pitted t/c hawken worth grabbing?

[walruskid1]

i have a chance to grab a factory .50 with a badly pitted bore. i never had rifle with a rough bore because i clean mine after shooting them. this guy was told pyrodex would not cause rust. hahaha! I can get it for 150$, is it worth rebarreling or should i pass?

 

[bpd303]

Re-barreling will probably cost at least another $150. Is it worth that to you?

 

[necchi]

Like bpd303 said, is it worth it to you?

I see enough of those that 150 is a bit on the high side, $100 and I might grab'm.
Depends on how you can use the parts. The lock an trigger have value.
If you can sit on a C note investment till a decent barrel comes along,,?

 

[Alden]

Let it be someone else's parts rifle.

 

[Prairieofthedog]

I would just try to find one in great shape.There are a lot of them available in the $200 dollar range.Now if you can get it for $50 go for it.Thats all I would offer him for it.

 

[walruskid1]

thanks guys, i have enough muzzleloaders to shoot for the rest of my life without another project. i will pass unless i can grab it for under 75.00 bucks. plus, its not an underhammer! :grin:

 

[Idaho Ron]

If the wood is in good shape and no cracks I would give that for a donor to make another hot rod. Ron

 

[necchi]

Yeah, you guy's out west don't seem to have a lot of trad Ml's around,,
It is a regional thing,

But Ron, it's a Hawken! :shocked2:
I didn't think you had a Hawken in your posse,, your all Renegades.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Truth is many pitted bores will shoot well if lapped. In extreme cases the bore can be "refreshed" . The problem with Refreshening a T.C. bore is they "button " broached the rifling in. Which actually compressed the steel hardening it. This makes recutting the bore a few thousands extremely difficult . I tried to salvage a T.C. Cherokee by refreshing it and after two days I gave up and bought a liner for it. So my advise is to lap it and try it . Then if it still doesn't shoot well either replace the barrel or have it rebored to a larger caliber. Bobby Hoyt does an excellent job of reboring . But you are looking at another one hundred dollars if you go that route.

 

[coloradoclyde]

If you told me, that Pyrodex or any other powder for that matter won’t cause rust I would call you a liar and wait for the rust to prove my point.
Non-corrosive, like modern muzzleloaders , are oxymoron’s.

 

[coloradoclyde]

In my experience, shoot the heck out of it , they will improve over time, also reducing powder charges in a pitted bore can increase accuracy”¦”¦..wadding under the patched ball may also help

 

[Idaho Ron]

Yeah, you guy's out west don't seem to have a lot of trad Ml's around,,
It is a regional thing,

But Ron, it's a Hawken! :shocked2:
I didn't think you had a Hawken in your posse,, your all Renegades.

Didn't you see the picture of my deer I got this year? This is my Hot Rod Hawken. Ron

 

[MSW]

well, it depends ... (trying not to sound like a lawyer, here)

an entire rifle for that price is not too shabby, but if barrel is a mess, you have to take a look at replacement, and now you're looking at another hundred or two, best case.

I would advise you to try the 'Persian rug merchant' negotiating technique: peel off a trio of twenties and ask, now, the bore of this gun is a mess, and i'm gonna leave this money on the table for only so long. you and I both know that this rifle is gonna need a boatload of work. pull out another twenty and point blank tell him, "I won't go another - whatch wanna do?"

if you're not willing to walk away, keep your wallet in your pocket.

(p.s. - I learned this from my wife, who - I kid you not - has brought used car salesmen to tears ... to watch her negotiate is a thing that borders on the scary).

well, that's one guy's advice ... free and doubtless well worth the price ... good luck with the art of the deal, and let us know how it plays out!

 

[Bugflipper]

I just got a badly pitted cherokee. I lapped it and it shot very well. Just to much of a pain to load. I found a good stripped barrel on ebay for a decent price and swapped all the hardware over tonight. A lot of times you can bring the pitting back but sometimes they are just to far gone.

 

[Rifleman1776]

if you're not willing to walk away, keep your wallet in your pocket.

Good advice. That is the key to negotiating.
However, despite all the talk about TC 'hawkens', they are a good working component rifle. I'll say $100.00 is an acceptable price even if the barrel is not prime. Aftermarket barrels can be put on it for specialized uses. e.g. hunting, bench or chunk matches, smooth, etc.

 

[Vaino]

Tell the owner that you'll take it off his hands for nothing....afterall, what is he going to do w/ it? He might not like to look at a rifle w/ a "crudded up" bore...I know I wouldn't.....
Fred

 

[Alden]

Jeez, that's a MONSTER to be proud of! The deer is OK too I suppose...

:wink:

 

[Pete44ru]

i have a chance to grab a factory .50 with a badly pitted bore. i never had rifle with a rough bore because i clean mine after shooting them. this guy was told pyrodex would not cause rust. hahaha! I can get it for 150$, is it worth rebarreling or should i pass?

If I was in the market for another T/C, I'd buy it and then either have that barrel freshed out to .58cal or buy a good/used barrel for it.

The last T/C barrel I bought off gunbroker cost me $60.(It was a .54 Renegade 1"x28" bbl)



.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

You can rebarrel, or with a renegade, have the barrel reamed smooth by Boby Hoyt for use with ball or shot. Lots cheaper than a new barrel.