Pecatonica T/C

[IL Rifle]

I know the Pecatonica-T/C has been done before (Zonie built a nice one, RIP) but this is the first stocking job I’ve finished. The stock is from Pecatonica, about 30 minutes from my house, the .50 barrel, lock, triggers, and escutcheon plates are T/C Hawken/Renegade parts. The trigger guard is from The Hawken Shop and the buttplate is from Pecatonica. The idea was to put together more of a “local trade” rifle for the upper Mississippi River valley area- IL, IA, WI, MO- than a plains rifle. So, 15/16 barrel and a single key.

The stock is #3 maple stained with LMF Lancaster Maple and over stained with Feibings mahogany. Over that are four coats of dark walnut danish oil and a topcoat of satin spar varnish.

This is my test bed for the Pecatonica Hawken I started about 30 years ago and am still working on. Back when I started there was no internet and I came up against some “how do I ?” questions I wasn’t able to answer back then. This site in particular, and another, have been massively helpful in getting me to this point and I think I’ve answered enough questions so I can now finish my “first”rifle.

I know this one isn’t perfect, or a historic copy, and it’s a T/C at heart which some people aren’t fond of. But I wanted to start with known quantities and focus on the stocking work. Plus a .54 Renegade sn 6866 was my first ever rifle back in about 1973/4 (it was “liberated” from my house when I was at work one day otherwise I’d still have it). There are some things I’ll certainly do differently in the future, but here it is:

 

[SHAGBARK]

I know the Pecatonica-T/C has been done before (Zonie built a nice one, RIP) but this is the first stocking job I’ve finished. The stock is from Pecatonica, about 30 minutes from my house, the .50 barrel, lock, triggers, and escutcheon plates are T/C Hawken/Renegade parts. The trigger guard is from The Hawken Shop and the buttplate is from Pecatonica. The idea was to put together more of a “local trade” rifle for the upper Mississippi River valley area- IL, IA, WI, MO- than a plains rifle. So, 15/16 barrel and a single key.

The stock is #3 maple stained with LMF Lancaster Maple and over stained with Feibings mahogany. Over that are four coats of dark walnut danish oil and a topcoat of satin spar varnish.

This is my test bed for the Pecatonica Hawken I started about 30 years ago and am still working on. Back when I started there was no internet and I came up against some “how do I ?” questions I wasn’t able to answer back then. This site in particular, and another, have been massively helpful in getting me to this point and I think I’ve answered enough questions so I can now finish my “first”rifle.

I know this one isn’t perfect, or a historic copy, and it’s a T/C at heart which some people aren’t fond of. But I wanted to start with known quantities and focus on the stocking work. Plus a .54 Renegade sn 6866 was my first ever rifle back in about 1973/4 (it was “liberated” from my house when I was at work one day otherwise I’d still have it). There are some things I’ll certainly do differently in the future, but here it is:

Looks great, how does it shoulder and shoot?

 

[IL Rifle]

The sights come right up to my eye when I shoulder it. Sighting in is next.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I think it looks really good. I like the nose cap and ramrod entry pipe much better than the stock T/C..

 

[IL Rifle]

I think it looks really good. I like the nose cap and ramrod entry pipe much better than the stock T/C..

The nose cap is a 15/16 cap from The Hawken Shop. I just finished it and blued it. The T/C cap is much easier to install and doubles as the entry pipe so I can see why it was used on a production rifle. I deleted the entry pipe as I always preferred the way the Renegade was designed.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I know this thread is now a couple of weeks old, but I had not seen it before. That is a really good-looking, practical shooter. @IL Rifle did a terrific job with parts selection, assembly, and finish.

The nose cap is a 15/16 cap from The Hawken Shop. I just finished it and blued it. The T/C cap is much easier to install and doubles as the entry pipe so I can see why it was used on a production rifle. I deleted the entry pipe as I always preferred the way the Renegade was designed.

