Free TC Hawken 45cal

[OldSmoky1967]

Man, that is a beautiful rifle! Great job!

 

[ElkStalker]

Man, that is a beautiful rifle! Great job!

Thank you Sir!

 

[stikshooter]

Before I bore-lapped that barrel, I would shoot it to see how it performs. Many old timers used bore butter to "season" the barrel. Turns the bore dark, but shoots just fine.

Modern steel (doesn't season )'works great on cast iron frying pans thou! But forget bore butter an use bear oil , it's great for seasoning and donuts /Ed

 

[OldSmoky1967]

I agree. But, I use unsalted lard, as it is easier to come by. Works for donuts, too!

 

[Harmonica Bob]

My brother sent me a TC Hawken 45cal a few months ago. His father-in-law left it at is place years ago. That in itself is a long story. My brother doesn’t shoot BP. When the rifle got here I looked it over. One side was severely weathered. The wood had shrunk, was extremely rough and the finish gone. The other side was decent. But over all, the wood and metal fit wasn’t good. The bore had surface rust and thought she was a goner.
I scrubbed the bore with Kroil and OOOO steel wool. It cleaned up quickly and I can’t find any real pitting to speak of. I plan to lap it with JB bore paste just because the bore is dark.
I sanded down all of the wood, reshaped the but plate slightly on the left side and addressed all of the metal to wood fitment. Walnut stain and 8 coats of true oil. I polished all of the brass. I had planned on dulling the finish and blacking all of the brass, but it tuned out so nice, I’m not sure I’m going to do that now. It is ready to go to the range once I get a few supplies.
I’m really not sure what I’m going to do with it, but 45cal is allowed for deer where I am. Maybe I’ll see if I can find an accurate low powder load for Hare and other small game.
I foolishly forgot to take any pictures of what it looked like beforehand. My brother didn’t believe it was the same rifle.

Dear Elk Stalker, That is a great story! For me the TC rifles were no big deal because everyone in the woods had one! Rice makes drop in barrels for your rifle. I wore out my origional barrel, probably from the fiberglass rod. I got a drop in barrel over 30 years ago. The TC maxi hunter bullet will probably shoot better than round balls. The rb's usually shoot good with a light load. The shallow button rifleing, 1 in 48 is supposed to be a compromise. Just cause a barrel is supposed to like a certain bullet, or ball, doesn't mean that it will! lol Good luck!

 

[ElkStalker]

Dear Elk Stalker, That is a great story! For me the TC rifles were no big deal because everyone in the woods had one! Rice makes drop in barrels for your rifle. I wore out my origional barrel, probably from the fiberglass rod. I got a drop in barrel over 30 years ago. The TC maxi hunter bullet will probably shoot better than round balls. The rb's usually shoot good with a light load. The shallow button rifleing, 1 in 48 is supposed to be a compromise. Just cause a barrel is supposed to like a certain bullet, or ball, doesn't mean that it will! lol Good luck!

I have been looking for a Rice barrel for my 50cal Renegade, but doesn’t look like there are any drop in barrels on his website. My Renegade is a tack driver with patched round ball, but I’ve been having a real hard time getting it to group conicals. A very kind gentleman on this platform is sending me some Accurate mold I-bullets to try out. Hopefully those do the trick.

 

[Greg_E]

Have you tried the Lee REAL in any of those rifles? They claim that they work in 1:60 twist, but I haven't tried them in that yet. I was getting decent accuracy in my 1:48 twist. I need to cast more, got a lighter 50, and got a 45 mold. The 45 rifle is an old CVA with a 1:60 barrel, but that mold also has a .440 round ball cavity so at least half of it can be used.

As far as JB bore paste, other than time spent on the work, can't really do harm but might do some good. If you want faster cutting, use White Diamond metal polish. The White Diamond is my go to lately.

 

[ElkStalker]

Have you tried the Lee REAL in any of those rifles? They claim that they work in 1:60 twist, but I haven't tried them in that yet. I was getting decent accuracy in my 1:48 twist. I need to cast more, got a lighter 50, and got a 45 mold. The 45 rifle is an old CVA with a 1:60 barrel, but that mold also has a .440 round ball cavity so at least half of it can be used.

As far as JB bore paste, other than time spent on the work, can't really do harm but might do some good. If you want faster cutting, use White Diamond metal polish. The White Diamond is my go to lately.

I have yet to shoot the 45. Waiting until hunting season is over. I shot the Lee REAL bullet in my Renegade 50 and a whole slough of other bullets. The REAL bullet shot the best. Then I realized it was in bad need of a recrown. Now that the crown is fixed and it’s shooting really well with PRB’s, I have not tried the REAL bullet. I have 3 left, so I could shoot a group. But sadly I don’t have a source for them anymore. I just need to need get set up to cast my own. I think it will solve a lot problems and would save some money in the long run.

 

[smoothshooter]

Thank you for the advice! I’ll keep that in mind while I’m working up a load for it. My problem is, I think I have too many of the same, or similar, calibers. I currently own a Lyman Great Plains Rifle 50cal RB twist, TC Hawken 50cal, TC Renegade 50cal, and the Hawken in 45 now. So far, the Renegade and Hawken 50’s prefer PRB’s, so I have a ton of round ball shooters. This leaves some holes in my “needs”. I am trying to figure out the best solution to that problem. I’m not made of money so I’ll have to let some go if I want to get something bigger. I will likely spend some time with these this winter and come up with a plan for next hunting season. My Renegade isn’t going anywhere, but I either need to buy a fast twist conical barrel for my Lyman, or find a larger caliber round ball gun as well as a shotgun. Then my hunting needs will be covered. Surprisingly, my Renegade shoots tighter groups with a round ball from its 1:48 twist than my Lamyans 1:60. I think I need to go tighter yet on a patch on this one. 50yrd group from my Renegade-4 shots. First one was a flyer because I stupidly cleaned the barrel first - it doesn’t like that. Lol

If that is a typical group at that distance, I would not change anything.

