The sidelock bug has bit me. Saw some Hawkens at the LGS recently. Decided to stop by the shop again yesterday to see if they were still there and dig deeper into their condition. Asked the salesman if they could help me look into the bore. We shined a light an saw some funk down there. Asked if the price was negotiable and the salesman grabbed the owner. The owner took the gun back and ran a couple patches through the barrel. Looked a bit better after that, notice some discoloring but no pitting that I could see. The rest of the gun looked good but not great. The stock in pretty nice except for a few dings, otherwise nice. Straight beautiful grain, no cracks or other major blemishes. The barrel had a bit of surface rust in a few spots but nothing deeply pitted. Most of it is near the nipple but the end of the barrel has a fair amount of blue removed on the side of the barrel. The crown of the barrel and the rest of the blue looked good. The owner offered to knock $50 off the price so I decided to go for it. Nice to have the owner work with me. Known him for a long time so it's always good when you get treated fairly. Very happy with my purchase so far. Have a lot to learn about these guns but I think I'm in the right place to learn.
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New to me Thompson Center Hawken .50
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And the "out the door" price with the $50.00 knocked off was??? 
Sorry, meant to type that in there somewhere. $300 plus tax. I think I did alright but there was a nicer $800 Miroku sitting there and some of the guys on here are saying that gun is only worth a couple hundred maybe, so not sure on the value of these things, but I am satisfied either way.
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I think you did pretty dern good at $300 for the Hawken. Congrats and enjoy 
That's a very good price for a T/C Hawken .50 ! I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
Not great but if it shoots, not bad. More of a shooter's grade than collector's for sure.
I don't know if you hunt, but that gun you bought is a DEERSLAYER! I have a TC Renegade in .54 caliber, and I have taken a deer with it. TC's are generally pretty accurate, some even VERY accurate, and will group shots on the range nicely. Good buy.
Good choice, great price if the condition is as good as it looks. I bought my first one about 1976, thousands of patched round balls, still shoots like a champ. It appears to be a fairly early one. Keep her properly cleaned asap after shooting and she'll last for years.
Congratulations, welcome to the game. There's lots of knowledge to draw from here.
Congratulations, welcome to the game. There's lots of knowledge to draw from here.
Congrats I just bought the same rifle in 45 cal. Shot it today. Awesome.
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T/C Hawken was my first bp rifle, still have it 40 years later. You have done well pilgrim.
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That rifle in the picture looks just fine. You did well. They shoot great.
LIVINtheLIFE
32 Cal
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This makes me feel good about my recent purchase on the same rifle and my first muzzleloader. I have a fairly new thread on here started as well but I never discussed what a good deal would be. My barrel turned out to be in similar condition once I received it. I paid $500CAD shipped all in for my TC…which included a .490 mold, starter, jag, flask, powder measure, shot holder and some various other goodies. I still had to buy more to get setup fully, but it sounds like we both did pretty well on our purchase. I’m pretty excited to get started
You done well, Grasshopper. All those do-dads add up in cost.
Congrats, nice gun! First slow twist traditional gun for me. We have an inline too but a lot more here to learn.I am pretty new on this site and to muzzleloaders but I have been around guns and hunting all my life. Nice to meet you!
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You did good. Ask TC Hawken owners here if they want to sell their’s for $300 and see how many are willing to part with their’s. You aren’t getting mine.
I have one in .45 that I bought online a few years back, about the same vintage as my first .50 I bought in about 1976. It's in really nice condition for it's age and a great shooter, I had it out to the range Friday. It's actually in better shape than the 1976 .50 but only because I made the mistake of loaning it to a family member I'd shot and hunted with many times before. I happened to be in his neighborhood so I dropped by to pick it up. When he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out two wet gun cases I knew I had a problem. Sure enough it, along with the other gun, was a mess. He'd fired it, not cleaned it and put in wet from rain into a wet case. It had been in the trunk that way for about a week. Remarkably it cleaned up okay but I had to refinish the stock and the exterior of the barrel will never be the same. To say I was livid would be an understatement. Haven't loaned a muzzleloader since, to ANYONE.
There is a fair amount of blueing that has been rubbed or scraped off near the muzzle on one side that really messes the overall look of the gun up, but I can overlook that. The bore and crown of the barrel are what is more important to me. My next concern is the hammer does not come down square on the nipple. It is off to the side, almost hitting the edge of the hammer cup. The hammer needs to go away from the stock to line up better. The lock action is not loose but has some play. Also maybe some play in the stock to lock fit like maybe it was overtightened over the years. I will try a shim or two and see if that helps. I would hate to have to heat it to move it. Kinda looks like someone did that already to move it the other way. Is the hammer cup supposed to be a bit to the inside of the cocking part? If not, someone already bent it.
Hard to go wrong with a T/C....
