New-old Stock T/C Hawken Kit Pics and hopefully some tips from the pros!

[FlintHunter1987]

Hello!
New here to the site, but not to Flintlocks. Was able to score this gun on Gunbroker and it's on its way to me.

Will be my first kit I've ever put together. I'm very familiar with flintlocks and a pretty good woodworker, but any do's or dont's I should know when finishing?

It appears from all my research to be new old stock from about 1995 to 1996. I have high quality, close up pics and its in 100% condition.

I always wanted one of these! Lucky to stumble across it but i had to $$ for it also haha! Thanks in advance!

 

[GANGGREEN]

Looks nice. If you have some woodworking skills, you'll be fine with this, just go slowly and be a bit of a perfectionist and you'll end up with a flintlock rifle that's better than the stock TC Hawkens (which isn't true of most folks who end up building a kit).

 

[Grenadier1758]

Be sure to blend the wood along the top line of the stock to barrel channel. That should be tapered with very little of the flat shown. My T/C Hawken has the flat edge and is an indication that this was my first kit build. Get the book, "Gunsmith of Grenville County". While more oriented to building a gun from a plank of wood and assorted parts it will help on the setting up of the lock and triggers as well as setting the butt plate. Take your time and use sharp hand tools. The walnut stock will darken up nicely with an oil finish with no need to apply stain, just a good stock oil such as Birchwood Casey's True Oil will finish it off nicely.

 

[westrayer]

I was under the impression that the kits did not have blueing done.

 

[FlintHunter1987]

Be sure to blend the wood along the top line of the stock to barrel channel. That should be tapered with very little of the flat shown. My T/C Hawken has the flat edge and is an indication that this was my first kit build. Get the book, "Gunsmith of Grenville County". While more oriented to building a gun from a plank of wood and assorted parts it will help on the setting up of the lock and triggers as well as setting the butt plate. Take your time and use sharp hand tools. The walnut stock will darken up nicely with an oil finish with no need to apply stain, just a good stock oil such as Birchwood Casey's True Oil will finish it off nicely.

Thank you! Very helpful. I took two years of woodworking in vo tech in high school and the #1 rule was always sand, sand, sand, taper taper taper. So that makes sense. I've since built my own house and done a lot of woodworking to hone my skills, but lately I've been doing a lot of primitive wood. This is obviously more traditional and will need lots of sanding and a perfect finish. Thanks for the tips on birchwood casey! I have a few guns to refinish, so I stocked up! Going to do an older gun that doesn't matter to me as much. This is what I gathered up:

 

[Grenadier1758]

Search on the Forum for information on the old versus new T/C Hawken flint locks. The old style has poor lock geometry and leads to reliability issues. You can get a replacement cock and frizzen to improve function.

As @westrayer notes, the early kits had barrels in the white. I browned my barrel.

 

[FlintHunter1987]

I was under the impression that the kits did not have blueing done.

So, through my research, I've came to the conclusion that somewhere in the late 80's to early 90's they started coming with the blueing done. They were a more complete kit to start. My two guesses would be, 1) most people lacked the skills necessary to do the entire process the longer time went on? 2) They could charge more money for the kit, along with catching a new customer.

I wouldn't have minded a non-blued kit. But, I never found one. I've been looking on and off for a few years. Maybe looking in the wrong spot. The percussion you can find all the time, the flintlocks- much more rare.

 

[FlintHunter1987]

Search on the Forum for information on the old versus new T/C Hawken flint locks. The old style has poor lock geometry and leads to reliability issues. You can get a replacement cock and frizzen to improve function.

As @westrayer notes, the early kits had barrels in the white. I browned my barrel.

Thanks! I actually stumbled across this already. I am unsure if this kit has the old or new style lock until I get it. Without knowing it's exact year and obviously with t/c being out of business and no records from the fire, not sure how I'd know until I get it. Unless you can tell? I saw some good comparison photos but still unclear if this one has new or old.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The barrels in the newer kits were blued.

A few things I did on an older kit; define the lock panels and don't leave them too wide.

Inlet the brass level with the wood, I even sunk the trigger guard a little deeper.

Round the wrist and forearm, they are a bit slab sided as they come in the kit. Make the area where the wood meets the barrel 1/8" wide over the lock quickly tapering to 1/16" from the front of the lock to the nose cap. Round the forearm from the wedge pin into this 1/16" shelf. There is some glare that looks like a wider place in the wood at the barrel but it is really just about a knife edge.

I reshaped the cheek piece and lowered the comb; this would be optional and not work for a novice.

Here is a biggie; TC trigger bars as rough as a country road, before I smoothed this trigger the front trigger pull was 9#. I polished two of these triggers, one went from 9# to 6#, the other from 6# to 3#. I sanded the front trigger bar smooth and polished it with a buffing wheel, I did the same to the sear.

Before

After

The way the finished lock panel looks; another thing, make your tang and the wood the same level, not proud and not sunken in.

