I have a new T/C Hawken Flint in .50 cal.I want a .54 cal.,15/16" drop in barrel but can not seem to find one. I know Green Mt. used to offer them but they no longer offer anything in flint other than .50 cal.Do any of ya'll know where I can find one? Also,I read on here that someone used a .54 Lyman Trade Rifle barrel on a T/C with some "minor file work to the hook",but I don't understand how that could work?Correct me if I'm wrong but I've always heard the T/C had a larger hook than the Lyman and in order to fit a GM barrel to a Lyman Trade Rifle the hook needed to have some material removed.If this is true the Lyman barrel could never work properly on a T/C tang,it would be too loose? (Well I should never say never,maybe welding/soldering on the hook to enlarge it then file it back down but I'd rather not do all that if I can help it)Maybe I should just buy a Trade Rifle? Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!
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Drop in .54 for T/C hawken?
- Thread starter WH .50
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Walks with fire
54 Cal.
There are no flint 15/16" drop ins in .54 caliber to fit your stock. There is no market for such an item I am told. I have been wanting to do it for years but never seem to want to actually pay the price of around 400 bucks to have one made. I even went to the trouble of getting a blank but ended up selling it off at a loss rather than finish the barrel.
What I am suprised at is that percussion barrels are a plenty but no choices in flint. If I had to shoot a percussion rifle I think I would quit; they do absolutely nothing for me.
What I am suprised at is that percussion barrels are a plenty but no choices in flint. If I had to shoot a percussion rifle I think I would quit; they do absolutely nothing for me.
I too find it silly that percussion choices are everywhere and not for flint.I don't know the particulars but I thought about buying a GM drop in and having a machinst friend (or carefully fitting it myself)installing a new flint breech plug into the barrel.It shouldn't be too hard to de-breech an unfired barrel?
A lot of people feel that a .54 in a 15/16" barrel may be unsafe. I don't know that it is or isn't. But, personally, I would err on the side of caution and not build such a combo. TC and GM may be taking a similar cautious approach by not offering it.
If that were the case,I would think that they would not offer it in any configuration but you can buy them in percussion all day long,just not in flint.I would not think the pressures would be much different from flint to percussion,if anything I would think flint may be less?
WH.50 said:
It may be safe. But it is less than the comfort level for many.
GM barrels are outstanding...they made 15/16" x .54cal drop-ins for the T/C Hawkens for years and years...you'll learn to put a filter in your ears when reading unsubstantiated comments from unknown sources...ignore any random inferences from strangers on the Internet implying that GM's .54cal barrels might somehow be considered unsafe...GM knows their barrel business better than anybody here in this thread, that's for sure.
As testimony to their barrel quality and knowledge, I can't imagine how many 10's of thousands of them there are out there...at my high water mark with T/C Hawkens, I had two GM 15/16" x .54cal Flint smoothbore barreled Hawkens set up...one for shot loads, the other for deer loads...took several of each with both of them.
As my favorites, they were the very last of all my Hawkens that I finally let go of when I transitioned to full stock long guns...the new North Carolina owner of this GM 15/16" x .54cal Flint smoothbore barreled Hawken is carrying right on...
As testimony to their barrel quality and knowledge, I can't imagine how many 10's of thousands of them there are out there...at my high water mark with T/C Hawkens, I had two GM 15/16" x .54cal Flint smoothbore barreled Hawkens set up...one for shot loads, the other for deer loads...took several of each with both of them.
As my favorites, they were the very last of all my Hawkens that I finally let go of when I transitioned to full stock long guns...the new North Carolina owner of this GM 15/16" x .54cal Flint smoothbore barreled Hawken is carrying right on...
Thanks for the vote of confidence Roundball. I will figure out something soon,maybe I'll just have to keep an eye out for something used in good shape.Not much available around here in terms of traditional muzzleloaders,I was really hoping to buy something new.The search continues..... :grin:
I know there are many guns of all kinds out there not made to specs some consider safe. I have heard the "it ain't blowed up yet" thing many-many times. (I love the "yet" part.) I also know, quite well, that the type of steel in a barrel is of utmost importance for safety. (in the 'old days', 1970s-80s) steels on many imports were made of sometimes mysterious substances and safety, on some, was only a matter of faith) I am also familiar with the old Dixie catalog showing a section of barrel sealed at both ends not blowing up when filled with bp.
But, still, the walls on a 15/16" barrel bored to .54 cal. are, to my eyes, scary thin. In the event of careless loading there is little margin for safety. I was conditioned to think that way and it is a hard thing to shake where safety is involved.
But, still, the walls on a 15/16" barrel bored to .54 cal. are, to my eyes, scary thin. In the event of careless loading there is little margin for safety. I was conditioned to think that way and it is a hard thing to shake where safety is involved.
Pedersoli makes the Blue Ridge in .54 with a 7/8ths inch barrel...........That makes for a really thin wall. Mirage is definately a problem on the one I had. Seems I remember reading that Pedersoli said it was made of some special steel. Still I wouldnt want to dimple the dovetails to tighten sights up for fear of dimpling the inside of the barrel. Still it shot good and was light to carry for sure.
