I have a dumb question.

[N.Y. Yankee]

Is there any chance that the locks, triggers, hammers for Lyman GPR and T/C Hawken were made by the same company?

 

[Kansas Jake]

I doubt it. I think the TCs were made in house by Thompson/Center. The Lyman's and parts were imported.

 

[bubba.50]

No. T/C locks made right here in the U S of A. Lyman locks are very close copies/clones made in Italy.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I don't think the T/C, Lyman and Investarms locks are made by the same company, but Investarms designed the lock that all three use.

 

[user 36911]

No, but I used a Lyman hammer on a TC lock once. Gun Works sent me one saying it would fit and it did.

 

[bubba.50]

No, but I used a Lyman hammer on a TC lock once. Gun Works sent me one saying it would fit and it did.

Yep. And I have used a Lyman tumbler in a TC lock but I did have to hit a few file licks on the square shank to get the hammer to go on.

 

[longcruise]

No, but I used a Lyman hammer on a TC lock once. Gun Works sent me one saying it would fit and it did.

That's interesting! I presently have a renegade hammer on a TC but a Lyman hammer might look better.

 

[ugly old guy]

Not a "stupid question."
From what I hear, the only "stupid question" is the one not asked.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Sometime way back, you could take a gun or part to the Italians and say run off a thousand copies. A fellow named Garrett from Virginia did that with a Sharps rifle and the ones he imported were extremely nice and rumored to have interchangeable parts with originals. I would not doubt that somebody did that with the TC Hawken to come up with the Italian Investarms Hawken sold by Cabelas all these years. The Lyman GPR was a different stock and some different furniture with same locks and triggers, etc. Also by Investarms.

 

[user 36911]

Yes, the Cabelas was the Lyman Trade Rifle made by Investarms. The only difference is it came in LH too.

 

[Crow-Feather]

Is there any chance that the locks, triggers, hammers for Lyman GPR and T/C Hawken were made by the same company?

I use a Lyman Frizzen on my T/C flinter as they seem to work better

 

[Eddie2002]

I've been using a seiler small rifle frizzen on my Investarms Hawken. The angle of the frizzen gives a better spark.

 

[springfield art]

Sometime way back, you could take a gun or part to the Italians and say run off a thousand copies. A fellow named Garrett from Virginia did that with a Sharps rifle and the ones he imported were extremely nice and rumored to have interchangeable parts with originals. I would not doubt that somebody did that with the TC Hawken to come up with the Italian Investarms Hawken sold by Cabelas all these years. The Lyman GPR was a different stock and some different furniture with same locks and triggers, etc. Also by Investarms.

Nice to see mention of Garrett Arms; I found one of his Mississippi muskets at auction.
The markings are just like arsenal marks; I saw one of his Sharps carbines being strongly bid on, also. Mr. Garrett is long gone; I love my Mississippi (it's a .58) and fellows might be interested to research those products, just for the fun of reading about some fine BP repros. Thanks for mentioning!

 

[waarp8nt]

I needed a lock for a Johnny Cash'd T/C Renegade (got it one piece at a time). I took a chance and purchased a Lyman lock as it was much more cost effective than they T/C lock, had to trim only the slightest of wood to get the lock plate to fit, otherwise its fit & function was perfect.

 

[Bad Karma]

I don't think the T/C, Lyman and Investarms locks are made by the same company, but Investarms designed the lock that all three use.

I may be wrong but I seem to remember the T/C being in wide distribution long before Lyman and Investarms.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I am not sure who really is the designer of the T/C, Lyman or Investarms, but they all share the same design. There are subtle differences in the engraving, barrel length and some details, but the locks are nearly interchangeable. The triggers are practically the same. Investarms has been selling their version of the "Hawken" for more than 40 years according to their website. That makes them very nearly contemporary with the T/C "Hawken".

Full disclosure: Yes, I have a T/C Hawken that I built from a kit in about 1978.

 

[Zonie]

40 years would make it around 1980. Thompson Center was making their Hawken around 1970 (if not before).

 

[Grenadier1758]

Its close, but I looked in my early black powder books. Lyman's "Black Powder Handbook", copyright 1975, has a line drawing of their plains rifle with the coil spring lock. The Thompson Center Hawken shows up in the 1972 version of the "Black Powder Gun Digest". I do believe that Lyman and Thompson Center were working together on the Maxi-Ball as molds for the identical Maxi-Ball were available as a T/C mold or a Lyman mold. Investarms products were originally imported by Richland Arms starting in the 1960's through the 1980's. Its not surprising that it took Investarms 10 years to start marketing their "Hawken" with the coil spring lock under their own name.

There is an old thread (2016) on our sister Forum Modern Muzzleloading on Investarms. I'm including this link because it is mainly about Investarms and side lock percussion guns including the Investarms 120B et al.
https://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/threads/investarms-hawken.28941/

 

[longcruise]

Back into the early '70's the "TC" molds were made for TC by Lyman. When I bought my TC in '73 it came with or I purchased extra a shooting kit that included a steel round ball mold made by Lyman. In '74 I bought a TC Maxi Ball mold that was also steel and made by Lyman.

At some point the TC molds were changed to aluminum. Who made those? I dunno. By then I was shooting additional calibers and was purchasing all my molds from Lee. Every now and then a TC aluminum mold will show up at a gun show still in it's retail packaging.