TC Hawkin?

[Lead ball 54]

Okay I know this isn't what I see most of on this forum but I looked at one it had very little pitting but glueing and wood were very good and it came with some patches, balls,caps and a nipple wrench for 290.00 is that a good price  thanks

[Mike Brooks]

I see them for sale at gunshows around here for $400-$500 in like new condition. Personally I figure they're a $100 gun, although I wouldn't give anything for one.

[EC121]

If the stock will fit you, that price would be at the high end.  Since the T/C stocks are too straight and a bit long for me to shoot comfortably, my opinion of them is biased to the low side.  I think the stocks were cut to allow a scope(higher sight line) to be used.  Close your eyes and sight the rifle.  Then open them.  I'll bet the whole front sight and part of the top flat are above the back sight.

[Eric Krewson]

I wouldn't buy any rifle that had pitting in the barrel, it is often worse than you think it is.

[deepcreekdale]

I agree with Mike and Eric on this. Unless the bore is perfect and you don't need to pay more than $150.00, I would definitely pass. They are not bad guns but too many used ones were not maintained correctly. Barrel pitting could mean never properly cleaned or that Pyrodex was used which has deteriorated the barrel. The majority that come into my shop or that I see at shows are pretty much scrap metal.

[Lead ball 54]

Okay thanks I ran patches down the barrel and they came out clean and the pitting is very very minimal and I know where I can get either a GM drop in fast twist 50 or a slow twist 45 but then that's an extra 150 and as for 150 for a TC Hawken I would love to shop where you shop average price in my neck of the woods is 400 and up for good Q. And 250 for basicly a club

[T*O*F]

I have one in 45 cal. that I built from new parts and a higher grade stock.  Never been fired.  $450

[prairieofthedog]

As far as your question,I would hold out for one with a perfect barrel for that price.And I agree with you about the pricing,you may find one for a $100 but that is a rarity.And it sure will not be on Gunmbroker,Muzzleloader Forums,Gun Shows.Think around the $250 mark,up or down depending on condition.I think you could probably find a very good one for that price,might take a while.As far as as people who say they should be dirt cheap,I wish they all had some to sell for a hundred bucks.I can get over $200 for a lock and barrel on Ebay,whether they are worth that is not the point,thats what they bring.

[OldMtnMan]

I've owned one TC Hawken. I use the word Hawken loosely. I bought it from a guy who built it from a kit. The fit and finish was way beyond a factory gun, The wood had some figure and a really nice oil finish. All the metal was browned. It had the TC tang peep sight. The bore sparkled and was shot only 20 times. I paid $300 for it.

 I threw away the stock lock and the crappy coil springs and put in an L&R lock. I shot and hunted the $#*! out of the gun. It was a good solid PRB shooting hunting gun and gave me zero problems. Still looking brand new I sold it for $325.

This will give you an idea what you can get if you search enough. $290 for a pitted factory gun is a really bad deal.

[Lead ball 54]

Thanks for all your advise I'm in no hurry besides I was wanting a 54 anyways so I think I'm going to wait

[Daryl]

If the stock will fit you, that price would be at the high end.  Since the T/C stocks are too straight and a bit long for me to shoot comfortably, my opinion of them is biased to the low side.  I think the stocks were cut to allow a scope(higher sight line) to be used.  Close your eyes and sight the rifle.  Then open them.  I'll bet the whole front sight and part of the top flat are above the back sight.

\
The stocks were made with high comb, to allow using a narrower(cheaper) piece of wood for the stock, as-in a 2x6 rather than 2x10.

Back when these first came out, no one was using scopes on ML's  - the design was simply cost oriented, just as the shallow buttoned rifling & coil springs was to cut costs. I will say though, that

 many of us started with them and it was the cost cutting moves of the company that kept prices low enough that we could enter the sport.  Within 1 year of shooting the TC, I changed

 the barrel to a 38" twist Bauska barrel, that I lapped in a choke. It shot round balls just fine, but excelled at shooting short slugs. The next barrel, maybe 2,000 rounds & 6 months later was a

deep grooved .45 (.448" bore) by Les Bauska. This one had .028" deep rifling and with a nice radiused crown, I use a .457" ball and .022" denim to get the the bottom of the grooves, not quite

making it, but it shot well and cleanly.

Today, I would suggest a new-comer to the sport, to save some $$ and buy a Lyman GPR in cap-lock, which I honestly consider the best "production" rifle available for well under $1,000.00.

[OldMtnMan]

Quality control has really gone downhill with Lyman lately. I don't know if they still shoot good, but fit and finish is awful.

[JVavrek]

Is it Flintlock or Percussion .50 or .54 cal? Guys are taking them apart, putting them on ebay and by the time they sell all the parts they are getting any where from 600.00 to 800.00. I don't shoot targets but i would put that T/C flintlock on any deer or bear at 100 yards and hold my own with these 3000.00 dollar guns. I found out early on that some of the guys on here. look down on us poor country boys that can't afford a few of the custom builds. I have one long rifle that i like to take out once in awhile but that old T/C Hawken has many animals under it's belt. Getting ready to start on my first build if life quits interfering.