 

[FlintHunter1987]

The barrels in the newer kits were blued.

A few things I did on an older kit; define the lock panels and don't leave them too wide.

View attachment 379208

Inlet the brass level with the wood, I even sunk the trigger guard a little deeper.

View attachment 379210

Round the wrist and forearm, they are a bit slab sided as they come in the kit. Make the area where the wood meets the barrel 1/8" wide over the lock quickly tapering to 1/16" from the front of the lock to the nose cap. Round the forearm from the wedge pin into this 1/16" shelf. Ther is some glare that looks like a wider place in the wood at the barrel but it is really just about a knife edge.

View attachment 379211

I reshaped the cheek piece and lowered the comb; this would be optional and not work for a novice.

View attachment 379212

Here is a biggie; TC trigger bars as rough as a country road, before I smoothed this trigger the front trigger pull was 9#. I polished two of these triggers, one went from 9# to 6#, the other from 6# to 3#. I sanded the front trigger bar smooth and polished with a buffing wheel, I did the same to the sear.

Before

View attachment 379213

After

View attachment 379214

Thank you! That is extremely helpful. I like the brass level with the wood! I have a really good set of chisels I'll use. I Just better be careful. If I were to mess up at all around the mortise or any of the brass plates, any tips for fixing it?

 

[Ditt44]

So "you" are that guy! hmmm. LOL kidding. Good for you. Great advice so far. The older locks, which you have (mine is from 1990/91) are what some people have issues with. My Renegade does pretty well as is. Of the TCs I have, only my PA Hunter has the newer design, which is 'full' and not 'notched'.

I just trolled up Eric's older post showing the difference: TC old vs new design

 

[Eric Krewson]

the picture of the finished lock mortis has a grain line that makes it look like the upper mortis is standing proud of the wood around it, it isn't. You should have flat sloping wood from the tang to the lock side of the upper mortis.

Here is a picture of this wood shaping;

 

[Eric Krewson]

The best advice is not to use a Dremel for any inletting unless you are very experienced at carving wood with one. The standard bits that come with a Dremel will cut too aggressively and get away from you, gouging the wood in the process and really messing up your inlet.

You can fix inletting goof-ups by gluing in a small piece of wood and starting over. I did glue in paper thin shims of wood that I cut with a plane to fill the gap but these are very visible like in the tail of the L&R RPL lock below. Of course you have to use the same type of wood, I have harvested this filler wood from under the butt plate.

Filled with glue and thin shims, it doesn't look good.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Now I prefer a solid piece of oversized wood glued into the inlet and re-inletted for the part to fit.

Here is an extreme example, the pre-carve had really bad lock inlet.

Lock inletted

Finished repair, I drew in the stripes with leather dye, the maple I used for the patch didn't have any figure, the stock was red maple, the patch was sugar maple.

 

[FlintHunter1987]

Now I prefer a solid piece of oversized wood glued into the inlet and re-inletted for the part to fit.

Here is an extreme example, the pre-carve had really bad lock inlet.

View attachment 379470

Lock inletted

View attachment 379471

Finished repair, I drew in the stripes with leather dye, the maple I used for the patch didn't have any figure, the stock was red maple, the patch was sugar maple.

View attachment 379473

Thanks man, I really appreciate it! I definitely didn't plan on using a Dremel, I've had way to many bad experiences with one haha. I have really good wood chisels, and picked up a wood rasp set. I have a bunch of sandpaper, plus bought some sanding blocks in varying grit from 80 to 400 grit, I've always wanted to try those, so I'll give them a shot on this. I also have a couple manual hand planers and lots of other miscellaneous items I'm sure I'll end up using. Woodworking itself doesn't scare me, but messing it up does lol. I would choose the glue in method if anything goes crazy wrong, I've used that before on other projects. I've built an entire oak gun 12 gun, gun cabinet once start to finish- made all the crown molding, made all the drawers, handles, raised panel doors and inlet the glass myself. It was fun! I'm no master but my wood working level is pretty high compared to the average joe, but sub par compared to a finish carpenter. Amongst hundreds of other small projects I've completed, I've framed and drywalled my house so I'm not sure why this scares me... I just want it perfect! I shoot most of my deer with flintlock, prefer the challenge and I want this to by my showpiece gun for stand hunting, ill carry my other ones when hard hunting.

 

[Eric Krewson]

You will do well; every time you get the urge to grab something that cuts faster put down your tools and take a coffee break.

You can always make a cutting tool you need out of concrete nails. I had trouble getting the nose inlet for a late Ketland lock neatly cut with the gouges that I had so, I made a tool to do the job (and a lot of others)

Good fit;

I made a lot of scrapers to get into tight spots as well.

 

[sportster73hp]

Is this the one Abe’s Arms listed ?

 

[FlintHunter1987]

Is this the one Abe’s Arms listed ?

I do not believe so, it seems as i purchased from a private individual per the transaction terms and conversations.