Need opinions/suggestions/ideas- old TC Hawken .50 project

Hey everyone,

Well, now that I've graduated college (and will be starting a full time job on Monday), I actually have MORE time to indulge projects and hobbies, and really get back to shooting my guns. But enough about that.

My father has been itching to get a front-stuffer all his own since forever, and me getting one for my civil war reenacting, target shooting and hunting has made the money he made from selling one of our shotguns start to burn a hole in his pocket. What he doesn't know is that I cut him off and got him a gun already as a gift- an older TC Hawken in .50 that, once I have fixed it up a bit, will be a perfect gun for the ML season here in Wisconsin.

That being said, this gun needs a little work. Clearly, it was a kit that had been mostly assembled with the idea of using it once or twice, but it wasn't finished well (kind of looks a bit slapdash) even then. However, the bore is great and all the bits work. What it NEEDS are sights (missing front and rear) and a finish on the barrel (currently in the white with some surface rust).

However, seeing as we have some incredible custom guns here and some incredible artisans who build them, I am turning to all of you to give me suggestions, ideas, advice, and inspiration so I can turn what is a bare canvas into something cool for my dad. I've got plenty of time- November is a ways away, as is his Birthday.

I will try and post pics soon so y'all can see what I'm working with.

Thanks in advance,

-Chris Thulien

reworking a T/C stock which has a boatload of figure in it ... I got the stock at a gun show for a song, and didn't really know what I had until it was in the sunlight and then - wow!

you can get a good start by figuring to take a lot of wood off of it ... they need some thinning, IMO.

good luck with your project!

Personally I would brown the barrel with Laurel Mountain browning solution. For sights I would go to Track of the Wolf and get a front blade sight and a rear primitive sight. Scrape the stock as there is a lot of wood to take of as all ready stated. The TC's I have stripped have all had nice wood so I don't stain the walnut but put on Chambers Oil Finish. Good luck however you choose to go.

Dave

I like the looks of a browned barrel vs. blued. I also like a blade front sight over the blade with a bead that the TCs came with. The bead covers too much of the target.
String


Ha, 58 beat me by a minute...

My pick of rear sight for the TC is this one from the Hawken Shop in Washington. They didn't do themselves any favors with that poopy photo, because in fact it's a beautiful sight all set up to mate with the existing screw holes in the TC barrel.

If you're inclined to get away from the brass on the TC, they also sell a steel conversion kit including that sight for a little more money. More quality stuff.

Noodle around their sight and you can find a few more odds and ends.

Wanna make that rifle really special, spend a few bucks on the RE Davis Deerslayer trigger. It's a drop-in for the TC, and makes such a big difference in handling and shooting, I won't have anything else on my TCs. It's a drop-in for Lyman GPRs too, so guess what all of my GPRs wear, too.

Front site? Yeah, Track of the Wolf is your best source.

Thank you all for your quick replies! I really appreciate all the input. I will certainly be re-working the stock to some degree, MSW, and from the looks of it I think it will be quite nice with just some basic work. I will definitely look into those parts and trigger, BrownBear, and I'm almost certainly going to use that rear sight. It just looks to perfect, even with the manure picture...

With that said, the following link will show everyone the pictures of the gun in question (I apologize for the pic quality- I only have an iPod camera to work with...):

Chris's Hawken Project- TOP SECRET

Also, if y'all might oblige me, I'd welcome pictures of your guns/projects just to give me ideas. I'm still working on whether or not I want to do any inlays or anything like that... A north star inlay on the cheek piece might be cool, or some such. :hmm:

Thanks again,

-Chris

(also, thanks to the mods for re-locating this thread to the proper location- I didn't know where the best place to put it was)

Factory TC Hawken sights can be had from TC. Track of the Wolf have other sights for you to pick from. Myself I like the Lyman 57 rear peep sight. For a front sight either The Lyman front sight that allows you to change inserts or the TC fiber optic front sight.

The only advise that I'd add, is to use a thin, silver, front sight post, IF the shooter's eyes can handle that. I've found with TC, CVA, and Pedersoli rifles, the front sight posts are like looking over the top of a 2x4, and you don't really get the full measure of the barrel's accuracy with them.

I'd clean up the stock, and sand it and check the wood to metal fit, but since it's a bargain junk gun coming back to be a nice field gun, I'd omit embellishments. Too much goo gaws and your dad might feel bad about taking the gift that you worked so hard on into the woods. Defeats the idea right?

Trust me...a plain, well finished rifle with a nice, even brown, will look very pretty, and down right gorgeous when he downs his first deer with it.

LD

New sights considering your Dad's eyesight, an LMF brown job and a lot of wood removal...especially the cheekpiece. Below is my TC Hawken from a kit done in 1979. This rifle has been used by many people because it's the "camp loaner" when elk hunting and has shot many elk....Fred

We just did my buddies .54 t/c hawken. We browned all the parts and antiqued all the brass by cold bluing them. Added a rear sight from track of the wolf (l&r hawken adjustable rear sight) and a blade front sight. Sanded down the stock and did not stain just applied boiled linseed oil to the stock. (actually its boiled linseed oil with turpentine to thin it out a bit) It turned out like a completely different gun. I'm not a big fan of the stock t/c sights on a gun that's suppose to look vintage. It seems to me that they did a fine job on the rifle and said oh well here is some sights from a modern rifle lets just put them on there.....

Coupla things to watch out for while sanding or shaping a stock. You want the things that need to be round to stay round, and the things that need to be flat to stay flat. Sounds pretty straight forward, but it's real easy to go too far or lose track of the shape you're after. And wood doesn't grow back, no matter how long you wait! :rotf:

Good idea to have access to some other stocks for comparison before you start hacking, just so you can study the lines and figure out what you're after.

Another point, worth hanging out on the line for a closer look. It's clear from your last photo that the original owner made a classic mistake. There needs to be a smooth transition from wood to metal, rather than just filing down the wood to meet the metal while leaving all the rest of the original wood in place. If you follow that.

Best is to screw metal bits like the butt plate into place and leave it there while you're shaping the stock. The metal edge will take a little beating along the way even if you're careful, but it will finish right up as you get down to the finer grits on your wood work.

Do what 58 cal. said. Then, with the new job, start saving for a custom rifle. In the meantime you will be able to decide what kind you like best and find a builder.

^ That last part is high on my list, Rifleman, but I should take care of some of my student loans first.

Again, thank you all for the input.

And yeah, BrownBear, I noticed the former owner's attempted stock work. Thankfully it ought to disappear once the stock reaches its final shape. Furthermore, the metal surfaces need finishing anyway, so whatever I hit them with during shaping can only improve matters...


As for my dad's eyes, he should be just fine for the forseeable future- he's only 52, so he's got plenty of bite to back up his bark in this regard. As a hunting gun I was initially inclined to supply him with one of the aforementioned Lyman peep sights, but I have heard that they can obscure quite a bit of the target- here in the Wisconsin north woods, there's not much opportunity for shooting much beyond 100 yards, and I would say the vast majority of shooting takes place under 60 or so- with that in mind, maybe the buckhorn sight that has been suggested would be better (Rat, I'm assuming you probably have a different opinion on this subject...thoughts?)?


Thanks again, everyone!

-Chris