Refinish a T\C long rifle in patina

[Phil Neal]

Phil, any chance you can post a pic?

What got me thinking of changing this is...I'm retired and right now....I got time!!  I don't have the desire to do a build from scratch, but a re-do of this TC is well within my ability. 

In my "stash of parts" I have a Hawken double set trigger, trigger guard, & butt plate for a Hawken. These parts are all steel (which I prefer) and I've compared the parts to the existing stock and it's very do-able to replace the TC parts with 'em. I purchased these parts at least 5+ years ago with the intent of doing a new build....and that never happened.

Like I said not much of the TC is left.

[Steeltrap]

Thanks Phil!!  Your pics are very helpful!!

[Steeltrap]

I did a little more work on the stock, as well as began making a toe plate for it. T\C's did not have toe plates. Not a whole bunch of change but I've shaped the lock panels some and the nose of the comb. I won't be able to do anything for about 4 weeks as I'm having some surgery done. So, I'll be relegated to tying flies as I will be doing a lot of sitting. And those little fly legs are really hard to tie!!!

[Steeltrap]

I got back to my project and taking some time to push the re-do forward. There will be a mix of steel and brass, but with the intended finish of both, the two different metals should look good together. At least, that's the plan.

I've started a toe-plate, doing some work on the trigger guard, inleted the wedge plate and the lock plate washer. I have a lot in the works, but I think it should come out looking just fine.

[Steeltrap]

I was going to attempt "flame striping" the stock prior to applying a finish. However, the more I've been reading about this, the more I've decided to not attempt this.

I don't want the final stock to look like a "bad idea" or a "toy".

FWIW

[Top Jaw]

Faux striping was done on plain maple primarily.  The TC stock is walnut.  So it would look out of place in that application.  As far as the Wood goes, removing the factory finish and adding an oil finish would help a lot. To me, the biggest issues with the TC Hawkien’s looks were in the trigger guard, the comb transition, and the blued metal.   

[Eric Krewson]

I did a comb reshape on a TC kit gun that looks better than the factory version. I took a lot of wood off the stock from stem to stern as well.

[Steeltrap]

Eric, again thanks for your post. I sorta followed along the lines of what you did by cutting down the cheek piece. This is the same pic I posted above and it doesn't show all of the sanding. I went with more of a "bull" nose look at the front of the comb. And I carved out a flute on the left side to match the right side.

[Hungry Horse]

 O.K. Since we’re all fessing up to making styling changes to to iconic old T/C Hawken I guess I’ll confess I have one in the middle of this process as well. It wasn’t my first hunter, or anything exciting like that. A good friend who had a sporting goods store sold it as a kit to a customer, who didn’t tell his wife that the box of brass parts weren’t old plumbing stuff. She threw it all away, so he went back to the store, and gave the owner what was left for his spare parts bin. He gave it to me. So its literally brand new. I found an iron replacement T/C  buttplate, and bought some iron furniture, and even poured a pewter nose cap on the forearm. But, I didn’t find a proper iron patchbox, so in has been languishing in my shop for years.
 I chose not to try to make the gun even remotely reminiscent of anything Hawken, so its going to be a generic plains rifle. I really would like to figure out how to get rid of the cowboy belt buckle engraving on the lock plate. Anybody have a good idea how to accomplish that?

  Hungry Horse

[Steeltrap]

 I chose not to try to make the gun even remotely reminiscent of anything Hawken, so its going to be a generic plains rifle. I really would like to figure out how to get rid of the cowboy belt buckle engraving on the lock plate. Anybody have a good idea how to accomplish that?

I'm assuming you mean this "fancy, one-of-a-kind" factory scroll work (scroll?)?  Ghee....short of a lot of file work, or lock replacement (which I contend is to costly....albeit I did trash the original barrel and went with a GM for far better accuracy)  I'm keeping the factory lock as when I pull the trigger, it goes bang. And for a work\hunting rifle that's all that is necessary.

[Daryl]

Good choice on the barrel. What calibre?

[Steeltrap]

Good choice on the barrel. What calibre?

.50 Caliber.  That was the original caliber and it worked well when the ball actually hit to POA.