[Lead ball 54]

Who makes a good Hawken kit I have wood working skills but would still consider myself a beginner and I wouldn't be opposed  to Browning a barrel or having one already blued in a kit thanks

[OldMtnMan]

A good Hawken kit is about $1000. Do you want to spend that much? Lot's of options if you do.

[JVavrek]

I would be kind a picky about the pitting unless you could put a bore camera down the barrel to see how bad it is. I would hate to see ya get it and it put a bad taste in your mouth because it's not a shooter. Around here they are bringing about 400.00 for a flintlock. Good luck with what ever ya choose.

[Daryl]

Yeah - forgot about the pitting - if you can get it cheaply enough to re-barrel, then do it. Otherwise it is way overpriced - with a pitted barrel.

Pitting means most likely Pyrodex. These pits will continue to grow (from firing impulse) every time it is shot. We have seen them come out the

side of a barrel.

I would not buy that unless it was cheap enough to re-barrel. A drop-in replacement GM barrel, if still available (Track) is about $200.00 to $250.00, is it not?

So - if you can get the gun for $100.00 to $200.00, it might be OK.  I would still check out the Lyman guns first - they also came in a kit for about $150.00 less

than the finished rifle.

[Leatherbark]

I have a T.C Hawken for sale on a well known auction sight I probably shouldn't name here.  But it is in excellent condition with a 33 inch Green Mountain 50 caliber round ball twist barrel that shines like new inside and hasn't been fired much at all.  Absolutely no pitting  for $400.

Bob

[deepcreekdale]

If you really want one, check out gun shows that cater to modern guns. I regularly display at gun shows like this in Florida and T/C's are very common, asking prices vary from $150.00 to $300.00. Most of the sellers that have them took them in on trade for something modern and after dragging them around from show to show, will take much less if offered. When I lived in Tampa, a few years ago, one large gun shop gave $25.00 trade in credit for used B/P rifles and threw them into the back store room. Most were old, rusty, pitted CVA;s and T/C's. They had literally dozens piled in a corner. Some looked like they had never been fired. One of the employees brought to me for appraisal a gun he had bought from that stock for $35.00. It was an original half stock Ohio style rifle, .32 caliber with a pristine bore and some of the most beautiful engraving I have seen on an American rifle. Wonderful curly maple stock. Had  Pennebecker stamped on the barrel. Some idiot had traded it in on some modern, plastic monstrosity and even the dealer had no idea what he had.

[Lead ball 54]

Ya I wish or gun shows here in Whashington state were that good for muzzleloaders I have seen a few Renagades Hawkens but there prices are no where that low a decent Hawken was 499

[OldMtnMan]

I would buy Leatherbarks gun without a second thought. That barrel alone is worth $300 and it will be a shooter. I had that barrel in a Renegade and it shot sub MOA.

[Mike Brooks]

I bought mine for $110 and sold it thousands of rounds later after maybe maybe five years. Got $50 for it. It was a good starter gun but I was almost instantly bored with it, it just wasn't cool. I'd never waste my money on another. Save your money and buy a good longrifle or learn how to make one, that's what I did. Of course according to some people here that makes me an elitist snob....

[deepcreekdale]

One thing I would like to add, just because a gun is listed for $400.00 or so, doesn't mean that is what they sell for. If you see one that you want at that price, make a lowball offer. If they say no, you aren't any worse off than you were before. You also might be surprised. There is a reason for the expression "Gun Show Prices." Also at gun shows, come around to the seller right before he starts packing up on the last day. You would be surprised how cheap you can get stuff like that, especially if it has been a slow show for sales. I recently sold a new, unfired 50 cal. Pedersoli Frontier rifle that I had taken in trade for about $200.00 in labor. I dragged that thing around and never got a bite. New ones like the one I had, list for around $800 or so at DGW and others. I had it at $500.00. I was getting ready to pack up and go home and a guy offered me $300.00. I took it just so I didn't have to look at the darn thing anymore and load it up for shows. It was sort of embarrassing to have on my table with my guns, but it was a good deal and a brand new gun for whoever got it. My suggestion is, if you see a dealer in modern guns at a gun show that has one or two muzzleloaders, chances are they might be motivated to sell it. I have seen dealers at shows that have had T/C's and CVA's that they have had on display for years with no interest. Never hurts to make an offer. You might get lucky.

[oldtravler61]

  Geez I started with a T.C. kit my wife got me for Christmas. First of many kits I built. Still have it.
  It's still a great shooter. But up here in Northern Michigan there a dime a dozen so to speak...Check the lawn shops an you can buy them for a hundred buck's. There's just no interest in them.
  If it's not an inline nobody's interested. Wished I knew how to sell on the E.

[Lead ball 54]

I have found probably 15 to twenty TC,Traditions,CVA and other lesser known brands of Hawkens,Renagades,Mountain rifle type in the local pawn shops but the barrels are so rusted they look like a science project gone bad and not one was less than 199.00 and they wouldn't drop the prices more than 10 bucks my grandson and I spend all day looking great day with the grandson but bad day for finding a smoke pole