Thompson center Hawkens replacement barrel

I have two Thompson Center 50 cal Hawkens rifles that need new barrels. I've searched for the green mountain barrels but from what I can gather they don't make them anymore. Any suggestions on where to find a barrel with a faster twist for sabots? At least a 1-32?

New barrels occasionally are found on auction sites at various prices. Another option is to have your barrels rebored to a larger caliber at your desired twist.

Track of the Wolf has a 54 Caliber replacement barrel offered for the T/C Hawken.

Do a search here of Bobby Hoyt. He can bore to the next size or put an insert in and any rifling you want. He is fairly quick and in most cases cheaper than buying a new barrel.

Have you tried shooting them with the bullet you wanted to use? My 50 has a 1:48 and would put them all in a pop can at 50 yards 240 xtp... Dont need more than that for iron sights... No one here really uses that modern stuff... Try a nice minie ball my gun one holes the lee 360 at 50 yards

The only good thing about a sabot is it will hit closer in elevation to a patched round ball... Why do you want to use a sabot anyways?

I imagine that you need a flintlock barrel since you are from PA. So I think a rebore by Bobby Hoyt in Fairfield near Gettysburg is a good option. He can rebore it to 54 caliber in a twist you want. In 54, the ball is 230 grains compared to a 177 grainer in a 50. So a bigger ball may save you the expense of sabots. Sabots are also available for a 54 if you need them.
Finding a new Thompson barrel is going to be hard to find. I would love to find one for my 54 Renegade. Good luck.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I should have mentioned they are flintlocks. I really thought someone out there would be making new barrels for the TC Hawkens for as many as there are out there. I really don't want to bore it out to a .54, everything we have is for .50 and I'd like to keep it all the same. if I can't find a barrel I may do a liner for them. Sabots are just personal preference is all, I got a Lyman's GPR that shoots round balls great and another traditions that shoots the sabots great.

Well if you haven't tried any load development try one and push it as hard as you can though if its a round ball twist it probably still won't work.... The faster a bullet leaves the muzzle the faster it will be spinning and more likely to stabilize... I quit shooting sabots cause I just didn't think they were "cool" lol

Why do you think you need new barrels? Are the bores pitted? Has the accuracy suddenly changed?

If you have been shooting sabots, the plastic builds up in the grooves and destroys accuracy. You need to clean those barrels with some copper shreds from a "Chore Boy" pad. The shallow rifling in a T/C barrel will lose accuracy quickly as plastic is deposited in the grooves. You may not need to replace your barrels right now.

eBay is full of TC Hawken barrels. Though flintlock is harder to find and does demand more money. I've bought 3 barrels off eBay, along with other TC stuff. Enough to build three riffles. As someone mentioned, Track of The Wolf is a great source.

Flint barrels don't sell well on eBay, I bought a new unused kit gun barrel for $68. It was stripped down so I spent another $30 or so for the under rib, sights and misc parts.

Going to a .54 is not a big deal, a new mold or two and you are good to go. That 226 gr round ball sure puts a stomping on any deer you shoot.

From what i understood he wants a faster twist for the sabots... My 1:48 shot them into 2" groups at 100 yards and lets face it most of us won't even shoot that far. The 44 xtp sabots are cheaper than most full diameter conicals but like I said they are uncool in my opinion so I bought a mold since I think more than a dollar per bullet is too much for cast anything....

CapPopper said:

From what i understood he wants a faster twist for the sabots... My 1:48 shot them into 2" groups at 100 yards and lets face it most of us won't even shoot that far. The 44 xtp sabots are cheaper than most full diameter conicals but like I said they are uncool in my opinion

Click to expand...

Agreed!....Neither traditional or cool...

......and we dont even TALK about those things here :surrender:

" if I can't find a barrel I may do a liner for them"

Bobby Hoyt can reline your barrel to the original caliber and your choice of twist, reasonable price too.

Yes the barrels are toast,these were grandpas old guns that he built from kits. He's wasn't the biggest on taking proper care of them and I wanted to rebarrel one to give to my dad in hopes he get back into it. I use sabots in one of my other muzzleloaders and have had to deal with the plastic build up. If you ever get a chance try RGS bore cleaner. We use it on our trap shooting shotguns to clean out the build up from the wads and it works wonders on that and the build up in the muzzleloader. I know a 1-48 will stabilize a sabot just fine, I just figured if I was going New I'd go with the twist while I was at it is all. I wasn't aware of the whole S&W buying Thompson center and them no longer making stuff. Guess I'll take a harder look on eBay although I hate buying off there.

Haha well in my defense I didn't really come here to talk about them, I just wanted to know where to find a new barrel is all. Variety is the spice of life for me and i like shooting my sabot rounds as much as the round balls out of my GPR. Thanks again for all the information everyone

:haha: well it does occasionally cone up... Mostly when we are trying not to use them or discussing how not cool they are

:thumbsup: