De-modernizing the T/C Hawken

[JKVirginia]

Well, I've reached the point where the shiny blue, brass, and glossy wooden stock of my TC rifle makes my hair stand on end... I'm no period correct nazi, but nonetheless, I'd like something that's a bit less "glow-in-the-dark" to game when hunting....

So I'm thinking about primitve-izing the old girl. Strip the finish out of the stock, rub her down with many coats of linseed oil. de-blue the barrel and brown it up instead. And the one I can't do myself (easily,anyway) replace as much of the brass fittings as possible with either color-case hardened or in-the-white iron. (If the latter, I'd like to work it to a nice old-wrought-iron black sort of color)

Anyone think this sounds like a good project, or am I off my rocker? And if I'm not off my rocker, can anyone recommend a good place to scare up the iron hardware? Or hell, even a good way to antique-up the brass a bit

 

[Trot]

I think The Hawken Shop has a set of iron hardware they call a conversion kit for the TC Hawken.

 

[Darkhorse]

Try rubbing that shiney brass with a dirty cleaning patch thats got a good bit of fouling on it. Do this a few times and then see if the color of the brass now suits you. This will be much easier and cheaper than replacing all those fittings.

 

you can also buy brass black from Track of the Wolf or any number of parts and smithing suppliers. Also, you can etch the barrel and make it look reeeeeeeally antique and reeeeeeally cool, but it's going to take some guts on your part.


This is actually an excerpt from a piece I'm doing for the February Buckskinner....enjoy! I added some stuff to it for you here, mainly because you're using a percussion gun with an already blued barrel.

1) strip the blue off of your barrel and polish it nice and bright.
2) find a 1/4 28 machine screw for you nipple snail, or use a crappy old nipple and drive a toothpick into as far as it will go
3) form a wooden plug to fit your barrel. Start with the next size larger dowel and turn it to a point. Wrap it with teflon tape and drive into the barrel with a mallet until it's nice and tight.
4) get a 5 foot length of PVC pipe and glue a cap into one end.
5) get a stock pot that you'll never use for anything ever again.
6) go OUTSIDE and boil a gallon of bleach over a turkey fryer or hotplate or something of that nature.
7) Spray that shiny barrel with perma-Blue from a plant sprayer bottle. This will make little spots and stuff. the barrel will, of course, turn nice and blue but be splotchy...this is a good thing.
8) slide the plugged barrel into the tube.
9) take a deep breath
10) put a funnel into the top of the tube and pick up the boiling bleach
11) turn your head away and take another deep breath
12) pour boiling bleach into the tube until full
13) go have a cigarette. if you don't smoke, you might want to start, because....
14) in about 10 minutes, remove your rusty, crusty, nasty looking barrel that looks like you just ruined it by leaving it in the rain for 75 years.
15) take a deep breath and remember that you MEANT to do this.
16) dry the barrel and remove the surface rust with a rag. The metal will be black and pitted, and you'll be scared, keep going.
17) take some 000 steel wool and start really scrubbing. You'll now notice that the barrel is fine, but that the bleach has etched little lines and small pits into the barrel.
18) breath easier, knowing that you didn't ruin the gun.
19) scrub the barrel with baking soda to halt the process. Oil the barrel afterwards with your favorite gun oil.
20) re-install barrel and go show it off to your friends.

We're running the whole process in the Feb issue, including making the stock all nice and beat up to match the barrel. Enjoy!

Stumblin

 

[Brazos]

Somebody, Birchwood Casey maybe, sells a product called Brass Black or something like that. I haven't tried it, but have considered doing something like that to my TC. Of course Darkhorse probably has the best solution, dirty cleaning patches.

 

[noahmercy]

Sounds like worthwile undertaking. If you choose to put steel furniture on it, you could brown it to match your barrel. Have fun and be sure to keep us updated. :thumbsup:

 

If you decide to go "one step further", TOTW also have full-stocks fer T/C's last I knew.

YMHS
rollingb

 

[Hud]

October Country Muzzleloading sells a Iron Kit for the T/C. I Have been contmeplating this myself for my T/C. The only thing I have yet to find is a Iron Patch box??? If you decide to go this route, please let us know how it turns out, I would be very interested.. :hmm: You should also find some Iron escutcheons, an iron wedge (I think you should be able to buy a Renegade wedge from T/C), and Iron ramrod pipes. A place like TOTW would carry the latter.

By the way, here is the link to October Country http://www.octobercountry.com/products3.php?productid=115

 

[JKVirginia]

I may have to look up a local blacksmith if I decide to go all-iron, cuz I've not been able to find a patchbox either. Either that or rework the inlet in the stock, and that makes me nervous like a painted lady in church.

