T/C Hawken sights

[CTShooter]

Did T/C ever sell a muzzleloader with a fixed rear sight?

 

[bubba.50]

don't know if they ever sold guns with them already on it but, at one time they made a fixed rear sight that was a base that used the sight holes dovetailed & with a big ugly square blade mounted in it for people that needed a fixed sight for whatever reason.

 

[Cowboy]

Keep me posted, I'm interested in how this works out.

The sight screws will probably work, you might need to counter sink the holes a little.

OK, The sight came in the mail today.

Took off the factory adjustable rear sight and placed this one right on. Perfect Fit!

The original screws fit perfect in this fixed sight. Counter sinking is not necessary.

The sight needs to be cleaned up a little and needs to be blued to match the barrel.

Looks to be a very good quality rear sight that will be a welcomed addition to this TC Hawken rifle!

Respectfully, Cowboy :thumbsup:

 

[CTShooter]

Looks good.
Can't wait for the range report

 

[Cowboy]

Cleaned up the rear sight and applied my first coat of LMF. Going to use the Rustblue method. Now it's just a waiting game.

I plan on plugging up the third most forward hole with an extra TC rear sight barrel screw that I have.

I do not plan on drilling a third hole in the barrel for the screw. I am keeping the original adjustable sight that was on the rifle. When I hand the rifle down to my grandson, I want him to have the option to reinstall the adjustable sight if that is what he wants to do. For that reason I do not want to make an extra screw hole in the barrel.

I plan on filing down the end of the screw to where it's flush with the bottom side of the sight and some how permanently attach it to where it stays. Wondering if I use a couple drops of Super Glue to hold it in place? It is only going to be a plug to fill that hole anyway, so its not going to be holding anything or have any kind of stress in that area. Someone might suggest that I solder it in place but I do not have any and do not know how to anyway.

Does anyone think that the Super Glue would work OK, or can anyone think of another option that I might want to consider?

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Billnpatti]

For the man who needs to solder but does not know how or does not have the equipment, there is still hope. It is a product called Iso Tip. It is a paste that comes in a nice syringe. You squeeze out a bit and apply it to the parts to be soldered. All you need is a heat source and that can be a soldering iron or a propane torch. If the parts are small, even the heat of a match will do the job. You just apply enough heat to melt the stuff and the job is done. I know, you are asking yourself "Can it be just that easy?" and, yes, it is just that easy. And you may be asking if it is a strong joint. Well, Iso Tip is a form of silver solder so the joints that it forms are very strong just like a silver solder joint.

 

[Billnpatti]

SA-WEET!! Cowboy. I just ordered one for my T/C Hawken. Thanks for the info. :thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

I have been giving some thought as to how to fill that front hole without spending a lot of money. I think I have come up with a way to do it. There is a bolt, I think it is called a stove bolt, that has a tapered head that will fit into the tapered part of the existing hole. I am going to get a bolt that is larger than the hole so I will have enough metal in the sight to tap the hole for the bolt. I want the head of the bolt to seat into the tapered part of the hole and stick well above it. This will give enough metal to file off and not leave any trace of the slot in the bolt head. If all works as planned, the hole will be filled and leave a nice smooth surface. Of course you will have to cut off the shank of the bolt flush with the bottom of the sight.

What do all of you forum members out there think of this idea?

 

[bubba.50]

I believe I would either just learn to live with the hole, epoxy in a spare screw-head, or cut it off & re-contour the front end of the sight to kind of match the point on the rear.

 

[Billnpatti]

I believe I would......cut it off & re-contour the front end of the sight to kind of match the point on the rear.

Now that's using the Old Noodle! :thumbsup: I think that's the best idea yet. Thanks for a great idea. :hatsoff: I don't know why I didn't think of something as obvious as that. :idunno:

 

[bubba.50]

sometimes it just takes a simple mind.......and lots of people can tell ya I'm over-qualified :hatsoff: .

 

[Cowboy]

Did you order a front sight also? If it works with the stock front sight that would be a bonus.

