The TC Patriot pistol is one of the best percussion pistols ever made, worldwide.
When it was introduced to the muzzleloading community in Europe way back around 1980, it soon became a must have for every serious competition shooter.
However, after every serious competition shooter in Germany had got himself one, it was banned from championship matches in Germany by the national shooting association DSB, as it was found to be not a 1:1 copy of an blackpowder era original. Especially the sights on the Patriot, its double triggers were declared no-nos. In addition, attendants of championship matches needed to pass the locks on their weapons through an inspection for any spring coils, as these were also deemed "not period correct".
As a consequence, I (like many others) replaced the locks on their TC Hawken rifles by drop-in locks equipped with (period-correct) leaf springs, such as ones offered by L&R.
However, any attempts to convert TC Patriots to our National standards were thwarted, anyway, sidelock percussion pistols (like the Patriot) were soon found out to be inferior to underhammer pistols, who quickly became standard in the 90ties.
I would gladly sell my TC Patriot (prime condition, sitting in a safe since 1985) for 400 Euros (or $) to anybody who would come by to pick it up, e.g. at the Frankfurt Int. airport. Sorry no shipping abroad.
