Green Mountain T/C Hawken barrels- What's the verdict?

[Cowboy2]

I'm thinking about replacing the factory pipe, so, are these a step up? It'll be the 1-70" patched ball model.

 

[FishDFly]

Probably more line matches have been won with a T/C Hawken with a 15/16" GM barrel in 45 than any other combination that can be put together.

I know one line shooter who has put 40,000 balls down a GM percussion and 40,000 balls down a GM flintlock barrel and they are still winning matches.

r

 

[Dphar]

Probably more line matches have been won with a T/C Hawken with a 15/16" GM barrel in 45 than any other combination that can be put together.

I know one line shooter who has put 40,000 balls down a GM percussion and 40,000 balls down a GM flintlock barrel and they are still winning matches.

r

I keep hearing such things on the WWW. Lets do some math.

80000 rounds X 2 minutes = 1333 HOURS. Then we have CLEANING time.
Casting balls or buying them?
Then we figure POWDER burned. If they use 70 gr per shot we have
80000 x 70 /7000 gives 800 POUNDS of POWDER. 32 cases. a 50 will burn over 40 cases.
Lead? 133 gr per ball for a 45 caliber? A little over 1500 pounds. A 50? Just over a ton.
Cleaning patches? Several hundred thousand I would think. How many yards of cloth I could not guess.
Folks can figure the cost on their own.

How many locks have been replaced? 40000 rounds will wear out several.
Did it over 20 years? 333 shots a month give or take, over 10 shots a day every day for 20 years.
30 years? 220 odd shots a month.
Hard to hold a job at this rate.

Dan

 

[FishDFly]

I trust folks for what they say, his name is Ralph Miller and he lives in Seadrift, Texas. He has more honesty than most folks and is a machinist by trade.

He holds many records at Friendship, Phoenix, Texas State shoots and many NMLRA Territorals.

I simply reported what he said. He shot two (2) national rifle aggs. every day after work. He shot matches every weekend somewhere. I know that he started shooting in the early 70s and shot until this year and had to quit.

I did proof what I wrote just now, drop the number to 20,000 for each, I need to proof read better.

Have a nice day.

r

 

[ebiggs1]

Maybe a lot of shooting but in a more easy way to illustrate, it would be approx.47 shots a day. If you were only using a normal 8 hour work day schedule and over 30 years. Now if the “corrected” figure were used it would be 23 or so shots per day. Not impossible at all if you even consider he shoots a 100 shots on some days and nothing for three days.
Personally I shoot about 50 shots a month but I shoot other guns too so it limits my muzzle loader time.

 

[nkbj]

Concerning the GM drop-ins, I love 'em. Are they better than TC factory barrels? Are they better than a TC factory barrel after it's been Hoyted? Beats me. Give me a couple more decades to figure it out.

By the way, do any yall put as much of a cone / crown on a muzzle as GM does their drop-ins? When doing a muzzle I always start to cringe a little once it gets much past a smoothed inlet radius. GM puts a 45 degree chamfer, sometimes 1/32" and sometimes a little over a 1/16", apparently depending on how big the bore is. Just wondering.

 

[FishDFly]

Maybe a lot of shooting but in a more easy way to illustrate, it would be approx.47 shots a day. If you were only using a normal 8 hour work day schedule and over 30 years. Now if the “corrected” figure were used it would be 23 or so shots per day. Not impossible at all if you even consider he shoots a 100 shots on some days and nothing for three days.
Personally I shoot about 50 shots a month but I shoot other guns too so it limits my muzzle loader time.

In all honesty, call Ralph a liar, I simply quoted what he told me. I did not run the math to run a verification test on his number of shots quoted, I trust the person.

My simple point was to answer the original posters question on the quality of GM barrels.

Have a nice day.

r

 

[FishDFly]

Concerning the GM drop-ins, I love 'em. Are they better than TC factory barrels? Are they better than a TC factory barrel after it's been Hoyted? Beats me. Give me a couple more decades to figure it out.

By the way, do any yall put as much of a cone / crown on a muzzle as GM does their drop-ins? When doing a muzzle I always start to cringe a little once it gets much past a smoothed inlet radius. GM puts a 45 degree chamfer, sometimes 1/32" and sometimes a little over a 1/16", apparently depending on how big the bore is. Just wondering.

The GM barrels are better than T/C barrels for line matches where X's count. The only original T/C barrels in line matches are folks just starting out in line matches, they quickly go to G/M roundball barrels.

GM barrel cones, I do not frinkle with them, I am not a barrel maker, I figure that they know what they are doing. Kind of like asking a cardiologist to check your impacted wisdom tooth.

r

 

[Rat Trapper]

I know a person who is real serious about his shooting can and will go through a lot of ammo. When I counted up how much ammo I was shooting in skeet & trap per month it scared me. Same when I was into shooting NRA pistol matches one year alone I shot over 40 thousand rounds. Today I'm a lot older, retired,lazy,don't shoot much and even own my own private 300 yard range. Still a week or so of steady practice before a NRA high power match can still require 500-1000 rounds of practice ammo. So I think a guy who's serious can put a lot of round balls through his rifle.

 

[VEARL]

I hit a bulls eye at 100 yd target once.
Kept that target and tell everyone that is my score for the day. :thumbsup:

 

[Mad Professor]

I have GM and TC.

If you are shooting RB the 1-66 deep groove TC barrels ( as opposed to 1-48 does it all) seem to shoot as good as the GM RB twist, and the fit/finish is MUCH better as is bluing.

Also, never got a TC barrel with a helicoil in the nipple threads........

P.S. With the sellout/new owners at TC not sure if the 1-66 barrels are still available? Can you still order custom shop stuff?

 

[catman]

I like my GM 1/70 Drop in's in a 54 1" and 50 15/16 very well, for the money they can't be beat, you got to let them break in about 100 balls worth to slick up and settle down. Then there automatic tack drivers.

 

[ryoung14]

I've got the 15/16ths .54 slow-twist drop-in for my TC Hawken. Fine roundball shooter, has collected a couple of deer.

Also a couple of .50 fast twist drop-ins that I haven't tested yet. Think I got one on sale.

Have to agree; finish and bluing isn't quite to TC standards, but you can't argue with the accuracy.

 

[Mad Professor]

Try 385 gr buffalo bullets in the fast twist 50 w/70-90 gr ffg over a wonder wad.

They shoot like lazers out of a similar 1" GM barrel in a renegade.

The lower charges shoot as good as hotter ones with less kick.

Ron has some really great loads worked up for far far far long range stuff, do a search.

I'm in the east so long is 100 yds, really really long is an occasional pasture at 200 yds.

I did check the TC website

Nothing listed for Renegades, Hawkens only in .50, and no more custom shop/RB barrels

I'm keeping all the parts I have from now on......

 

[Cowboy2]

Thanks for all your help, guys, its appreciated.