[Top Jaw]

TC hit a marketing (and timing) home run by calling this gun the “Hawken”.  It was actually more of a thicker New England percussion style rifle.   Always wished they had made some generic changes to it over time which wouldn’t have cost them much - like a few of these tweaks that have been discussed here to make it more of a pseudo plains rifle.  It was far superior to the CVA, after CVA moved their production to Spain. 

It was my first ML on Christmas morning at 14 yrs old.  And at the time I had no clue what period correct was or what an actual Hawken rifle should look like. I was just pumped because I had a Hawken gun!  Which I had wanted badly since Jeremiah Johnson came out a few years before.  However- If I still owned it, I would do some of these tweaks and upgrades.   

[Eric Krewson]

I defined the lock panel as well, the factory stock didn't have any and just sorta' rolled over into the stock.

[Steeltrap]

I have the trigger plate inletted....not perfect....but done. I also worked on the trigger\sear bar connection and got the trigger working nicely. Drilled and tapped the trigger plate for the trigger guard....measure, check, measure, measure, check, check, check....then drill. You only get one shot!!

[Daryl]

Looking better already, Steeltrap.

[pilot]

I'm following this with interest, I also have a flint T/C Hawken.

I will be replacing the lock in the next few weeks.  I found one on this site that is a direct replacement (more or less) L & R lock. 

[Steeltrap]

Brass or steel?  I can't recall if I got the brass tarnish chemical from Kibler or TOTW. I applied it to the steel parts and for the brass, it has to stay dipped in the solution for 5 to 10 minutes. Also, this is factory T\C brass and must be sanded before dipped in the solution or it just won't work. T\C brass must have had a protective coating  applied to it to slow the tarnishing. The inside of the brass pieces were pretty much unchanged from the solution dunking. Some cleanup still needs done to blend the tarnish but this is pretty much what the final furniture will look like.

[Steeltrap]

I applied two coats of sealer to the stock, then the next day the first application of Chambers Stock Oil. (Blasphemy!! Chambers oil on a T\C!! ) This morning I applied a second coat of the Chambers oil after a brush up with steel wool. I think I'm going to like the final stock finish and look.

Using Navel Jelly I removed the bluing from the GM replacement barrel, and then I applied a patina solution to the barrel. I didn't like the way the barrel looked after the patina solution as the "factory" GM barrel steel was not quite smooth enough for my taste.

So, currently draw filing the GM barrel, then I will apply the patina solution. 

[Scota4570]

You have done a lot.  Maybe a little more??  install a Hawken style steel nose cap and traditional entry pipe.  Be sure and nestle the thimbles in rib so the ramrod rides against the rib. 

Good job. 

[Steeltrap]

Thanks for the compliments Scota.  I did consider buying a steel nose cap and entry thimble, but I didn't know the dimensions of a "real" nose cap and how that would effect the additional work that may be needed on the forestock.

My second thought was to simply cut the existing nose cap's RR entry "part" and shape the existing nose cap to look like...or more like an original. Then install the entry pipe.

Well.....after all that "considering" I just decided to leave it as is. It's a "working" tool and no matter what I do it won't be an original Hawken. But that wasn't the goal from the beginning. The goal was to make my 40-YO "mine" and give it a fresh makeover. 

[Steeltrap]

I posted this earlier today.....maybe I put too many pic's in one post?  But it's gone....so I'll try again with less pics. I'm done. A few minor matters such as obtaining some new screws for the one's that are really bad. Overall I'm happy with it. Yes, it has a fiber optic front sight and a Lyman peep on the back....but it's a rifle for these times.

 

[Daryl]

Interesting! Do I see Phillips Screws in the trigger guard?
It certainly looks better than an out-of-the-box TC "Hawkens".

[Steeltrap]

Interesting! Do I see Phillips Screws in the trigger guard?
It certainly looks better than an out-of-the-box TC "Hawkens".

Ha!!  Yes. .....those are PC Phillips head (PC) screws!  Actually, those were all I had and I plan on replacing those, and some other one's that have pretty bad slots from 40 years of disassembly and reassembly.