Bob
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Bob
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peter hawbaker
40 Cal.
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Percussion barrels can be converted to flint without swapping breechplugs. The "snail" needs to be cut off, filed smooth, percussion vent plugged and a new vent drilled for flint. I have done this with a TC New Englander, and so have a few other guys on here. There is a thread on the gunbuilders forum that details this, personally I think it should be a sticky, as this subject comes up so often.
As for a 15/16th .54 barrel being unsafe ? I call BS on that. There are lots of 15/16th .54s out there, anything that would blow one of those would likely blow any barrel.
So, if you can find a drop in percussion barrel, and if you are handy with hand tools, it is pretty easy to convert it to a flint barrel without a breech swap. I will try to find the thread where a few of us were converting percussion barrels to flint.
EDIT: I found the old thread. Here it is:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/243131/post/815199/#815199
If you read this, you can see how simple it is to convert a percussion barrel to flint. My New Englander conversion is still going strong, the breech area on these (TC and GM) is plenty thick, I cant imagine the plug ever blowing out. Some percussion breechs were drilled straight through and the off side plugged in the same manner from the factory.
As for a 15/16th .54 barrel being unsafe ? I call BS on that. There are lots of 15/16th .54s out there, anything that would blow one of those would likely blow any barrel.
So, if you can find a drop in percussion barrel, and if you are handy with hand tools, it is pretty easy to convert it to a flint barrel without a breech swap. I will try to find the thread where a few of us were converting percussion barrels to flint.
EDIT: I found the old thread. Here it is:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/243131/post/815199/#815199
If you read this, you can see how simple it is to convert a percussion barrel to flint. My New Englander conversion is still going strong, the breech area on these (TC and GM) is plenty thick, I cant imagine the plug ever blowing out. Some percussion breechs were drilled straight through and the off side plugged in the same manner from the factory.
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Walks with fire
54 Cal.
You can call Tip Curtis but he can't do anything because he doesn't have or know how to use a lathe. At any rate he doesn't do it. He will try to sell you one of his custom rifles. I called him already about doing one for me.
I do know Pecatonica will build you one but it will be in the white and I never did get a full price on it. The blanks alone are 145 bucks now, add in lugs,thimbles,plug,sights,machining,and your browning/blueing costs plus shipping and it gets a bit pricy when a .50 is good to go much cheaper. I wouldn't be concerned about it being safe as long as you kept the charge levels under GM's top load recommendations of 110 3f/120 2f.
Converting a GM .54 15/16 to flint can be done by McCandless tool if you ship the stock to him. He will machine a flint plug on his lathe, fit it to the barrel and drill and tap the vent for around 100 bucks plus shipping both ways. No matter what you do you will have at least 400 bucks in a barrel that can be had in percussion for half that.
I do know Pecatonica will build you one but it will be in the white and I never did get a full price on it. The blanks alone are 145 bucks now, add in lugs,thimbles,plug,sights,machining,and your browning/blueing costs plus shipping and it gets a bit pricy when a .50 is good to go much cheaper. I wouldn't be concerned about it being safe as long as you kept the charge levels under GM's top load recommendations of 110 3f/120 2f.
Converting a GM .54 15/16 to flint can be done by McCandless tool if you ship the stock to him. He will machine a flint plug on his lathe, fit it to the barrel and drill and tap the vent for around 100 bucks plus shipping both ways. No matter what you do you will have at least 400 bucks in a barrel that can be had in percussion for half that.
Yes, and to make a general comment...the main problem that's become obvious over the years on forums like this, is that many people make comments in a manner that suggest some sort of well established industry substantiated fact, when in virtually all of those instances, nothing could be further from the truth.roklok said:
And its a very rare case where such postings are based on posters even owning such an item, much less having developed decades of experience with them or can point to any official industry source substantiating such claims.
If it wasn't for my commitment not to spend any new money on new guns, I would have kept both of those GM .54cal Flint smoothbore Hawkens, indeed because they were so outstanding...
I bought one of the .54 smootbores for $100.00 from GM when they were phasing them out. With tight patched ball out to about 50 yds, it will hold its own with a rifle.
For shooting shot, I later removed the sights and just installed a bead on the front, but it is pretty heavy carry for a scatter gun.
I would switch barrels on a used older style stocked flint TC I picked up years ago. Someone in the past had replaced OEM barrel with a 32 inch .45 caliber Orion barrel and it is a jewel for accuracy,
For shooting shot, I later removed the sights and just installed a bead on the front, but it is pretty heavy carry for a scatter gun.
I would switch barrels on a used older style stocked flint TC I picked up years ago. Someone in the past had replaced OEM barrel with a 32 inch .45 caliber Orion barrel and it is a jewel for accuracy,
Walks with fire
54 Cal.
I would think that 15/16" .45 barrel was a bit heavy as well if it was 32" long. What strikes me as odd is that all those flint barrels that were made in the past for TC drop-ins never show up anywhere for sale. I look on E-bay and many forms of classifieds for flint barrels and never see anything other than .50 caliber.
