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Someone just recently told me that the early TC Hawken rifles had Sharon barrels and 1:66 twist. Any truth to this?
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TC Barrels from Sharon?
- Thread starter BigSkyRambler
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yes they did and they are hard to find as anyone with one who knows what they have typically will not part with it
I don't believe it. I was in the shop quite a bit, and they didn't have the capacity to supply an outside manufacturer, they were always swamped with custom orders.
then were did they all come from?
I can be wrong, I have been a lot of times and have come to be ok with that
But I have seen a number of them with Sharon barrels over the years.
I have tried a few times to get someone with a Sharon barrel to sell it to me and 1 I even offered twice its value and got told a flat no.
What barrel stamp are you looking for, if it’s a spade I have a 45 call spade but it’s been rung unfortunately but it’s still worth doing something with.
of course I want the Spade barrel
but not a ringed barrel as I would have to have it worked on and this is a terrible time of year for my wallet to ask it to deliver funds for my hobbies
but not a ringed barrel as I would have to have it worked on and this is a terrible time of year for my wallet to ask it to deliver funds for my hobbies
TexiKan
40 Cal.
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Thanks for the link to the Sharon info. I, too, did not know they made barrels for others and have never seen one of those. Back in the '70's I bought a Sharon kit gun through a gun dealer and it took a considerable amount of time to complete. It remains my go-to rifle. (.50 cal. Hawken) Although they used L&R locks, the one supplied with the kit was not well made. A mainspring broke early on and I called them about it and they told me the locks on the kits were not the best ones. They sent me a replacement and the difference was obvious.
To this day, I have seen only a handful of Sharons being used.
To this day, I have seen only a handful of Sharons being used.
You name it. Hal made it. Even when he downsized and moved to Sonora CA he was still cranking stuff out. He did everything he could from custom ML barrels of all kinds to relining about anything. I even caught him making perfect reproduction rear sights for P-08s. He also was an instructor at Lassen Gunsmith School.
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I keep a searching eye open for a Sharon Hawken, preferably an unbuilt kit (unicorn).
It would round out my collection of 2 .54 full stocks ( flint & percussion) and a .54 Trade rifle (unbuilt kit).
A .50 Trade rifle was the first rifle I built as a 13yo high school freshman.
It would round out my collection of 2 .54 full stocks ( flint & percussion) and a .54 Trade rifle (unbuilt kit).
A .50 Trade rifle was the first rifle I built as a 13yo high school freshman.
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Is this the mark
William Sublette
45 Cal.
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I found a sharon trade rifle in 54.
I honestly thought about using the parts to make a plains rifle.
Well, not me. I mean sending it to my favorite gunsmith.
That’s the mark on my 45 t/c
Stony Broke
32 Cal.
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- Jan 9, 2014
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I have a Sharon barrel a friend gave me once, along with a full length stock. I dropped them off at another friends house one day...that does some beautiful gun building and asked him to make me a full stock Hawken out of it. I still couldn't tell you what the twist rate is, but it's a .50 cal. barrel and when I got it back I loaded it with 50 gr. 3f, a .495 RB and some ,015 patch material I had. .......then I started winning matches with it. I've never changed anything from the first day I shot it. It has my name on it and my oldest son has the same name, so he's destined to own it one day.
that’s a beautiful thing, thanks for sharing. If it’s not to hard you should post a picture!
Looks like it but its been forever since i've seen one. Hal had a number of symbol stamps on his bench and IIRC a clover leaf one.
plmeek
40 Cal.
Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. went bankrupt in July 1978. As far as I know, none of the company's records have been preserved.
I don't know the exact date, but Thompson Center's plant and office was completely destroyed by a fire. My understanding is that all their records were destroyed in the fire.
We have no surviving source for direct evidence of who supplied barrels to Thompson Center in the early days of their Hawken production.
We do have some indirect or circumstantial evidence that it probably was not Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. If you read what I wrote on my website about Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. in the link that waksupi provided you can find it.
But to save some time and effort I'll summarize it for you.
Thompson Center started producing their Hawken rifle in 1970. They would have spent months (maybe a year or more) prior to production researching, making patterns for parts, developing their own manufacturing and/or arranging outsourcing for the manufacturing of parts, including barrels, that they didn't make themselves.
Hal Sharon purchased the gunsmith shop and barrel business of John Buhmiller in Kalispell, Montana in 1970. The timing doesn't make it possible for Hal Sharon to have been part of the planning and development prior to 1970 and subsequent manufacturing of TC's Hawken is 1970.
