TC Patriot

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I picked up one of these little Gems a few years back and love the gun.
I stripped the stock and metal and refinished with oil and Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution and like it even better now.
I understand they were also made in .36 cal although mine is .45 cal.
I particularly like the set trigger with the firing trigger in the back. Wish more double set rifles triggers were configured this way. MD
 
I have a couple of them also. I am extremely satisfied with them. Never a problem. :thumbsup:
 
I have had one for almost 25 years. It is certainly a well made gun. I am a fair shot with a handgun and have won a few matches. I just can't get the TC Patriot to give a decent group. I dislike trigger guard and set trigger arrangement on the gun. I have a billy bob attempt at a custom gun, that used a TC Patriot breech, lock and set triggers in 45 caliber that shoots great (a cut off rifle barrel BTW)

I found the gun laying in weeds at a public rifle range. It had been there through at least one rain storm. Maybe there was a reason the previous owner left it there.
 
I owned one for about 20 minutes.
Well balanced, accurate.
Just couldn't get myself to accept the trigger
configuration.
I knew what was going to happen the next time I went to set the trigger of one of my rifles.
Sold it to my shooting buddy on the spot.
 
Glad to hear you like your Patriot pistol.

If you want to keep it in good condition, keep your loads reasonable.

These guns have a habit of cracking the stock if heavy loads are used in them.
 
you are sure right Zonie.
20 grns,.38 special case, works great for the .45. have owned 3.
I always bedded the breech/tang. to much clearance.
 
Another common reason for stock cracks is overtightening of the lock retaining bolts. They just have to be slightly snug. And, of course, many stocks have been broken altogether by shooters resting the pistol in a loading stand and then banging a tight ball/patch combination down the bore. This puts a lot of stress on the handle and, depending on which way the grain runs, can cause breakage. I have heard of this happening with the Lyman plains pistol also. Many shooters will seat the ball while holding the pistol in the other hand to prevent stressing the stock.
 
I agree completely. I never let the stock touch or rest on anything hard while loading. I hold the pistol by the barrel during the entire process. Keep the powder charge low, 18-24 gr FFFG, .440 ball with a simple pillow ticking patch and lube.

And as been said, just snug up the lock bolt/ screw.

My patriots are stock out of the box. I have been fortunate and never have had any problems. I don't abuse the pistol. If you do your part... They are tack drivers.

Most of all have fun :thumbsup:
 
I am always wondering and please define: "What is a tack driver".

I do not put the pistol in the league of a tack driver, very few are found in line matches.

Thanks

rde
 
Tack driver: Very accurate. On the farm, when my dad was a kid, he used to put thumb tacks or nails on a fence rail. He and his brothers would stand off a way and shoot at the tacks or nails, driving them into the wooden rail. :hatsoff:
 
Tack driver, guess my defintion is paper targets in line matches and the score after 5 or 10 shots at 25 and 50 yards offhand.

Numerous/multiple shots on Thanksgiving afternoon and shooting until the tack was hit is not my defintion of a tack driver.

Thanks for your response and insight.
 
I don't know about the tack driving, but the Patriot pistol, seemed to dominate the Commenwealth Games. I suspect the accuracy has to do with the adjustable sights and the set trigger.

When I say dominated, I don't mean they out performed any other pistol,(I didnt see the scores) I mean there were more of them. It would be my guess that a lot of people considered them, the best for competition, or they would have brought something different.
 
Considering that they have been out of production for several years, it is not surprising that they have become less frequent in matches. In the 1980's, two firearms dominated rendezvous pistol matches -- the Ruger Old Army and the Patriot. I had both at one time or another and found the Patriot to be more accurate, reliable, and easier to maintain than the Old Army. If only TC hadn't turned it into an accident looking for a place to happen by burdening it with that bastardized trigger configuration.
 
Yeah, those are the two views on the patriot trigger system. I think it's the best design ever and know of not one person that has ever had an accident with one while setting the front trigger.
You don't have to reach for the firing trigger like normal double set triggers make you do. It's position is right where any match trigger should be, particularly on a pistol in my opinion.
I have a close couple set trigger on my Highwall that would work great in a TC as well if so configured. MD
 
One more possibility that would work on a Patriot that I used in a Hawken pistol I made some years back is to drill a hole in the bottom of the grip most of the way up through to the tang and glass bed in a 5/16s steel rod. This keeps the stock from busting through the grip area very well.
Just finished stocking a Hagen barreled action and put a steel bushing through the very thin wrist that housed the through bolt for the same reason so I'm sure the technique works well.
 
Finally figured out the new format on photo bucket and these are some pictures refinished Patriot and a couple of the bolt up through the grip on the Hawken style horse pistol. http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277/mdeland_photos/P1010757-1.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277/mdeland_photos/P1010774.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277/mdeland_photos/P1010775.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277
/mdeland_photos/P1010781.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277/mdeland_photos/P1010778.jpg http://s224.beta.photobucket.com/user/mdeland_photos/media/P1010780.jpg.html
I used a hardwood dowel to plug the hole in the grip bottom and never got around to staining it. The pistol was made with a rifle lock and section of .54 cal barrel. It was kind of fun to put together a horse pistol with odds and ends I had laying around the shop. Even the stock was a plank of black walnut I had picked up in a yard clean up some years back.
Shoots a .530 round patched ball nicely accurate to the fifty yards it's been bench tested. The rear sight is a ghost ring aperture. MD
 
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The problem shooting the Patriot in line matches is that they can not be shot in the Kentucky matches and they cannot go head to head with the unlimited pistols.

I have only seen one at the Texas State matches and one at Phoenix.m I think the improvements in the unlimited pistols eliminated their popularity.

I like the pistol and will keep it, but it just is not a winner in line matches.

rde
 
M.D. said:
Yeah, those are the two views on the patriot trigger system. I think it's the best design ever and know of not one person that has ever had an accident with one while setting the front trigger.
You don't have to reach for the firing trigger like normal double set triggers make you do. It's position is right where any match trigger should be, particularly on a pistol in my opinion.
I have a close couple set trigger on my Highwall that would work great in a TC as well if so configured. MD

You don't have the accident with the Patriot. The accident occurs when you make the switch to a firearm with a standard double set trigger. You bring the weapon up, hopefully aim it roughly down range, and try to set the front trigger -- BANG, accidental discharge.

I would have been quite happy with the Patriot with just a GOOD single trigger.
 
I find the grip a little awkward as made. To me the trigger seems a little forward from where it should be.
 
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