Used T/C Hawken

[Robert58]

I bought a used T/C Hawken at a pawn shop yesterday. The barrel is pretty rusty. I hope I can get it cleaned up enough to shoot ok. When did T/C start counter boring the mezzle? It does not look like it has the false muzzle. I got it for $100 out the door.

Thanks,
Robert

 

[roundball]

The QLA was introduced in the mid 90's...'94 I think...I know the 1995 anniversary models have the QLA in them.
I have a lot of TC Hawkens...tried a barrel with QLA and exchanged it as I normally shoot round balls...I guess it would be beneficial for conicals like the false muzzles of old, however, it's too bad an inch of rifling is sacrificed in the process...so if it was me, I'd sure hang on to that barrel for sure.

And FYI, I've restored several TC Hawken stocks which always turn out far more beautiful than the factory spray on finish.

I drop the stock off at an antique furniture refinishing place near my house, they chemically strip the stock for $20, then I put a few coats of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil on it over a few weekends to let each coat dry good, then get all the brass cleaned up, and the rifles look better than when they left the factory

 

[Robert58]

roundball, thanks. I was wondering about refinishing the stock, It looks bad. I was thinking about staining it dark walnut and putting a truoil finish on it. What type of finish do you use?

Robert

 

[roundball]

Do not use ANY stain on it...it will darken it too much and you'll lose sight of the grain.
I did that on my first one and had to completely restrip it and do it all over again. (Lesson #1!!)

Just apply several rubbed in coats of Birchwood Casey's Tru-Oil over the course of a few weekends and it will cause the various highlights in the wood to come out in beautifully different degrees of light & dark grain color.

I use 4-5" squares cut from a washcloth, pour a half teaspoon on the cloth and rub it in till it's about gone, apply some more, etc, until you've got the whole stock covered.

Then have a piece of coat hanger already cut, and straightend out with a couple inch hook bends on each end to hang the stock up with for several days so it gets bone dry...if you get in a hurry, you'll mess up the previous coat and have to start all over with the whole process again (lesson #2!)

After each coat is bone dry, if you can feel any slight texture to the finish, take just a moment with a piece of ultra fine "0000" steel wool and barely slide it over the finish lightly just a very few times...then aplly your next coat.
The number of coats I'm sure is subjective in terms of how a stock is actually coming along but it should be at least several (5-7?) if not more...just depends how much you end up applyting each time and how quickly the pores all get filled up good.

Note: Tru-Oil is not like varnish...you don't want to apply it like varnish or paint.
You literally want to rub each coat in...don't leave any standing on the surface of the wood.
It's softer than varnish, and a surface coat does not dry into a hard shell covering like varnish or polypropelene, etc.

The refinishing is actually not labor intensive and only takes a few minutes each time...it just has to be spaced out over the calendar for several days so each coat gets really bone dry...can't emphasize that enough...especially on your first one, discipline yourself to plan on it spreading out over many, many days.

I settled into a routine of where I would spend 30 minutes rubbing in a good coat on a weekend, then hanging it in a warm dry place all week, did the next coat the following weekend, etc, etc.
You can probably get by with shorter cycles than that but personally I'd let hang in a warm dry heated house at least 3-4 days before touching it again.

I've always been surprised at how striking most TC Hawken wood is once you get the spray-on factory stain/varnish combo off of it...during manufacturing they simply can't spend the labor housrs doing each stock by hand at the prices they sell for.

 

[RJR]

Robert, what I use for stripping the factory finish on a stock is spray carb cleaner and fine steel wool. It works great and doesn't remove enough wood to matter. Good luck with it. Take care, Rick.

 

[djnye]

hence the old saying--once a day for a week, once a week for a month, and once a month for a year--that's more than twenty coats. the results of your patience are magnificent.

take care, daniel

 

[Robert58]

roundball. Will the stock have a darker color like the Lyman Great Plains Rifle if I don't put any stain on it? Do you leave the patch box in the stock when you refinish it?

Thanks,
Robert

 

[roundball]

Can't answer the first question without seeing the wood of course...some pieces of walnut might be darker than others just naturally, etc.

But the goal in refinishing is usually to emphasize the natural grain & highlights in a piece of wood...over-darkening wood usually works against that goal.

(sort of like the difference between having a set of beautiful kitchen cabinets with a natural finish, or having that pretty grain all covered up with coats of paint).

Yes, I remove all furniture, leaving only a piece of wood to work with...and I completely clean & polish all the furniture including the screws while I have the pieces off the stock.