The parts kit from October Country looks much like the one from the Hawken Shop actually.

Thanks for all the good pointers, if I decide to go for it I'll try to post some before and after pics.

Stumbles, I dunno if I'm brave enough to chlorine my barrel, I might drop over of a coronary at seeing it rusty like old grand-dad's sickle mower he's had for fifty years.

Anyone know anything about the Laurel Mountain Forge browner/degreaser? The hype sounds good on it, but I like personal recommendations when I can get 'em. Comparisons to the BC Plum Brown?

Just for the information, I'm not trying to age my rifle to the "out in the weather for fifty years" point. Maybe a lovingly maintained gun manufactured a few years ago by old techniques.

Thanks for all the input!

Jon

 

[CrackStock]

Laurel Mountain seems to take a long time and can leave a coppery bronze tint to the brown.

I will look for other options on my next browning project -- if I bother to do brown in the future. Which brings up a thought, what is wrong with simply stripping the blue and then leaving an arsenal bright finish to age on its own through handling? I believe this to be a more period correct method anyway.

I did that on a Lancaster. It went to an interesting gray and looks better than my Tennesee which I worked on for days to get browned.

YMHS,
CrackStock

 

[JKVirginia]

That's a thought too, though part of this exercise is to cut down on the reflectivity of the gun so it doesn't draw the attention of the critters that are destined for my stew.

I guess if I wire-brushed the bare steel a bit to kind of matte the finish, it could be feasible...

 

[Zonie]

JKV: If you use Navel Jelly, it will strip the blueing and leave a very fine matt surface behind. It might be just what your looking for.

 

Browning a barrel doesn't take as long as one may think.
I rubed it with vinegar hung it up by the tang hole and let mother nature take her course. The Acid in vinegar got the browing started and good ole ACID rain will do the trick in a few days.

Woody

 

[Nightwind]

I would take the old T/C rifle and sand blast all the hardware. Wipe all the brassworks with dirty patches to a dull brown. Then use any acidic liquid (strong vinegar)on the barrel. Rub off the shine on the stock with a scoth brite pad.

 

[RussB]

This may be what you are looking for......

PB-HAWK-1-I Hawken Rifle Capbox Kit, wax cast steel, 3-3/4" overall length . . . $17.95

TOTW does carry it. BTW that part number is PB-HAWK-1-I (i...not another 1)

Russ

 

[Pat S]

This is actually an excerpt from a piece I'm doing for the February Buckskinner....enjoy! I added some stuff to it for you here, mainly because you're using a percussion gun with an already blued barrel.
...
Stumblin

Got any pics of this process or the end product? Sounds like a fun science project

Pat

 

[bob1961]

i used birchwood casey perma blue to patina my brass on my T/C hawken and also did the barrel with the perma blue to get the look of blotchy gray blue..............bob

 

This is actually an excerpt from a piece I'm doing for the February Buckskinner....enjoy! I added some stuff to it for you here, mainly because you're using a percussion gun with an already blued barrel.
...
Stumblin

Got any pics of this process or the end product? Sounds like a fun science project

Pat

pictures will be in the upcoming issue, but I think that I am going to have Webmistress put a picture of the Tulle in question up on the website. I'll let you know. Mine turned out great...I went to the local gun shop and looked up some old Enfields and some Turkish Mausers from the 30's and 40's and mine actually looks WORSE...he he he...I love it.

:results:

 

[JKVirginia]

Okay, I've snapped a few Before pictures for frame of reference and started going to work. Here's what I've decided on at this point;

Barrel--Strip down with naval jelly, lightly sand if necessary, and allow the in-the-white matte metal to age as it will under a light coat of grease. With luck I'll get the mottled deep grey of an aged carbon-steel knife blade (eyeballs his "Ol' Hickory" butcher knife)

Stock--Strip that &$%@@#%$# Polyurethane finish out of it. Sand it out and raise the really bad dings, but leave enough in for character. splotch-stain it with a water-based stain a few shades darker in the heavy handling areas (cheek-piece, grip, forearm,) and more lightly elsewhere. Then rub in linseed oil til I get tired or the missus says she'll leave me if I don't get my nose out of that damned hunk of wood

Lock-- Leave it the heck alone--The color case is the ONLY thing I like about the gun as is lol

Brass parts--Blacken them with brass black or permablue

Any thoughts before I perform surgery? I'll post some pics when I'm through

 

[nirom]

I used this method to age the brass on mine You'll need a container that you can seal tightly, some amonia, and a copper pipe cap. Suspend the brass parts inside the container.Pour some amonia into the copper cap place it in the containerand seal it. This tarnishes the brass real dark,use fine steel wool to lighten it up :thumbsup: