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TC New Englander advice

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Sevendozen

32 Cal
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
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I just recieved a beautiful TC New Englander with a barrel bore that has been seriously neglected. Im having a lot of trouble finding a round barrel replacement for it.

Would there be any drawback to having the thing honed from .50 to .54?
 
I just recieved a beautiful TC New Englander with a barrel bore that has been seriously neglected. Im having a lot of trouble finding a round barrel replacement for it.

Would there be any drawback to having the thing honed from .50 to .54?

Great idea!
Mr. Hoyt does a great job at a very fair price.
If you keep a watch, you can find a 12 or 20 gauge barrel for it also. Those little guns are awesome.
A friend had a 12 ga. but it shot an open pattern. I told him I could jug choke the barrel and it would tighten up the pattern.
He went that way and now has a really deadly turkey gun.
Fred
 
I just recieved a beautiful TC New Englander with a barrel bore that has been seriously neglected. Im having a lot of trouble finding a round barrel replacement for it.

Would there be any drawback to having the thing honed from .50 to .54?
None. Bob Hoyt just did a High Plains Sporter for me, I also have a Hawken he took from .50 to .54. Great work and a good guy.
 
I'll give Mr. Hoyt a call

The shame is, on the outside, the gun looks brand new, unfired. I guess that's not really a shame, I just wish the bore looked as good.
 
I'll give Mr. Hoyt a call

The shame is, on the outside, the gun looks brand new, unfired. I guess that's not really a shame, I just wish the bore looked as good.
YUP, send it to Mr. Hoyt, he is a miracle worker with barrels. Make sure you tell him what you want to shoot out of it, he will get the best bore for the load in the bore and rifling job.
 
Sevendozen, from many here with experience with Mr. Hoyt it seems that is the way to go for fixing a bad bore. My question, is have you cleaned the bore or tried to smooth it out to see how much rifling is left? It can be somewhat rough and still shoot fairly well. I've used some fine steel wool on a bore brush with Gumout or similar product to clean a bore that looked bad, but ended up having mostly some very small pits. It shot pretty good after a good cleaning. It does take a little more work to clean well after shooting compared to a bore without pits.
 
I appreciate everyone's advice. I'm pretty new to this. I've shot in-line, but never side lock before. I'm heading down the range today to see what kind of groups I get out of it, and will go from there. I certainly don't want to have any unnecessary work done to it, but I like to plan ahead, and it's good to know that I can have it taken care of, should it be beyond repair
 
In regard to telling Bobby Hoyt what I want to shoot out of it...you mean like round ball, rifled?

Again, I'm really new to black powder, and don't know what I don't know.
 
He relined a New Englander for me to shoot .457" diameter bullets as cast from a variety of off the shelf molds. Also does well with paper patched soft cast revolver bullets. Fairly sure tight patched round ball will work.

Have thought for years that having a barrel for the .476/.480 diameter revolver molds would be pretty awesome. Instead when he did another barrel for me got it as .520 bore to shoot fifty rifle molds paper patched and sized .519.

Whatever projectiles you decide upon he can probably do it for you.
 
In regard to telling Bobby Hoyt what I want to shoot out of it...you mean like round ball, rifled?

Again, I'm really new to black powder, and don't know what I don't know.
What would you like to do with the gun? Shoot paper targets? Roundball, conical or shot? Hunt with it? If so what type of game? What you re-bore it to depends on what you plan to use the for.
 
Paper and/or steel
For paper and steel I would rebore what you have to a 54 caliber round ball twist, maybe 1-56 or 1-60. Talk to Bobby Hoyt (call, he has no email or website) and tell him what you would like to use it for and see what he says. Last rifled rebore I had him do cost just over $150 including postage both ways. If you want a smaller caliber, say 45 or 50, believe Bobby would charge around $200 to re-line the bore, but you will have to ask him.
 
Is there a place you can point me with info to help me decide on a diameter?

Not really, not that I know of.
I chose to shoot 45 caliber rifle molds because I wanted the advantages in velocity retention and wind bucking that a small bore with longer bullets offers, and of course, the availability of serviceable molds. It's a combo that couldn't be beat for plinking, target shooting or also for hunting for that matter. I opted for 24" twist for what I want to do, not seeking to imitate a replica Whitworth or Volunteer.

My advice (free and worth every penny) would be to decide what kind of shooting you want to do, research it until totally sure and hatch your plans accordingly.
 
Round ball rifles are generally easy on the shoulder and the pocket. You don’t need big powder charges and the balls don’t weigh much either. If you want to stretch the range with black powder you might lean towards bullets but if your rifle needs to be bored to .54 you’ll be using much more lead and maybe powder to reach the steel or paper way out there...
 
I have said this before and I'll say it again, the Thompson Center New Englander ( although not traditional in design ) is one of the very best black powder hunting guns you can get.
It is light, points life a shotgun, is quick to handle. If you get a shot gun barrel for it, you have the best combination you can buy.
One weak spot on these guns, if they have a wood stock, is that they often crack at the back of the barrel to the lock bolt.
Glass bed the stock and this will not happen.
It would be a shame to sink the extra money into redoing the barrel, and later have the stock crack. Bummer!
A .54 cal. barrel is a great way to go. Lots of thump.
That gun might be a little brutal in .58 cal. as it is so light in weight.
The flat butt plate will absorb a lot of recoil.
Fred
 
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