Refinishing a TC Hawken

[RhinoDave]

I picked up a used Hawken that had been personalized with the intention of refinishing it as long as it shot fairly well. It passed the shooting tests so I am finally getting around to redoing it. The wrist is pretty thick and the side plates aren't very well defined so those are areas that will get a lot of attention. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed as I get into this project. Here's a couple of before and during picts after a few minutes with a rasp.
As of right now I plan on stripping whatever finish is left after alot of reshaping and just using tung oil or tru oil on the walnut stock.

 

[Zonie]

While your adjusting things you might want to thin down the lower area of the lock panel so it's about the same thickness as that thinner zone at the upper rear?
Taper the area from the triggers up to meet it.

Then make a paper pattern of the size and transfer it to the panel on the opposite side.

 

[RhinoDave]

Thanks for the suggestions Zonie. I will put them to use.

 

[David W.]

What Zonie said. It looks like who ever owned that rifle, couldn't wait to get it slapped together. :haha: Attach the hardware, stain it....DONE! :shake:

As for finish, you may concider Watco Danish oil finish. This has been my favorite for many years.

 

[ebiggs1]

I've done many of them. They are fun projects to do. Keep posting pictures of your progress.
My personal pinon is stay away from linseed oil (Tru-oil) based finishes. The tung oil is better.

 

[Twice boom]

It's starting to shape up real well. When you get around to finishing you might want to conceder

Pilkington Classic Gunstock Finish Red Brown..
Tung oil is fine but if the gun ever needs to be refinished again wiuth a different product, who ever attempts it will end up with a splotched blond spots..

Twice.

 

[RhinoDave]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've added the different types of finish to my research list. I have already removed a bunch of wood and am not finished. I will probably be adding a toeplate since I have a strip of brass to use. Just haven't decided on a length or design yet. More pictures when I've made some progress. Any suggestions on barrel finish? It's currently browned but with lots of thin spots.

 

[BrownBear]

Reflecting my own tastes, have you considered replacing the brass with steel? The Hawken Shop sells replacement sets for around 50. No biggy either way, but another option as long as you're changing things around. No pics yet because I've about settled on a complete replacement stock, so my two part sets are still sitting on the workbench.

 

[Bill Hall]

For a barrel finish, I suggest either Birchwood casey Plumb Brown (hot brown), or a cold brown. Way back when, I finished a T/C with perma-blue, which is a cold blue, but it wasn't very durable, so I'd go with one of the browning methods.

The hot brown (Plumb Brown), is quick and looks nice, it's more of a staining process, but doesn't hold up as well as the cold brown. The cold brown takes longer, and can be a little trickier, but it is very hardy and you won't get those thin spots you mentioned. Hope this helps, Bill.

 

[steved]

RhinoDave,

I've given a facelift to both a T/C Hawken and Renegade. Fun projects. While you're it, if you haven't done so already, you should consider thinning out the clunky forearm, taking it from flat along the barrel to where the forearm is rounded up/ curled right up to where it meets the barrel. Another thing I did was inlet the key escutcheons flush into the forearm, instead of laying proud on top of it. One last think I did was to take a hacksaw to that "appendix" hanging off the trigger guard. Always seemed to get hung up on my clothing and/or gear while in the field. I'll try to learn how to post pictures and post my Renegade facelift when I get a chance.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Since you've got all that extra wood, before filing it away, why not try your hand at some carving? If you don't like it, just file it off. :thumbsup:

 

[Twice boom]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've added the different types of finish to my research list. I have already removed a bunch of wood and am not finished. I will probably be adding a toeplate since I have a strip of brass to use. Just haven't decided on a length or design yet. More pictures when I've made some progress. Any suggestions on barrel finish? It's currently browned but with lots of thin spots.

I can give you few PC formulas from R.H Angier book if you like .
If you prefer something more modern and less work what’s in Brownell’s catalog might be the way to go. www.brownells.com

Let me know about the PC stuff.
Twice.

 

[sutherland]

It looks like you're off to a good start. I, too, would choose tung oil over Tru-Oil. I've seen sap from trees and weeds dissolve a Tru-Oil finish. And tung oil is much more durable. Actually I'd prefer satin urethane over either of those two finishes.

 

[RhinoDave]

Wow. Lots of great suggestions so far. I'm definately going to thin out the top edges of the forearm and will also be inletting the estruchions to smooth out the forend. I'd be interested in the PC finishes both for the wood and the metal. I've got a garbage can full of walnuts from a tree out back and have thought about using them to make stain but I'm thinking it might make the stock too dark and really isn't needed for a good walnut stock. Trying some simple engraving might be possible but I don't think I've ever seen a Hawken with carving on it. Are there any pictures of this anywhere that I can look at? I've only seen one Hawken on an auction sight lately with carving and it was pretty bad.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Well, if you're looking at PC, then carving is probably no a good idea. :surrender:

 

[ebiggs1]

Actually I'd prefer satin urethane over either of those two finishes.

:thumbsup:

 

[RhinoDave]

I'm not really into HC/PC. I would be interested in something that is pleasing to the eye. I would really like to see pictures of any half stocks with engraving or carving done on them. I think correctly done some simple carving would look great on a TC Hawken which is not that HC to begin with. I have a bunch of carving tools but they need some serious TLC before I can use them. I haven't ruled anything out at this stage and I already have some wire inlaying planned and some preliminary designs started. So Far, I've only removed lots of wood from the wrist, cheek piece, and around the lockplate and side plate areas. Still plenty of wood under the cheek piece and buttplate area to try something. Thanks for the suggestion Mike.

 

[Zonie]

Although you say your not really into HC/PC I'm sure you agree that having the gun fairly realistic isn't a bad thing.

As for carving, by the time guns of the TC's style were popular it was pretty uncommon.
That's not to say it never was done but I haven't found any examples of it in my library.
Silver, German Silver and Brass inlays on the other hand do show up.

These range from simple a "Hunters Star" or crescent moon to Masonic designs usually on the butt of the gun.

A oval thumbpiece? A hunters star on the cheekpiece perhaps with a crescent moon?
An American Eagle?
There are a number of these available for very little money. http://muzzleloaderbuilderssupply....id=9957073.22444*ay1ew6&product=Inlays-DieCut http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/SubList.aspx?catID=14#162

If you visit those links you might want to see what is available for a toe plate.
They have several different styles and almost all muzzleloading rifles had one.

 

[RhinoDave]

Time for a little update. I've pretty much finished rough shaping and am now working on some design ideas so many thoughts, suggestions or criticizisms are most welcome. I had a few stars and some brass and silver wire laying around so I plan on using what I have available.There is still some more wood to take off around the side plate and lockplate but I'm going to wait until I finish all the inlays and wire first. Here's few few pictures of what I've done and a couple of ideas that are in the plans. Again, any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Zonie]

I can tell your having too much fun. :grin: