t/c lock old vs new

[Mark Sluka]

On a T/C flintlock,is the hammer and frizzen the only difference between the old and new style ?
If i sent my flintlock to t/c for the upgrade are these the only parts that they would change to upgrade the lock?

 

[Finnwolf]

About a year and a half ago, I had high hopes that the new T/C lock would put an end to 15 years of inconsistent ignition problems. Turned out that with no rhyme or reason, the pan would not ignite the main charge on the first shot sometimes. 2nd or 3rd time the gun would fire, but not the first time. I'd lost multiple deer this way.

Sent T/C the old lock with a note saying this and they sent me a complete new style lock with an sawn agate in the jaws. Ignition remained about the same so I got rid of the whole mess and traded up to a Lyman GPR kit.

 

[David W.]

I believe you can get an L&R replacement lock if you want to go that route.

 

[ebiggs1]

This is my experience with TC locks. I have both old and new styles. I believe to only difference is the hammer cock and the frizzen. My favorite TC Hawken is about a year old and now, was a brand new gun, has over 1000 shots and fires every time. It regularly gets 50 + shots per flint. I have four others that I don’t shoot as much but they also work every time. They have all been converted to the new lock.
The Lyman GPR is a direct copy of the old TC lock except it has a better frizzen. Its geometry is wrong but can be made better by just replacing the hammer cock with a new TC.

 

[roundball]

On a T/C flintlock,is the hammer and frizzen the only difference between the old and new style ?

Depends on the vintage of the old style lock.
T/C made a number of various improvements to its locks over the decades...if your old style lock is a real early one, they might just completely replace the entire lock assembly...on the other hand if all it lacked were the last two improvements (hammer & frizzen) then odds are that's all they'd replace.

 

[Finnwolf]

Don't need an L&R anymore, all my T/C flinters are gone and won't be returning.

 

[peter hawbaker]

I have three TC flint locks. Two older ones and one brand new one that I have had for three whole days. The new one, and every other new one that I have examined, seem to have weaker mainsprings than the old TC locks. Comparing my older locks with the new one, the tumbler also appears to be different on the newer one, when the hammer is down, the mainspring is extended about 1/8 inch more than on the older locks. The tumbler at rest has the "tail" located further back. The old mainsprings are smaller in diameter and fit closer to the mainspring rod. My old mainsprings measure .248 in Diameter, the new mainspring measures .257 in diameter.

I have no complaints about the older locks other than the soft older TC frizzens, have hunted for 19 years with them and have found them very reliable with a good english flint and a hard frizzen, either Lyman or the newer TC frizzen. I have worn through the hardening on one new TC frizzen, they are not hard clear through, but the hardening goes much deeper than on the old ones. I had it rehardened, and it now sparks great, better than it ever did.

I like the length of the newer TC hammer, but not the profile. I took a file to my new hammer and changed the profile to mimic the old style hammer. I then cut two coils from a spare mainspring and added it to the mainspring rod. The new lock now feels similar my two older locks in cocking effort. It sparks very nice, waiting to get my converted New Englander barrel back to try it out.

This picture shows the new style TC lock on bottom and the old (circa 1990) TC lock on top. You can see in this picture my modification to the new hammer shape to the style of the older hammer.

This picture shows the backside of lock plates. New lock is on the bottom. You can see that the tumblers tail is further rearward on the new lock. Also visible in this picture on the new lock is the extra two coils of mainspring I added next to the tumbler. If you look at the "tail" of the tumbler, the old lock has the tail below the centerline of tumbler pivot trough bridle, while the new lock has the tumbler tail below rear edge of tumbler pivot where it extends trough the bridle.

Finnwolf, if I understand you correctly, it sounds to me like your lock was working fine, your main charge was not igniting but the flash powder was. This is not a lock problem, sounds like the vent was too small, plugged with debris, or not positioned correctly. Other than polishing the pan, corrective steps for this issue do not really involve the lock. And, the sawn TC "flints" are poor performers. A good english flint is the way to go in my experience.

I now hunt mostly with a Haines style longrifle with a Large Siler I built a year ago, but bought my first TC flinter back when I was 16 and it was all I could afford. It served me very well for nearly two decades, and I would not hesitate in the least to take it today on an important hunt.

 

[Finnwolf]

Finnwolf, if I understand you correctly, it sounds to me like your lock was working fine, your main charge was not igniting but the flash powder was. This is not a lock problem, sounds like the vent was too small, plugged with debris, or not positioned correctly. Other than polishing the pan, corrective steps for this issue do not really involve the lock. And, the sawn TC "flints" are poor performers. A good english flint is the way to go in my experience.
I now hunt mostly with a Haines style longrifle with a Large Siler I built a year ago, but bought my first TC flinter back when I was 16 and it was all I could afford. It served me very well for nearly two decades, and I would not hesitate in the least to take it today on an important hunt.

I won't go there, I'll just thank you for your advice. I tried everything suggested on this and other forums and everything I could read for years. I had flash in the pans, I had fail to flash, I had swish boom slow ignition and I had just plain no ignition. I used english flints, french flints, german flints and sawn agate and I mounted 'em every way you can think of. With lead or leather.
Then the stock cracked and T/C sent me a new Hawken that looked like a newbie built it. Sold all teh T/C finters I had and bought a Haines myself.

 

[Walks with fire]

I am kind of with you on TC guns Finnwolf; I have a pair with the new locks and altho they fire just fine I would not buy anything more than the used stocks from TC in the future. The new lock is a vast improvement over the old in terms of spark and reliability but I still don't care for the fit of the pan/frizzen and never did care for their barrels (QLA in particular). TC quality is very poor in my opinion and now their service is poor since S&W came into the picture.

The PA Hunter stocks are good little stocks if you can find em cheap but don't care at all for the Hawkins style and never could see a 1" channel for the under .58 cal guns.