 

[Zonie]

Robert: As was said, each piece of walnut has its own degree of lightness or darkness. Hopefully it will have some of both in a nice twisted pattern.
After you finish removing the old finish and sand it (with the grain) with some fine sandpaper (like 220 grit) take the stock outside and wet it with water. This will do two things: It will raise the whiskers (little wood fibers that will stick up when dry which you will Lightly sand off before applying the oil finish) and it will show you exactly what color and darkness the oiled wood will look like. It is suprising how much darker walnut will look when wet, but you have to do this to really know what you have.
Only you know how dark you want the finished stock to be so only you can be the judge.
IF the stock is REALLY too light for YOUR liking, I would suggest using a water base stain like Birchwood Casey "Walnut" stain OR for a redder color the "Colonial Brown" or "Maple" works well. (This stain is usually not available at a home improvement store but is often available at your local Gun Store. If they don't have it, they can order it.) NEVER use OIL based stain!
Because it is water based, you should thin it with about 1 part stain and 1 part water. Brush it on and let it dry. Repeat the "outside wetting" step described above and see if is now to your liking.
Repeat this until it is as dark as you want it but don't be in a hurry. It is best to sneak up on it slowly because if it is too dark the only solution is to sand it down and start over.
Before applying the oil, VERY lightly sand off the "whiskers" using NEW sandpaper. You only want to remove the whiskers, not the surface of the wood.
Have Fun!

 

[Robert58]

Thanks everyone. I will give it a try.

Robert

 

[tommy b]

Robert,
While you're cleaning up that barrel you might want to consider a Green Mountain interchangeable barrel system. These rifle barrels are completely assembled, with the breech plug, lug, rib, pipes and adjustable sights installed. All barrels are blued, and include a new ramrod. Nipples or vent liners are included. They come in a variety of calibers, lengths, and twists. They're available from Track Of The Wolf for $140. So, once you get your stock refinished, you'd have, basically, a new T/C for about $250. Heck of a deal.

 

[roundball]

Some clarification about the so called drop-in barrels...they are NOT exact copies of TC Hawken barrels and while the price may seem attractive on the surface, you need to look deeper...you'll pay $160 for it with shipping and still have to spend another $40 if you want it to really look like a TC barrel and match the TC Hawken.

Specifically:
The drop-in barrels have 'black' thimbles which need to be replaced with TC Brass thimbles to match the rest of the Hawken brass furniture;

And the ramrod is a hollow, black glossy ramrod with chrome tips (made by Knight, Inc) which you'll need to replace with something more traditional looking for the TC Hawken.

(And the under-rib had to be cut off 1/4" shorter so it would fit in front of the nosecap).

All in all, my "drop in" barrel with shipping was about $160, and the new thimbles & ramrod with shipping were at least another $40...$200 total.
So instead of that, I should have gotten a new TC round ball barrel from TC Fox Ridge in the first place for $175+ shipping, and had the higher resale value to boot.

 

[Robert58]

I was thinking about calling T/C and asking them if they can re-rifle the barrel if I can't get it to shoot right. Has anyone done that?

Thanks,
Robert

 

[LRB]

T-C is not going to rerifle a barrel. If you get very lucky, and its a good day at T-C they may replace yours, but I doubt it since you bought it second hand. Worth a try, but don't count on it. If you cannot buy a plain barrel and refit everything to it, you pretty much are stuck with paying T-C for a new one or buying the green river drop in. As far as brass thimbles, heavy wall or double thick tubing can be soldered on the rib and will look more proper anyway.

 

[LRB]

PS. Track of the Wolf list the GM drop in at 139.95, from 32 to 54 cal.

 

[Darkhorse]

When I bought my Thompson Center over 25 years ago, it was warranted for life to the "Original" owner.
I would think a secondhand rifle would not fit this classification.
I, personally would look first at the Green Mountain replacement barrel.
If everything else about the gun is in good condition then you will be money ahead and have a good shooting rifle to boot.
I would take out the lock and triggers and check them well. On some guns these are never removed and cleaned and oiled. After a few years of accumulated residue from cap and prime they can be a real mess.

 

[roundball]

TC doesn't appear to care about the "Original Owner" aspect of things...

I've only bought one TC Hawken new, as an investetment, which I sold immediately for a little profit...Every other one of my many, many TC Hawkens I've bought used at low prices to refinish them and have been completely open with TC about that...but they don't care about it.

I send in old style flint lock assemblies with the early design unreliable parts and they either upgrade the parts at no charge, and/or send me a complete new lock assembly at no charge.

They simply have an outstanding service attitude for their customers

 

[Zonie]

Robert: I ain't heared that you have tryed to clean up the bore yet. Iffen your alookin for 1 hole accuracy I'd be agree'n with the other folks but I'm a thinen ye otter go down to your local Auto Parts place and buy some valve lapping compound.
Get a cleanin jag fer yur size bore and some cleanin patches. Put som o the "fine grit" lappin compound on a patch along with a lot of oil and run her down the bore a few dozen times.
Change patches and compound often.
After yur arm feels like it's a goina fall off check the bore. It might suprise you.
I've got a used T/C I did this to and tho it still has some rough spots it shoots pritty good. 2 inches at 50 yards is easy to hold.
Give her a try.

 

[Robert58]

'zonie, I have been doing just as you say. The bore feels pretty good except for a rought spot about 6" from the bottom. I am making a brass ramrod that I can do a better job with, then I will go shoot it and see how it does. If I can get the rifle to shoot into 3" at 75 yards I will be happy. I disassembled the lock and trigger and they were real clean. The rifle looks like the last time it was shoot the bore was just not rubbed down with a good rust preventive.

Thanks,
Robert

 

[Zonie]

Sounds like your on yur way to some FUN!! and at a can't pass it up price to boot!

Good shootig to ya !