Thompson Center Muzzleloaders Pros & Cons

[Black Dog]

Correct, good quality production traditional BP rifles.
Con: barrel rifling not deep enough.

The relatively shallow rifling -- similar to that of the military rifles designed for the Minie' Ball -- was designed to accommodate T/C's Maxi Ball, which made the Hawkens, the rifled-bore Renegades (some were .56 smooth bores) and the rifled-bore New Englanders (some were 12 gauge) at least as effective as the 405-grain .45-70 factory loads. Heard tell back in the '70s of a Maxi-ball-loaded .54 Renegade used at bad-breath range to stop an Alaskan bear emergency precipitated by some ***** with a .30-30; dunno if this was a sea story, though seems to me the source was pretty credible. Back to the shallow rifling, two of my '70s-vintage .54 Renegades and one late-'80s- manufacture .54 Hawken shot my .54 home-cast Minies' as accurately as the Maxis -- three rounds in 2-3 inches off the sandbags at 100 yards -- though I never did find a projectile more consistently accurate than the the Hornady Great Plains bullet, which would often cloverleaf off the bags at the same range.

 

[kelljp]

Biggest con, is they made so many different models and I think I need one (sometimes more) of each.

 

[Nameless Hunter]

I bought a 54 TC Hawken around '97, killed a number of deer with it but sold it after a few years (bad decision). Then I got lucky a few years ago on this 50 cal - bought from the original owner, who had bought it in the early 80's to show his kids a "genuine Hawken rifle". He had shot it a few times, cleaned it, and put it in his gun cabinet. He obviously knew how to take care of guns as it looks like it just came out the box - not a mark on it. Unfortunately, my wife confiscated it for her library before I even got to shoot it (it does have some nice wood), so I promptly bought a GPR. Still have plans to rescue it one day for shooting some Hornady Great Plains bullets I stashed away.

 

[dylan84]

Good functional hunting gun. Great that you can switch from a 50 caliber to a 54 caliber or a 12 gauge barrel. Bad thing is the lack of and high price for the 12 gauge barrel. All around basic hunting gun.

I'm going to make a 12 gauge barrel for mine. Breach plug and all.

 

[user 48702]

I absolutely love my TC's but, they are FAR from perfect. Most problems with them can be traced to their QC or more accurately, lack thereof. From their overuse of hot-melt glue instead of working to tolerance in fitting parts, their poorly fitted breechplugs with the gap that can grab a patch like no other or as others have said stretched to almost breaking with the overtightening. Other gripes is their use of the softest, cheapest screws they could buy. And their poorly designed sights that have to be completely disassembled to remove/install. And I don't know how in the fudge they even install those front sights! And one thing that in my opinion gets wrongly blamed is the comb of the Hawken stock. It gets reviled as being the cause of cheek-slap when the real culprit is that bulbous-*** 'cheekrest'. I ask everyone who complains about it to throw the gun up to their left shoulder beforre they break out the rasps & belt sanders. I shoot right-hand guns left-handed and the Hawken lays right in the groove under my cheekbone & puts my eye right behind the sights. But if I throw it up to my right shoulder I gotta bend & crane my neck plumb sideways to even see the sights.

And although I've never seen any real adverse effect from it, I don't know what the hell they were thinking with that QLA nonsense.

About my only gripe with the Renegade other than the ones from above that apply to both is the too short length of pull & it'd have been nice if they'd had about 30 or 32 inch barrels on them.

Same experience here, shoot mine left hand.

 

[user 48702]

What barrel(s) is Idaho Lewis using for those hundreds of yards shots? You do understand that he switches barrels to fast twist, and often longer, to shoot those conicals out to 3 & 4 hundred yards, don't you?

Check out his videos, he has two posted where he is shooting a .50 Renegade and a .54 Renegade, both with stock 1-48" twist barrels at 500 yds. They are both equipped with Lyman peep sights.
Idaho Lewis

 

[Bruce West]

I’ve got a few myself, my first TC Hawken I bought used and sold it to my brother when I felt I needed to go flint route instead with a GPR, which was converted to percussion when I gave up on flint. I gave that to my stepson. Next .50 TC Renegade I gave to my brothers oldest boy. Next TC Hawken .50 went to my brothers second boy (his daughter got my Pedersoli .45 Kentucky cap lock). Next TC Hawken .54 cap went to my son, and his girlfriend got a .50 New Englander caplock. I still have my hand carved .54 Plains rifle (started life as a Renegade) and a converted late Lancaster .50.
I like the TC guns but only my Plains rifle fits me absolutely perfect.
Just as a sidebar, I also have an unmentionable .50 muzzleloader for non traditional projectiles with iron sights, after giving two others to my nephews too. All TC’s. My cousin got my .50 GPH also. Jeeze, now I’m rambling, sorry….
Walk

Will you adopt me?

 

[LANEY REECE]

I have 2 t/c .50 and 54, both are good hunting rifles, just heavy.

 

[ETipp]

After owning several TC's (still have one) it didn't take me long to figure out that they build a fine muzzleloader. They do exactly what TC intended. They are sturdy/rugged, accurate, affordable (at the time) and darn fine hunting rifles. The TC lineup covered just about any hunting need, in terms of calibers.

Some complaints (from some folks) include not being as historical correct as they could have been. That may or may not be true. However, its to my belief that if someone desires in a historical correct muzzleloader, there are and have been some out there to fit their needs. But don't expect to get one in the same price range as the TC's were new.

Another complaint is the riflings are a bit too shallow. I absolutely believe that. Yes, TC bigger bores will shoot conical very accurately, especially their Maxi Balls, which I'm a big fan of. However, they can be challenging to work up an accurate round ball load. Been there, done that one with several TC's. As an example, my wife owns a .50 CVA Hawken. Definitely not near the higher quality as the TC's, has the same 1:48 twists, but much deeper grooves. That CVA is a tack driver with conical. If CVA can do it, so could have TC. I have yet to try RB out of that ML. So, I'm still not seeing the need for such shallow riflings in the TC's.

Indeed, TC built some fine muzleloaders at an affordable price.

 

[tjiann]

My 50 cal flintlock is a lot of fun to shoot. Also have a T/C 45 caplock.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

I've posted these pic's elsewhere but this is the current shape of my T\C Hawken that I acquired as a kit rifle in 1979. It now has a GM barrel (best thing ever done to this rifle) and some original Hawken triggers and trigger guard. I've removed the T\C lock case color and used a patina solution on the lock and barrel, reshaped the stock and blackened the remaining brass.

 

[tom in nc]

I have T/C guns as well as Traditions, CVA, and others. The fit & finish on the T/C guns is better than any of the others, with Traditions a close second.

 

[Banjoman]

My Thompson Center Hawken barrel had very shallow rifling so I replaced it with a green mountain barrel. And those modern looking sights were replaced with an authentic looking set. I wasn’t happy with the very low half **** position so I replaced the lock. The stock and hardware never looked quite right so I had someone make me a stock that looked like an actual Hawken. I custom made my own hickory ram rod. Lastly, I upgraded the the trigger for one a little smoother.

My Thompson Center Hawken is now one of the best guns I have!