 

[Greg_E]

Hmmm... Maybe I'll cast a bunch of extras and figure what they are worth. Lead is running $2.26 a pound after shipping, do you think people would pay $7 or $8 for 25 of them plus $10 for shipping as many as will fit in a small flat rate box? Might get 150 to 200 rounds in this box. Would people pay more for powder coated? I like not having lead all over my hands so powder coat is my thing.

I normally cast until my wrist hurts, normally around a hundred from the Lee molds, less from my Lyman steel mold.

 

[ElkStalker]

If that is a typical group at that distance, I would not change anything.

If it was strictly a deer rifle, I’d be tickled pink. Unfortunately, I bought it to hunt elk and haven’t had much luck getting it to shoot conicals. I may just need to save my penny’s and buy a larger caliber RB rifle. I have a few more bullets to try before I have to make any decisions. I was real surprised how well it shoots round balls. I haven’t gotten these kind of groups consistently with my Lyman GPR yet.

 

[ElkStalker]

Hmmm... Maybe I'll cast a bunch of extras and figure what they are worth. Lead is running $2.26 a pound after shipping, do you think people would pay $7 or $8 for 25 of them plus $10 for shipping as many as will fit in a small flat rate box? Might get 150 to 200 rounds in this box. Would people pay more for powder coated? I like not having lead all over my hands so powder coat is my thing.

I normally cast until my wrist hurts, normally around a hundred from the Lee molds, less from my Lyman steel mold.

I have zero experience with shooting powder coated bullets in a muzzleloader. Where I am, they aren’t legal for hunting. As for the pure lead bullets, that would be a good price. Shipping is nuts right now, but you can use the small USPS Priority boxes and ship for around $.950. I think guys would still save money at this total cost. I can’t quite remember what I paid but I think it was around $15 for 20, bought locally so there was t any shipping to contend with.
Cast Maxi-balls from October country are $16 for 20 plus shipping. I bought these local as well. I had to cull half of them as they should have been tossed back in the pot.
So yes, I think that’s a very good price, especially if quality was uniform and cast correctly.

 

[azmntman]

TRY HORNADY GREAT PLAINS bullets. They shoot the best in EVERY ONE of my rifles.

 

[ElkStalker]

TRY HORNADY GREAT PLAINS bullets. They shoot the best in EVERY ONE of my rifles.

What powder charge have you found to be best in your 1:48 rifles?
I have tried up to 80grains of both 2F and 3F Goex. With and without over-powder wads. They leaded my barrel like crazy and required cleaning between shots. It was hell getting them down the barrel. My best group with them in the Renegade was 4” at 50yds. At 100yds, groups were terrible. Not all shots would even hit paper. The ones that hit paper had signs that they were tumbling. This would explain the accuracy issues. I almost wonder if I’m not pushing them with enough powder, but I was advised not to exceed 80gr with a conical in the 1:48 twist. I’ve shot the Hornady GP 385’s in a Lyman Great Plains Hunter and they were absolute tack drivers, and were very easy to feed down the barrel. (I should have never sold that rifle). The Hornady bullets do feed a bit better in my Hawken but are still not that great.

 

[azmntman]

50 cal 70 gr. .54 cal 80 gr .58 85 grain. Mostly Traditions and CVA as well as a TC and GPR. NEVER had a leading issue in 50 years of BP shooting myself?

I mostly shoot PRB now though.

 

[Greg_E]

If you decide to buy a mold, the Lee stuff is very easy to get working correctly. You'd need a 420 pot at around $80, plus a mold at average of $40. I say the 420 electric pot because big rounds use lead really fast, the smaller pot will require a lot more time refilling and waiting to come back up to temperature. I also recommend a Lyman digital lead thermometer for around $35 and a used laboratory hot plate to preheat molds. The hot plate is not required, but it improved my keepers by a decent amount.

I'll see what I can get made and maybe post a for sale ad.

 

[stikshooter]

What powder charge have you found to be best in your 1:48 rifles?
I have tried up to 80grains of both 2F and 3F Goex. With and without over-powder wads. They leaded my barrel like crazy and required cleaning between shots. It was hell getting them down the barrel. My best group with them in the Renegade was 4” at 50yds. At 100yds, groups were terrible. Not all shots would even hit paper. The ones that hit paper had signs that they were tumbling. This would explain the accuracy issues. I almost wonder if I’m not pushing them with enough powder, but I was advised not to exceed 80gr with a conical in the 1:48 twist. I’ve shot the Hornady GP 385’s in a Lyman Great Plains Hunter and they were absolute tack drivers, and were very easy to feed down the barrel. (I should have never sold that rifle). The Hornady bullets do feed a bit better in my Hawken but are still not that great.

My accuracy/hunting load is 90 gr OE 3F in my Renegades 54 cal /80 in my 50 1-48 with Dura Felt wad/ Lyman Plains pure just sayin Ed

 

[Greg_E]

Several people have said that if conicals are shooting poorly, use a lubed oversize wad between powder and bullet.

 

[user 55555]

Nice Rifle.

 

[ElkStalker]

Several people have said that if conicals are shooting poorly, use a lubed oversize wad between powder and bullet.

I use Ox yoke 54 cal OP wads in my 50cal. They shrunk my groups significantly with the 370gr Maxi-ball - 100yrd groups are 2-3”. OP wads didn’t seem to make a difference with the Hornady GP 385gr. Those bullets just don’t want to shoot, so far, in my rifle.