TC Hawken rare stock? Experts please.

[Blackpowdersmoke]

I believe you mean "Fox Ridge" outfitters. They were the custom shop for T/C.

That was my best guess. It came out of Fox Ridge, who did a lot of their custom order work.

BPS

 

[AZbpBurner]

Nice looking rifle. No reason you can't shoot it and maintain good condition. Otherwise, putting another stock on it, then giving it years of use could give you a more used action that won't match the new condition of the saved & unused & brand new-looking laminated stock. You can better apply the cost of another stock to another complete rifle.

Leave it as is and shoot it on special occasions, and go buy another rifle for more frequent shooting. There's no shame to owning more than one rifle, or even more than you'd care to shoot or clean all at one time :thumbsup: Firearms are an investment you can use, then sell in the future for more than you paid, providing you give them simple love & care.

I have a 35+ year old Investarms Cabelas rifle I bought from a member here at the muzzleloading forum a few years ago. It has some wear if you know where to look, but still looks and shoots as new.

Judicious care and proper cleaning and maintenance will keep a rifle looking as new for decades, unless you're the clumsy & ham-fisted sort :grin:

I think the lminated stock looks great on your rifle. Laminated stocks are more stable than regular lumber and not prone to warpage that can affect accuracy.

 

[coloradoclyde]

It takes nature 100 years or more to produce beautiful curl and wood grain....That's something with real value.
Laminated stocks may be visually appealing to some...but their real value is to the manufacturer's profit margin....because they are just cheap plywood.
Synthetic stocks are even cheaper........Made from petrochemical waste products....

 

[meanmike8665]

.....what does your post have to do with anything else posted on this subject????.....????

 

[coloradoclyde]

I was waiting to see if you would troll me....Thanks for not disappointing me.....
I highlighted all the relevant keywords for you that relate to my post......

My brother passed and I now have is factory built TC Hawken. I have struggled with the thought of getting a new stock on it as I have always thought this one was very unattractive. Not sure why I did not notice before,but I now understand that its a laminated stock. Hmmm. Well I did some internet search and I came up with a few post on another two forums that in fact TC made only like eight of these, or some small number like that.
So, I think I may have a rare TC. Not that I think it's worth more, ... but is it?
As for now I think I will just build another and leave this alone. Thoughts?

 

[mooman76]

While they do look good, they really don't belong on a M/L. Just my opinion. If I seen one at a real good price I wouldn't turn it down either. To me it's along the lines of the synthetic stocks. Have fun shooting it anyway.

 

[tacking]

Hey all, .. thanks for all the replies. I don't get an email heads up from this forum.
Well, I'm somewhat addicted here. Been buying parts. I'm a retired furniture builder specializing in american antiques and finishes. I now want to apply this to muzzle loaders. I tend to like thing with somewhat grungy old patina, simulating decades of use. Just been working on a space to start the work.
As far as the topic goes, I already did start to remove some of the furniture of the stock. Unfortunately the laminated stock does not like to let go of the screws, and these screws are certainly soft. Broke 3, which made me feel pretty bad.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Try touching the heads of the screws with a small soldering iron to heat them up and melt the glue found in the plywood that is holding the screws in...

Kind of ironic that in your haste to protect something you ended up ruining it... :shake:

We've all been there.....

 

[nhmoose]

The stock shown is not laminate IMHO. To tell a Photo from the top and bottom is needed. Then it will be evident.

Nice figure as many TC's had I would knock the shine down to a satin finish and keep it.

The Custom shop at FR or TC's outlet could bolt anything given together but not what I would truly call custom. Those who do I would never buy from.

 

[tacking]

Not ruined at all. Just a PIA. But thanks for the tip.
The stock is in fact laminated. Photos below show but end and serial number found under the trigger guard inset.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Is that hot glue in the second picture?

Glad the screw broke off high....

 

[rdstrain49]

Clyde, yep, hot glue or some such was a TC inletting trick. Got it on several TC locks and trigger groups. Poor excuse for good workmanship, but it does seem to work. I notice it more on the later rifles.

