Thompson Center questions

[pacanis]

It has a couple guns ahead of it before it is its turn to make smoke.
The shop put a flint in it. It was held in place with what appeared to be a piece of wood notched to fit around the jaw screw. Weird. I put a piece of leather around the flint and it hits a bit higher on the frizzen now. It seems to throw sparks fine.

 

[Thingamajiggy]

Interesting.
I thought they might have been worth a little more.
Thanks.

I agree, I'd say here in PA, it's worth a little more. I believe it's due to the demand for the flintlock only season after Christmas. Every year I see a flood of guys looking for flintlock and are hard to come by come fall, drives prices up.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Nice looking rifle. You did well.

 

[pacanis]

Thanks.
I've got a call into my smithing buddy about cutting in a dovetail for me that will remove one of the now vacant sight holes. And I have one of the OEM sight mounting screws screwed into the other hole. It's sitting about one thread proud. I'll see if he can mill off the head for me, too. Then it's just a matter of filing it down even with the barrel. He may say it's not worth risking the finish. I'm kind of thinking that myself now that I typed it out, lol. I probably have a dummy screw laying around if I search hard enough.

And I even have a Lyman rear sight and German silver front I can put in it to see what's what.

Gotta run. He just called back.

 

[buckheart]

What is the attraction to these things? I don't get. Save your money and buy a real gun.

Define "real gun".

 

[bronko220002]

Looking at all the answers I agree with most of them. One thing though is that if the barrel is browned then it was likely a kit gun. All factory guns were blued. For some unknown reason a kit gun usually brings less. They are identified by a "K" in front of the serial number.
If the rifle you're looking at has a round barrel it is either a White Mountain Carbine (short barrel) or a Pennsylvania Hunter (longer I believe 32" barrel). All .50 caliber barrels from T/C were 1:48 twist except the PA Hunter that had a 1:60 or 1:66 for round ball.

 

[bronko220002]

Most T/C's were a compromise 1 in 48 shallow groove rifling supposedly to shoot both round balls and maxi balls. Like most compromises it doesn't excel at either. Many I have known with a flint lock have had problems getting them to fire consistently.

Ron I beg to differ. There wasn't a T/C factory barrel that I couldn't get to shoot very accurately and I've had several. As for the flintlock models yes, the locks were inconsistent but could be worked on to be reliable. One of the first things I did was remove the frizzen and install a Lyman GPR frizzen in its place. It just needed a bit of filing to fit. One lock that I have is the fastest lock I've ever owned but I replace the spring with a Lyman spring. It was slightly longer and a bear to install but that hammer is fast and strong.

 

[longcruise]

Like most compromises it doesn't excel at either.

I have two TC rifles and six barrels. The 1:48 twist shoots just fine for me. They are all more capable than I am! All shoot MOSH (minute of squirrel head). Jake and Sam rifled 1:48.

 

[pacanis]

I have that Traditions Tennessee in .50 with a 1:32 twist and this was the first (and only so far) time I shot it.
3 shots using PBR at 50yds

Using the same target, 3 shots using the GPR conical and two different charges.

Sometimes I wonder how much twist rate really affects a projectile at the distances a lot of us will ever shoot the gun.

 

[longcruise]

@pacanis that is some good shooting.

 

[Gus Alexander]

I was at the gun shop yesterday and saw a nice .50 TC, very nice, flintlock.
I think the barrel length said 28", it had double set triggers, half stock, browned barrel, adjustable rear, brass bead front and a cheek rest, what looked like a fiberglass rod... I guess I'm curious of the model (if that's enough to go by... but what I'm really curious about is the way the hammer interacts with the frizzen.

With the hammer down and the frizzen closed the spur is roughly the same height as the top of the frizzen. And they are dang close. I don't have large hands and could barely grab enough spur to cock the hammer. Is that normal/correct?

Would anyone know the barrel twist? Or did they come in different twists?

I think I saw the percussion version on GI this morning, but with a wooden rod, and it was described as "Hawkin like". His spelling, not mine.

I was thinking of taking another look, but with my bore mirror. Or maybe I should take in my new scope, lol.
At a price tag of $449 (always negotiable there) and TC no longer making them... it has me thinking. I don't want to drag my feet like I did with Lyman's GPR when they were readily available. And my first ML when I was a kid might have been this model. So it has a nostalgia thing going for it.

Yay, nay, poo-poo because of the sights?

Oersonally, for that price, it's a fair deal. The guns WORK. It might not pass by some stitch counter, but from a shooting perspective, the thin, no matter what you don't like, you can find parts to change them. I found one with fiberglass rod, fiber optic sights, it's a great hunter. Old eyes need every advantage. I have one with original iron sights & wooden ramrod. Both shoot well. Both hunt. I never use the wooden rod except in the field. Had 1 break in extreme cold.. ended my morning.... you won't regret buying it, you'll always get your money back...

 

[pacanis]

@pacanis that is some good shooting.

Thank you sir.
First time using a set trigger. I'm sure that helped.

 

[MSW]

i've owned T/C rifles for the better end of a half century, and it's been a pretty good experience... a pity that they're no longer in production because, although far from HC/PC, they're a pretty functional rifle, and will shoot closer than i can hold them.

so the short answer to your question is yes, if you have not already done so, i think that you should buy the rifle.

the price will be forgotten long after you still enjoy shooting it.

by the way, you can probably get a "standard" front sight if you poke around on the 'net.'

best of luck!

 

[pacanis]

i've owned T/C rifles for the better end of a half century, and it's been a pretty good experience... a pity that they're no longer in production because, although far from HC/PC, they're a pretty functional rifle, and will shoot closer than i can hold them.

so the short answer to your question is yes, if you have not already done so, i think that you should buy the rifle.

the price will be forgotten long after you still enjoy shooting it.

by the way, you can probably get a "standard" front sight if you poke around on the 'net.'

best of luck!

If you didn't continue reading my posts, I did buy it and do have a front and rear sight on order
I'm looking forward to shooting that heavy barreled gun.

Thanks for the information on yours.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Most T/C's were a compromise 1 in 48 shallow groove rifling supposedly to shoot both round balls and maxi balls. Like most compromises it doesn't excel at either. Many I have known with a flint lock have had problems getting them to fire consistently.

Bear in mind that the compromise was made with respect to the depth of the grooves. Shallow grooves work better for a conical bullet that engraves on the lands on loading. The 1 in 48" twist was the standard twist rate and the depth of the grooves were closer to 0.010" to 0.012" in depth and the rate of twist was not a compromise at all when many of the muzzle loading rifles were originally made.

For whatever reason Thompson Center referred to their twist and depth of grooves as a compromise design to shoot their conical maxi-ball bullet design and explain away the marginal performance of a patched round ball in their rifles.