this conversion either impossible or stoopid to attempt?

Also - since I'll have a spare barrel, could I just have a flint breech plug put on it by the T/C factory? Of course, you know my next question will be about where I can find a good lock for this rifle too... :hmm:

As always, all helpful comments are greatly appreciated. I'm sure Roundball or some of the other T/C experts will step in and straighten me out.

 

[roundball]

Howdy folks,

It's been a while since I last posted here. The indoor pistol shooting season has been going hot and heavy so that's where my attention has been focused for the last couple of "icey" months.

Now that spring's around the corner (oh ye of little faith, I can assure you that spring WILL come! :: ) I'm thinking about shooting m/l again. A friend of mine has offered me a deal on a T/C Hawken .50 cal percussion gun that was built from a kit. Everything touched by this man is done to the highest standard so although I haven't yet seen it I told him I'd buy it.

Now my question is as follows... The gun has a spare percussion barrel. I'd really like to get a flintlock rifle so I was thinking of acquiring a new barrel with a breachplug made for flint, and acquiring a T/C flint lock. Voila, I'd have me a flintlock! Or am I missing some important details which make this conversion either impossible or stoopid to attempt?

Also - since I'll have a spare barrel, could I just have a flint breech plug put on it by the T/C factory? Of course, you know my next question will be about where I can find a good lock for this rifle too... :hmm:

As always, all helpful comments are greatly appreciated. I'm sure Roundball or some of the other T/C experts will step in and straighten me out.

I've done exactly that...converted TC Hawken percussions to flint...takes a few minutes of tinkering around in the lock mortise to get the flint lock assembly to drop in, and a flint lock + barrel and you'll be all set.

In the past, TC has refused my requests to swap breech plugs saying from a warranty perspective they always want their S/N records for a percussion barrel to be a percussion barrel, etc...but give them a call and see...they have a new President now, maybe he's making some changes.

 

[muzlodr]

It's a whole lot easier going the other direction. I bought a percussion lock and a drum/nipple and in a couple of minutes converted my T/C flinter into a percussion (why I ever wanted to do that I'll never know). But if you start with the perc as you must do it is a tad more detailed. :m2c:

 

[NoJacketRequired]

Thanks RB & Muz,

Methinks the idea of getting a T/C hawken converted to flint sounds like fun. RB made a good point about keeping serial numbers straight, especially since up here we have to register the danged things as firearms if they're percussion. Flinters aren't firearms - can ya imagine that?!?!

RB - are there any other technical "gotchas" I should look out for, like matching the vintage of the original gun to the lock that I buy so they'll fit reasonably well together? I don't want to end up with having to remanufacture the complete stock just because a newer lock doesn't fit an older stock or some other such complication that a neophyte like me would likely run into.

Thanks again for all the help! :master:

 

[NoJacketRequired]

One more dumb question... Since I have a Renegade that doesn't shoot all that well, will a Hawken lock fit the renegade? If so it might be the Renegade that ends up becoming the flinter...

 

[roundball]

One more dumb question... Since I have a Renegade that doesn't shoot all that well, will a Hawken lock fit the renegade? If so it might be the Renegade that ends up becoming the flinter...

Yes, ever since their early Cherokee & Seneca rifles which used smaller size locks, TC uses one size lock and lock mortise for their sidelocks and they fit the Hawken, Renegade, etc, etc.

The one good thing about mass produced manufactured parts is that they're interchangeable, and you won't have to worry about a TC lock fitting TC stocks...however, you do need to buy the correct barrel based upon the stock you use.

IE: Hawken stocks come in two sizes:
Regular size accepts the 15/16" .45/.50cal barrels;
Large size accepts the 1" .54/.58cal barrels;

The Renegade only accepts a 1" barrel (.50/.54/.58cal)

 

[patrick4]

As far as the Renegade that does not shoot well, have you sent it back to T\C to have a look at it? Anytime we have a problem with a ML we send it back and they take care of it pretty quickly. They have given us new barrels, locks, and even stocks for guns that we bought used. Never a problem....