 

[mark/wi]

I sent two T/C back because of the hot glue. Mark

 

[Eric Krewson]

My last TC flintlock had hot melt holding the lock in place. Having owned 4 or 5 TC guns previously with pretty good workmanship I found this short cut disgusting, I never bought another TC gun.

That said, I just put together a Renegade from random parts and am about to finish up and ancient TC hawken kit my father had for about 30 years.

On the kit, TC had attached the butt plate, trigger guard and nose cap with temporary phillips head screws,each component had two screws holding them on. TC's assembler had stripped out one of the screw holes on on each component. I have been gluing in a bunch of dowels.

Before I built a few rifles I thought TC guns were first rate because I didn't know better, now I know better.

 

[Tendoy]

I started a thread on the Graybeard Outdoors site in 2011 about the TC Hawken with a laminated stock that I bought from a coworker. I spoke with Dianne in TC's customer service and this is the reply I received from her:

Good afternoon,
I spoke to you on Friday about your Hawken with the laminated stock. We did make about 8 of them in the 80’s. The stocks were so expensive that they decided not to do the laminated stocks. That is all that the gunsmith knew..I hope this helps somewhat. Have a nice day.

Dianne N.
Customer Service Representative
P: 1-866-730-1614
Ext: 5794

Black powder didn't take with me and it's been years since I fired it up. I've come to agree with you folks that a lminated stock on a black powder rifle just don't seem right, but while I've thought about changing to a more appropriate stock, I never got around to it.

 

[nhmoose]

Another similar thread FU

 

[Bad Karma]

I started a thread on the Graybeard Outdoors site in 2011 about the TC Hawken with a laminated stock that I bought from a coworker. I spoke with Dianne in TC's customer service and this is the reply I received from her:

Good afternoon,
I spoke to you on Friday about your Hawken with the laminated stock. We did make about 8 of them in the 80’s. The stocks were so expensive that they decided not to do the laminated stocks. That is all that the gunsmith knew..I hope this helps somewhat. Have a nice day.

Dianne N.
Customer Service Representative
P: 1-866-730-1614
Ext: 5794

Black powder didn't take with me and it's been years since I fired it up. I've come to agree with you folks that a lminated stock on a black powder rifle just don't seem right, but while I've thought about changing to a more appropriate stock, I never got around to it.

Thanks for coming back to the forum with the 411… if You do jump into bp again, finding a nice walnut stock is easily done and then you can save the correspondence you have received along with the rifle and original wood and furniture. An heir of yours may appreciate it down the road.

 

[Tendoy]

Bad Karma, thanks for the encouragement. I enjoy reading history - especially Civil War history - having grown up living close to Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry and Antietam. An interest in black powder rifles naturally followed.
An interesting story... I was in my grandmother's kitchen one weekend when I was a young teen. (I'm in my 70s now.) Someone, very excited as I remember, showed up at the door with a Springfield Model 1861 rifle they had found while remodeling part of their house. It was inside one of the walls they were redoing! I have no memory of the story behind this find. Did someone find it on a battlefield close by? Lots of possible explanations. I wish I knew. Good hiding place, though.

 

[Bad Karma]

Bad Karma, thanks for the encouragement. I enjoy reading history - especially Civil War history - having grown up living close to Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry and Antietam. An interest in black powder rifles naturally followed.
An interesting story... I was in my grandmother's kitchen one weekend when I was a young teen. (I'm in my 70s now.) Someone, very excited as I remember, showed up at the door with a Springfield Model 1861 rifle they had found while remodeling part of their house. It was inside one of the walls they were redoing! I have no memory of the story behind this find. Did someone find it on a battlefield close by? Lots of possible explanations. I wish I knew. Good hiding place, though.

Our history out here has always seemed relatively short… unless you count Santa Fe… my wIfe is an easterner and visiting Historic sites is just a real treat for me when we venture back that way.

 

[OldSmoky1967]

What caliber is it?