Thompson hawken upgrades

[royboy47]

I saw on you tube that the lower grade percussion rifles were not real reliable. Are there upgrades for the thompson hawkens?

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

I saw on you tube that the lower grade percussion rifles were not real reliable. Are there upgrades for the thompson hawkens?

I'm a wee bit suspect the video you watched was "not real reliable". They were probably referencing the patent breaches many companies use. They may have some considerations for cleaning and maintenance but most are perfectly reliable. TC's while not custom grade are by no means low grade. Also if you peruse the forums you will find many fans of the CVA, Traditions, Investarms, Perdersoli, etc.
To answer your question though. There have been aftermarket barrels available for TC's but most are out of production as TC has been out of the traditional ML game for a long time and is now defunct altogether. Green Mountains can be found but cost more that the whole rifle most of the time and still use a patent breach. I think Rice Barrel Company still makes barrels to order and used ones can be found, same thing with the price but cheaper than GM for some reason. There have been others but this is getting wordy.

 

[deerstalkert]

one can "upgrade " the lock with a L&R replacement. how much of an upgrade that actually is is debatable. GM barrels can be found for a price.
I mainly shoot flintlocks but do have a couple TC Hawkens. one caplock and one flintlock. both with 2 barrels. 50 and 54. both are very reliable after enough blood sweat and cursing.

 

[SDSmlf]

I saw on you tube that the lower grade percussion rifles were not real reliable. Are there upgrades for the thompson hawkens?

What lower grade percussion reliability issues are you referring to?

 

[2 shots]

t/c caplocks are fine.

 

[S.Kenton]

I’ve never had any issues with any T/C hawkens, I’ve owned several. I’ve killed many deer with them as well. Now if I remember correctly, Pecatonica sells upgraded hardware that would make your T/C Hawken more historically correct. It’s been a long time since I done mine, so I’m not sure they still sell it. I’ve since sold my old Hawken.. I do miss it.

 

[8Ball]

Had many TC Hawken and I still have a TC Grey Hawk in 54 and none was unreliable.

 

[royboy47]

What lower grade percussion reliability issues are you referring to?

He didn't make reference to a specific issue. I'm new to the sport and just some without spending a lot.

 

[vintovka]

Most TC problems i have seen are the result of "improvements"

 

[morehops52]

I have both Hawken and Renegade T/C rifles and have no issues. They are generally highly regarded as far as production guns go. Regularly found for sale on this forum.

 

[kyron4]

#1 upgrade............ have a good supply of caps.

 

[Rendezvous Valley Trading]

Never had any problems with the ones I used to own. Never. Maybe I was lucky. IDK

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

He didn't make reference to a specific issue. I'm new to the sport and just some without spending a lot.

A well-maintained TC with no modifications will serve you just fine so long as you in turn maintain it well. If you are wanting something still in production with pretty readily available repair parts if ever needed and barrels in other calibers I'd take a look at Investarms Hawken offerings.

 

[Banjoman]

I’ve owned several Thompson Center guns and all were just fine with no upgrades needed. One of my current favorite muzzleloaders is a stock, .50 caliber Thompson Center Hawken. It will shoot thumb sized groups at 50 yards if I’m having a good day.

 

[gustaf]

I came across a T/C .50 percussion Hawken at a gun show that was missing the nipple and the barrel looked a little rusty inside. I negotiated the price to $250 and brought it home. I cleaned the barrel with hot soapy water and lapped it with JB bore paste. There was still some signs of pitting and wear near the muzzle. I installed a musket size nipple instead of the #11 and took it out to shoot up some Pyrodex I had laying around from the '80's. Well guess what, at 50 yards it shoots a .015 patch and Hornady .490 round ball into about 2" with 70 grains. That's pretty good for these old eyes. Reliability was excellent as it went bang every time.

 

[FishDFly]

I saw on you tube that the lower grade percussion rifles were not real reliable. Are there upgrades for the thompson hawkens?

U Tube is full of village idiots.

 

[Eric Krewson]

A lot of the people in the videos using TC flintlocks during the Pennsylvania flintlock season would lead you to believe that their guns are unreliable. These are probably weekend warriors that don't know how to clean and maintain their guns. During the deer drives most of these guys can't hit squat and get more klatches than shots most of the time.

 

[longcruise]

Most TC problems i have seen are the result of "improvements"

And operator error!

 

[vintovka]

Failure to keep lock screws tight or over tightening (and stripping), excessive dry fire or pulling breech too many times or with wrong tools are the most common reasons.. And then there's failure to clean (or properly) and my favorite :

"Won't load after i drilled and tapped for scope"

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

My friend and I both bought TC .54 Hawken kits about 1994. He still has his. Thinking hard, I dont recall ever having any issues with either of them as long as we put powder in before the ball. They shot every chunck of lead we put down them quite well. These guys with internet channels all want to be experts and tell you what to think. Very few of them really are. Remember that.