Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders It's really a shame TC doesn't make these anymore

Their flagship, the TC Hawken, or any of their traditional rifles, for that matter. Purchased this one back in the late 80's and have shot only round balls and lead conicals through it with excellent accuracy, and have killed a few deer with it.

They did put out some nice wood in those days - I bought a kit Hawken around then.

Wood was good, not like that, but the metal work was excellent.

I do miss the look of a good Hawken, I think Lyman is about the last long running maker of a "classic" lock-style rifle.

I bought mine about 1976. So far I am on my 3rd barrel. Last time,they said they were getting low on barrel and probably could not replace it again under warranty

I have a .50 cal Renegade that I bought new. It has to be at least 25 years old, maybe 30. It hasn't been shot very much. What wears the barrels out and how long do they last? I've shot round ball, Maxi-Hunter and Maxi-ball out of mine but never killed anything with it.

I didn't know TC would replace under warranty. Aren't they owned by S&W now? That can't be a good thing. I had an issue with a Contender rifle and it was a PIA working with them.

They came with a lifetime warranty to the original buyer but it’s not worth much when they run out of parts. They’ve been out of most stuff for years, especially for the Seneca and Cherokee. I belive most of the inventory and tooling went up in smoke. I’d love to see them bring back the sidelocks. The Hawken, Renegade, Seneca and Cherokee, they had some nice rifles.

Love my T/C’s! Use a 50 cal Hawken with incredible full fiddleback stock, a 54 Hawken, a 54 Renegade and a pristine 45 cal Seneca. I would strongly advise anyone who shoots their Hawken, et. al. to look at No Excuses conicals. Simply the best, with real black powder of course.

I concur with the OP! A shame! I got my first T/C Hawken .50 cal in about ‘73. A well built and accurate rifle! Sold it to a kid who was just getting into muzzleloading.

Edit! Just realized I still have the Lyman RB mold and handles that came with it in the "starter" kit. Still using it!!!

I didn't know TC totally got out of replica guns. I still run an old C.V.A. Hawkins, and while it's not quite as good a gun as the T.C.'s, I really like it a lot. The wood's lighter in color than the T.C.'s and it's dinged up from lots of years of hunting, but like I said, I still admire the feel and looks of a Hawkins.

TC replaced my barrel on my .54 Hawken back in the late 90's. I had noticed that cleaning patches came out with holes in them, and when I dropped a bore light down the barrel found that the barrel was corroded and pitted. That was because I followed TC's very poor advice (as admitted to by the technician I spoke with at TC) and used Bore Butter as a "preservative." That stuff is fine as a lubricant, but awful for protecting the bore. I always use something like FP-10 or Eezox now to protect against rust and the bore still looks shiny and new.

I have a Hawkins 50 cal. flintlock, I'm considering selling...early 80's I think. I only shot patched roundballs, although I remember some guys using plastic cups for patches.

Built a .50 Renegade back in the early '80s and it was a keeper. Then a neighbor broke into the house while I was on a trip and stole it. Last I heard the rat was doing federal time on other charges. Lucky boy.

The "Poly Patch" IIRC - green in color for .50 caliber, think I still have a few left in the canvas mil-surp bag I used as a possibles pouch.

The patch was prone to losing the round ball, it would pop or roll out of the nose of the patch if the ball was undersized, and roll down or out of the barrel.

My .50 cal TC Hawken kit rifle was stolen in Raeford NC outside of Ft Bragg right before a PCS move, never recovered - miss that rifle.

I used those poly patches in a .54 Hawken when I first started hunting. My dad used them for years before that

Wish I had kept the factory .54 1:48 barrel for my Hawken to shoot conicals out of.

Really like my 1:66 GM barrel for a prb but I would like to try heavier conicals on deer.

Finding a .54 1" barrel isn't real easy. Too bad they aren't making more barrels these days as well as complete rlifles.

I know I really like my Rengade .54 and all I have used is patched round balls and on Whitetail Deer it is not lacking. I know there not period correct but it's close enough for Me.
I to wish they were still in business. The price for a peep sight on eBay is nuts for the Rengade I have.
The only thing I did was to put a new and smaller white ivory front sight.
I clean mine with mouse milk and finish up with Balastol for rust protection.

Rice barrels will make a custom drop in barrel for your Renegade or Hawken, custom length, twist rate etc. As long as your stock/action is good you can have basically a new gun with a new barrel.

That's a beautiful ol rifle! Always wanted a 54 or 58 caliber TC rifle.

I have hunted a 54 Renegade flintlock since 1982. I have a L+R lock on it now. I shoot at least 100 balls through it every year before our post Chrismas flintlock only season. Barrels still shines like a mirror.

How much are they going for? I have one for my Renegade that I never put on, opened it but never installed it.

I'm another fan of the T/C caplock rifles. I deer hunt with 54 caliber Renegade rifles using PRBs and black powder. I also enjoy shooting a 36 caliber Seneca. The Seneca has a 45 caliber barrel too, but I've never used it. OP, beautiful wood on your Hawken.

It is a shame, I still have two T/C's left, a 58 cal Big Boar with wood comparable to yours, and a little 36 cal Seneca I picked up a few years ago.

TNR, don't know if you know, but, you can buy a 5lb box of Hornady 000 buckshot at MidwayUSA, they're a hell of a lot cheaper than buying 100 count boxes of 36 cal balls, plus, these are hardened a bit, they fly really well from my 36 wrapped in a T/C lubed patch with 30grs FFFG black powder, fouling on reloading the rifle is a non-issue, I spit patch the bore after 5 or 6 shots and keep on hunting/shooting.

