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Refinished my T\C Hawken

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DaveT

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Since we were in COVID mode, I decided to re-finish my 40+ YO T\C Hawken. Originally purchased in 1980 with some light sanding and a few coats of True Oil, the gun has seen a lot of hunting under different weather conditions over the years. It's been dropped, many times, threw it across a pipeline once as I began to tumble down the muddy hill...drove mud a good 10" into the bore. I never liked the original 1-48 twist barrel as it had a very shallow rifling and after trying about 6,000 different ball\patch\powder combos, I finally settled on 60gr FF....which is enough to kill a deer....as long as the POI was the same as the POA.

About ten years ago I replaced the barrel with a Green MT drop in. Best decision I made as the rifle will now shoot a nice group....and no more "shotgun pattern." Plus the load is now 100gr FF.

Anyway the initial pics are the beginnings of the re-do. I had a set of TOTW Hawken triggers that I purchased many years ago with the intent of building a true re-pro Hawken Plains rifle. Well, that never happened so I used the TOTW double triggers and trigger plate to get rid of the T\C factory. I never liked the T\C trigger guard. I also made a toe plate, inlayed the lock bolt metal, inlayed the wedge key metal, and re-shaped the stock. I considered replacing the T\C nose cap with a more realistic one, but then decided against that. All of the T\C Brass has been dipped in a brass aging solution and the steel trigger guard was greyed using the same solution. I also removed the barrel blueing with Naval Jelly. The barrel was not to my liking as far as the smooth finish was concerned so I draw-filed it to my liking and using the brass solution, I greyed\patina the barrel.

The stock was sanded to 220 grit, whiskered twice, then I applied two coats of sealer. After steel wooling the sealer back I then applied two coats of Chambers Oil Finish. I let the first coat dry 24 hours, steel wooled it back, then applied the second coat. Then using 0000 Steel wool I removed anything that was too thick and let the finish be a satin one.

It's not an original T\C....and it will never be a Hawken reproduction.....but it's a good hunting rifle...and IMHO, it looks nicer....and it's not like every other T\C out there. Here's the pics in (I think) order of refinish:

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Nice job of it. Built my TC Hawken from a kit and never replaced any parts. The initial use was on squirrels and it was a real "head hitter". Later on used it for deer w/ Maxi Balls and got a few deer. My only complaint was that it was a cheek slapper so one year I modified the butttock and it no longer bothered my cheek. In fact used it on elk w/ a 410 gr Buffalo Bullet w/ a lot of powder and it got a couple of elk.

Found that no matter the load, the accuracy was excellent.
TC Hawken.JPG


The comb was taken down and re-angled and the cheekpiece was reduced in height. The pic shows the result.....Fred
 
Fred.....I think my original barrel was cut at the end of the cutter's useful life. I know factory barrels that shoot very well.....but mine just didn't.
 
This is my originally early T/C Hawken. As you can see I replaced everything but the lock, trigger and tang. Went with a Green Mt. barrel, Pecatonica stock and furniture from the Hawken Shop. Probably should have gone your route as it would have saved much$$.
 

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Very nice work, its always nice to see a well used and loved gun cleaned up and ready for move use.

If you don't mind my asking, what is your brass aging solution of choice?
 
I used this "stuff" called Historic House Solutions. Brass Tarnishing

A visit to their web site shows the small bottle $7.50 is out of stock. The small bottle is plenty enough to use on several guns. Brass...plus if you want that grey patina look it works great for that. Jim Kibler has a video on how to apply it. Essentially, you apply with a scotch pad...don't rub it off...then spray with WD-40 and then wipe the excess oil off. Comes out nice.

The brass parts must be placed in a bowl and submerged. Doesn't take long.
 
FWIW, I have had good luck aging brass by dunking it in white vinegar then hanging the part(s) in a small, closed box with a bowl of ammonia. 2 to 4 times worked for me. Sometimes though, just using it produces the best patina..
 

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