T/C Hawken with Green Mountian Barrel

[Rkp243]

Hey guys new to this forum and just getting into flintlocks. I bought a T/C Hawken a couple weeks ago and also purchased a Green Mountian drop in barrel. I put an RMC touch hole liner in and put the barrel on the rifle to find the touch hole was not centered in the pan. Wondering if this is common or if there may be a solution to this issue. I have also taken the lock apart and cleaned and polished the pan and any metal to metal surfaces. Was thinking of purchasing the RPL lock from L&R but I don't want to spend the money if the touch hole is going to be a problem.

 

[Sparkitoff]

Is it not centered vertically or horizontally?

 

[Rkp243]

Its off horizontally, about a hole size toward the muzzle. Its still fully within the pan.

 

[Sparkitoff]

I have a T/C Renegade with 38" Green Mountain barrel in .54 caliber. My lock is the L&R flintlock. The barrel has a liner. The touch hole is very slightly off center and very slightly high. I use FFFFg in the pan and get instant ignition. Right now this is my only flintlock, but I shoot it a lot. My point is that I am no expert. However, I do know a fellow shooter that had an off-center touch hole and he expanded the pan a little with very carefully using a Dremel with stone. In another example, a fellow with the same set-up we have took off some metal and some wood and re-bedded the tang to move the barrel back a bit. He also had to move the trigger group somewhat. With any luck he will chime in here as he has pictures of what he did. I've called around curious about this and one friend who puts together his own rifles as a hobbyist said hardly any of his touch holes are perfectly centered but all those rifles ignite just fine. You may not have an issue, but if you do there should be several options for a remedy. Someone with more experience and "expertise" is sure to comment after me.

 

[Zonie]

A little bit off, fore and aft won't hurt a thing.

That's one of the reasons I always recommend building a flintlock to a new builder.

Percussion guns are pretty fussy about having the hammer hit the nipple squarely in the right place.

That can make for some difficulty that a new builder can have problems with.
With a flintlock, if the vent is fully exposed to the flash in the pan it will work fine.

 

[Davemuzz]

Here's a photo of my T\C Hawken with a GM drop in barrel. As you can see the touch hole is towards the rear of the pan center, and slightly low of the pan's top line. As long as my flint produces enough spark (if not enough spark, it's usually a time for flint dressing or replacement) I will get the pan to "poof" and the charge to ignite.

 

[Rkp243]

That is how my touch hole lines up in the pan but in the opposite direction. Having not shot this rifle yet I wanted to get some feed back on how it would perform with the touch hole in that position. How reliable are the T/C locks and are their any tricks I should know or try.

 

[Davemuzz]

T\C locks kinda "are what they are." There are actually two kinds of hammers for the lock. There is an "old style" which doesn't work very well. IIRC the old style was a "short hammer" and were replaced by the newer "long hammer" design.

The new hammers strike higher on the frizzen. I replaced my old hammer with the new one many years ago.....and I can't recall if I sent my old one back to T\C for an exchange. T\C won't do that today.

If you look at my pic you see that the "English" flints seem to work the best for me.

I hope this helps.