The .36 Seneca is one that I always wanted. Wish I had bought one back in the days when they were being produced. It sure would be fun to squirrel hunt with one of these.

I got my 36 cal for 250 bucks in sort of a chickenchit way, was going to buy it and give it to a man and his son out on the highway, the rifle got here and it was flawless, not a scratch on it, I thought Damn! I'm not going to give this one to that kid to beat and scratch the hell out of, called a Bud that has a gun shop, went up and got the kid a clean used, but well cared for T/C Hawken 45 cal.

Investarms (Lyman, Cabela's, others) has been building TC Hawken copies for decades. The Investarms barrels may/may not match TC's for accuracy, but their flintlock locks were more reliable than TC's original flintlocks. The frizzen on TC locks was not hardened well enough to survive when using English flints. The case was too thin. I had a TC Hawken in the 70's-80's that I had to have the frizzen re-hardened. In Pennsylvania, many hunters had the TC frizzen replaced with a Lyman frizzen (slight alteration required) which solves the problem. Eventually, TC revised the hammer geometry and frizzen hardening which solved their flintlock problems.

Hunters in PA flintlock season have learned that having a rifle that fires reliably is really critical for success.

I bought a couple of different barrels for my Hawken over the years. The first one was a 26" Green Mountain Long Range Hunter .50 with 1-28" twist, and the second was a 32" Green Mountain .58 with 1-66" twist. Both shoot extremely well with their respective heavy conicals and round balls. Later, I got a couple of complete stocks minus barrels for great prices, so now I have two additional TC Hawken rifles.

I try to buy all the TC rifles I come across.

I got a like new 54 Renegade in the mail. It has the late style lock, but I usually put a L+R RPL lock on. Anxious to see if it is reliable.

I own (from back in 70's) a TC 50 Hawkin, built from a kit, a factory-built TC .45 Seneca, plus another Cabelas .45, Hawkin type, Italian made, I think - also kit built - given to me some years later as a completed rifle. All have 45 (48?) twist barrels - bad idea! What the heck were they thinking? Me - I didn't know any better then, but they should have.

6" group, across the bench at 100 is a good group with any of them, whether round ball or maxi-types. And trust me, I've tried durn near everything, including glass bedding. Fun to shoot, but lousy in the way of accuracy. I have carried the .50 moose (big target!) hunting a few times without luck, but my CO brother (who has had it for 20 years or so) has taken one deer with it at under 50 yards. All in all, I 'm not that big a fan of TC.....

If I was a serious BP hunter, I might consider re-barreling the .50 with a proper twist for maxis, but probably would not, except as a hobby. I certainly would never again buy anything with a compromise twist!

Inline (of which I own 0,) would be a better way to go for a hunting rifle, if allowed.

If I ever did buy another BP Hawkin style, it would be a .54. Always liked the looks of the Renegade. Well, I like the looks of my currently owned TC's too, but looks aren't much of anything for downing meat.

TC likely went with the 1-48” twist because every single barrel produced in the J&S Hawken shop was that twist. Granted, a slower twist might very well shoot round balls better and a faster twist might shoot conicals better, but my TC Hawken with original barrel shoots both very accurately.

Must be your particular rifles or what you're loading them with. My .50 T/C Hawken is very accurate with .490" balls wrapped in .015" pre cut patches seated over a wonder wad and 75 grains of Goex FFFG. It shoots cloverleaf groups at 75 yards with that load. I've killed several deer with it at ranges out to 80 yds. with no complaints.

Have several renegades in 54 and a New Englander in 50. The renegades have a 1/66 TC round ball twist and a 1/28 Green Mountain barrel. Both great shooters. Both will easily hold a 3 inch group at 100 yards, better if I do my part. The 50 cal New Englander is 1/48 and shoots balls and bullets equally well. For maxi balls I like to use a felt wad between bullet and powder. My 54 fast twist shoots great with great plains bullets (no wad) and 100 grn of 3f. The 50 does great with .490 ball .015 patch or a maxi with felt wad and 80 grn of 3f. Just bought a .58 Big Boar for $325.00. Have not shot it yet.

always enjoyed traditional muzzleloaders & have adopted a good number of TC's ; not really collecting i guess as i consider them all hunting guns to be taken out & used....I also with they still were producing their line of side-hammer guns; for me they have been quite decently accurate & reliable. assorted pix...

a row of .54's:


also have 3 of them in .58, quite a few .50's, a couple of .45's, plus several senecas/cherokees..... made several hunts with this cherokee this fall...pic from up in a tree on a nice day about a month or so back:


do squirrel hunt with the cherokees & senecas in .32 & .36:.


my son took his best muzzleloader buck with this .50 carbine:


gray hawk, in a New Englander stock....deer laying on the hillside up above a little ways...that one has been an exceptional shooter, and i've packed it around quite a bit over the last few years.

NICE! hell of a collection Fyrepowrx, in need to get my little 36 on some squirrels this Winter.

Accuracy in the big bores is a function of twist and rifling depth. In the 1/48 the rifling is shallow for the maxi balls. T/C also made 1/66 twist, and the rifling is much deeper for patched round ball. In most cases depth is as important as twist. In the 1700's the Jaeger rifle used by the military was often twisted under 1/30 for patched round ball.

It's unreal how much this TC Hawken sold for:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/792468973