From everything thing I've been able to determine, Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. started out making cartridge rifle barrels for custom builders of cartridge guns. The first indication that Sharon was making muzzleloading barrels was a advertisement in the September 1973 Muzzle Blast magazine for muzzle loading pistol barrels. A year later, in September 1974, Sharon ran an ad in Muzzle Blast for a full line muzzleloading barrels (see below).
It appears the earliest that Thompson Center could have purchased muzzleloading barrels from Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. (if they ever did) would have been in late 1973 or early 1974. By that time, TC Hawken rifles had been in production for three years or more.
It's worth pointing out that Sharon offered a 1-48 twist in .36 cal. and a 1-22 twist in .45 cal. for minies and slugs, and a 1-22 twist in .45 cal. for pistol barrel.
In traditional round ball barrels of larger caliber for rifles, he preferred 1-72 twist. Those are the barrels and twist that gained a reputation for being so accurate.
If Thompson Center ever used a barrel in their early Hawken rifles that had a 1-66 twist, it more than likely came from Douglas. Green River Rifle Works initially used Douglas barrels with a 1-66 twist in their rifles when they started up in 1972 and through 1973. But Douglas couldn't keep up with the demand for their barrels at the time, and GRRW decided to purchase a gun barrel drill machine and a rifling machine from Bill Large and started making their own barrels in early 1974.
Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. did offer aftermarket drop-in barrels to fit Thompson Center rifles, but those barrels also had 1-72 twists.
If Thompson Center ever purchased any barrels for Sharon Rifle Barrel Co., it would have had to have happened in a relatively short window from 1974 through mid-1878--the period that Sharon was in the business of making muzzleloading barrels.
I don't know the exact date, but Thompson Center's plant and office was completely destroyed by a fire. My understanding is that all their records were destroyed in the fire.
We have no surviving source for direct evidence of who supplied barrels to Thompson Center in the early days of their Hawken production.
We do have some indirect or circumstantial evidence that it probably was not Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. If you read what I wrote on my website about Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. in the link that waksupi provided you can find it.
But to save some time and effort I'll summarize it for you.
Thompson Center started producing their Hawken rifle in 1970. They would have spent months (maybe a year or more) prior to production researching, making patterns for parts, developing their own manufacturing and/or arranging outsourcing for the manufacturing of parts, including barrels, that they didn't make themselves.
Hal Sharon purchased the gunsmith shop and barrel business of John Buhmiller in Kalispell, Montana in 1970. The timing doesn't make it possible for Hal Sharon to have been part of the planning and development prior to 1970 and subsequent manufacturing of TC's Hawken is 1970.
From everything thing I've been able to determine, Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. started out making cartridge rifle barrels for custom builders of cartridge guns. The first indication that Sharon was making muzzleloading barrels was a advertisement in the September 1973 Muzzle Blast magazine for muzzle loading pistol barrels. A year later, in September 1974, Sharon ran an ad in Muzzle Blast for a full line muzzleloading barrels (see below).
It appears the earliest that Thompson Center could have purchased muzzleloading barrels from Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. (if they ever did) would have been in late 1973 or early 1974. By that time, TC Hawken rifles had been in production for three years or more.
It's worth pointing out that Sharon offered a 1-48 twist in .36 cal. and a 1-22 twist in .45 cal. for minies and slugs, and a 1-22 twist in .45 cal. for pistol barrel.
In traditional round ball barrels of larger caliber for rifles, he preferred 1-72 twist. Those are the barrels and twist that gained a reputation for being so accurate.
If Thompson Center ever used a barrel in their early Hawken rifles that had a 1-66 twist, it more than likely came from Douglas. Green River Rifle Works initially used Douglas barrels with a 1-66 twist in their rifles when they started up in 1972 and through 1973. But Douglas couldn't keep up with the demand for their barrels at the time, and GRRW decided to purchase a gun barrel drill machine and a rifling machine from Bill Large and started making their own barrels in early 1974.
Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. did offer aftermarket drop-in barrels to fit Thompson Center rifles, but those barrels also had 1-72 twists.
If Thompson Center ever purchased any barrels for Sharon Rifle Barrel Co., it would have had to have happened in a relatively short window from 1974 through mid-1878--the period that Sharon was in the business of making muzzleloading barrels.
As a point of information I own Hall Sharon’s personal .58 cal. Hawkin. He traded/sold it to Ron Brimer who was the Director of Art at GA -public broadcasting years ago. I got it from Ron and used it for hog hunting. It has taken a few deer in its time. It has a beautiful tiger strip maple stock. The late Dr. Robert Reiber wrote an interesting article in Muzzle Blasts about a hog hunt with this rifle. I will be off line for several days as I am having spinal surgery tomorrow morning.