I was wondering about the nosecap also, but this answers the question. This is a vast improvement over the factory T/C Hawken nosecap. You mentioned the metal parts were blued… What type of bluing agent did you use? The color looks really good.

In expanding the photo, I believe I see a fiberoptic front sight, and a non-factory rear sight. What sights are these?

All in all, I would say that is a rifle you can be proud of. Excellent work, my friend. I’ll say you are more than ready to finish that Hawken project!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[IL Rifle]

I know this thread is now a couple of weeks old, but I had not seen it before. That is a really good-looking, practical shooter. @IL Rifle did a terrific job with parts selection, assembly, and finish.


I was wondering about the nosecap also, but this answers the question. This is a vast improvement over the factory T/C Hawken nosecap. You mentioned the metal parts were blued… What type of bluing agent did you use? The color looks really good.

In expanding the photo, I believe I see a fiberoptic front sight, and a non-factory rear sight. What sights are these?

All in all, I would say that is a rifle you can be proud of. Excellent work, my friend. I’ll say you are more than ready to finish that Hawken project!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Thanks Notchy Bob. My goal was to make a practical hunting rifle for this fall based on the lighter “local trade” rifles made in the IL/MO area back in the day.

I always preferred the Renegade nose to the T/C Hawken nose cap so I tried to copy that configuration with the addition of a 15/16 nose cap. I blued the hardware with Oxpho Blue. The barrel still had its factory bluing.

Yes, the sights are modern. I had them from another project. I might change them out later. But my 65 + year old eyes seem to appreciate them. We’ll see.

The Pec inlet stock was great to work with. Inletting was located where you’d expect it to be. And the inlets were undersized enough that there was enough wood to get a pretty tight fit.

I have to credit you and others on this site for all the suggestions and constructive comments you’ve given to other projects people have posted. I learned quite a lot from everyone’s examples. And that made putting this one together a lot easier for me.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Thanks Notchy Bob. My goal was to make a practical hunting rifle for this fall based on the lighter “local trade” rifles made in the IL/MO area back in the day.

I always preferred the Renegade nose to the T/C Hawken nose cap so I tried to copy that configuration with the addition of a 15/16 nose cap. I blued the hardware with Oxpho Blue. The barrel still had its factory bluing.

Yes, the sights are modern. I had them from another project. I might change them out later. But my 65 + year old eyes seem to appreciate them. We’ll see.

The Pec inlet stock was great to work with. Inletting was located where you’d expect it to be. And the inlets were undersized enough that there was enough wood to get a pretty tight fit.

I have to credit you and others on this site for all the suggestions and constructive comments you’ve given to other projects people have posted. I learned quite a lot from everyone’s examples. And that made putting this one together a lot easier for me.

Thank you for that additional information. The Oxpho Blue looks really good on the mountings.

I am a traditionalist at heart and have no experience with fiberoptic sights. However, at age 70, I have to acknowledge some deterioration in my vision, which was never that great to begin with, and sights like that might be of some benefit.

Thank you for your comments!

Notchy Bob

 

[yellowhammer]

Good job / Real purty. If you get a chance, can you tell us the weight? Thanks.

 

[IL Rifle]

Thank you for that additional information. The Oxpho Blue looks really good on the mountings.

I am a traditionalist at heart and have no experience with fiberoptic sights. However, at age 70, I have to acknowledge some deterioration in my vision, which was never that great to begin with, and sights like that might be of some benefit.

Thank you for your comments!

Notchy Bob

You’re welcome. Happy to give the background info.

The Oxpho took about 6 coats to get a nice blue.

The sights are from Williams.

 

[IL Rifle]

Good job / Real purty. If you get a chance, can you tell us the weight? Thanks.

Thanks. Weight comes in at 7.13 pounds.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I keep returning to this thread to look at that rifle, man it’s beautiful.

 

[IL Rifle]

I keep returning to this thread to look at that rifle, man it’s beautiful.

Thanks. Pecatonica Long Rifle Supply has some nice wood fairly graded. I’m lucky in that I’m about 30 minutes from their shop and can pick out a stock.