OK CTShooter, Here is the end result for the rear sight.

I Rustblued the sight with LMF. Also filled in the extra front hole of the sight with another barrel screw.

I also bought a Lyman GPR front blade sight. It will not fit the TC barrel without manipulating the sight a little to make it work. It's to wide for the TC's dovetail.

I shouldered the rifle with the new rear sight on and placed just the bead of the front sight visible and loved the sight picture. It also doesn't look all that half bad with the TC front sight on it.

I will try the combination at the range and if any elevation changes need to be made, I will put a blade sight on the front if I have to do any filing.



Respectfully, Cowboy :hatsoff:

 

[CTShooter]

Looks good
Thanks for the updates.

 

[Billnpatti]

I have one of those sights on order but as I look at how yours is mounted using the rear screw hole and the middle screw hole, they look to be farther apart than the screw holes on my T/C Hawken. My holes measure about .85 inches apart. The front and middle holes look more like the distance between the holes in my barrel. Even if they would fit, I don't want to move my rear sight back that far. My only choice will be to drill another hole in the sight base. That's not a big problem since I have a drill press and a mechanical vise (or maybe it's called a machine vise), I don't know but it has adjustment screws that make it adjustable in two directions. It will give me the precision I need in case I need to drill a new hole.

Even if I have to drill a new hole in the base, that is a lot less work than cutting a dovetail for a regular sight. I've done that and it can be nerve wracking making sure that everything comes out right. I know many of our readers have done it several times and think nothing of it but I am just enough of a novice at cutting dovetails that I really don't want to do it.

 

[garra]

I bought buckhorn rear sights from the Gunworks for my invest arms and for my Thompson, only 2 holes lined up. 1 and 3 on one gun and 2 and 3 on the other, but they worked without drilling. To fill in the empty hole I soldered a screw in there and ground it flat on the bottom side.

 

[CTShooter]

I'm pretty sure they have an undrilled version also.

I found out by accident that my Hawken and Renegade, have different hole spacing

 

[Billnpatti]

That's a very nice job on that rear sight. How did you make the front hole disappear? What did you fill it with? :hatsoff:

 

[bubba.50]

they also sell the sight without holes so you can drill yer own where ya need'em.

 

[Billnpatti]

Yesterday, my fixed rear sight for my T/C Hawken arrived from GunWorks. For whatever reason, it doesn't fit perfectly. The holes are just a few thousandths off. :cursing: I can get the screws to go through the sight and into the holes in the barrel but one or the other of the screws won't fit down into the countersunk holes. I can shift the sight forward and backward and either one or the other screws won't fully seat. I believe I can adjust one of the holes with my Dremmel and a fine grinding bit. As an alternative, I may chuck the Dremmel grinding bit into my drill press and use my mechanical vise like a milling machine to carefully grind just a few thousandths off one side of one of the holes to allow the screw to fully seat. As it is, the screws get enough of a bite to hold the sight in place but I just don't like the look of one screw not seating fully.

Bubba.50 suggested "...cut it off & re-contour the front end of the sight to kind of match the point on the rear." as a way to get rid of the extra empty hole on the front of the sight. It's a great idea and I may do it but with the extra work of adjusting the holes, I may just cut off the extra part of the sight and file it nice and flat or possibly round off the front end...for now, anyway. Doing it like Bubba said will just require a bit more time spent filing and I am anxious to get this gun into the field. I may save the extra filing work for later. I like the idea, though.

 

[Billnpatti]

Well, I got my sight installed. I did like I planned and used my Dremmel to wobble out the holes just a few thousandths and then the screws lined up with the holes in the barrel and fit just fine. The sight was pretty rough as it arrived and it took me several hours working with emery paper to get the sight ready to blue to match the barrel but I finally got it to where I was satisfied. I applied some 44/40 cold blue and it looks great. That 44/40 seems to stand up to wear pretty well and gives the deepest blue I have ever seen from a cold blue. It will match hot blue in color. I guess that's why many gunsmiths use it to touch up after doing any work on a gun.