a friend just offered to sell me a t/c hawken from around the early 70"s
needs a little work all the bluing is gone the wood has to be refinised but is in great shape otherwise and it has some minor rust on the surface and the bore you guys think 100 bucks is too much are t/c's any good or should i pass on it? also wil this gun shoot conicals?idk what the twist rate is and niether dose. i'm using a cva frontier carbie now thars i-66 so the purpose of the hawken was so i could shoot maxi ball conicals

The rifle should have a 1-48 twist so yes it will shoot conicals. It will also shoot roundball very well. That is a good deal for $100.00 on auction sites, even the ruff shaped ones go for much more then that. The surface rust and bluing is not a big deal. That is normally an easy fix as is touching up the stock.

The nice thing about that rifle is the double set triggers, the over all balance of the rifle and the fact it is a big bore. Those are getting harder and harder to come by. You can also always get a Green Mountain IBS barrel for it with a 1-28 twist if you want to really shoot sabots and conicals or you can put a 1-70 twist in .58 caliber if you just want to floor things over with a large roundball... Nice rifle. I would not pass on that one.

54 hawkens made by t/c .if it is a flinter and you are not interested in it I buy it for $100.00 bucks

Even if it were a cap lock, I'd still buy it. They are a nice shooting rifle.

thanks for the information i wiill definetly be buying it now

how do i work the double set triggers never owned a rifle with them and really not familiar with them at all

After you load the Hawkins, you can cock the hammer. Then pull the back trigger first. This makes the front trigger or main trigger into a hair trigger. You do not have to use the set trigger. You can fire the rifle off just fine using the front trigger only, just the that the pounds of pullon the trigger is greater without the set trigger engaged. With the rifle empty practice releasing the hammer with the set trigger on. You will need to learn that when hunting.

To cock the rifle without the noise of the hammer locking back, you can hold the front trigger back while at the same time cocking the hammer past all the locking points. Then. with the hammer all the way back, release the trigger. Slowly let the hammer come forward, and it will stop in the locked or cocked position. You can then set the back trigger and make the front trigger a hair trigger. Again, something to practice.

FYI...and if you'll call Thompson Center Customer Service, they'll send you an owner's manual for free...explains all these things, has photos, has load data charts in the back, etc...1-603-332-2333

TC's are good rifles, and I would not sweat a little rust on any exterior part, but if there's rust in the bore, the barrel isquite possibly ruined! Muzzle-loading weapons are very sensitive to bore rust - it is often impossible to get any accuracy at all from one that has any serious rust, OR PITTING in the bore. I recommend a THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF THE BORE WITH A BORESCOPE if you suspect any rust in it!! However, you COULD purchase one of the Green Mountain drop-in barrels for it, and cure any bore problems that way. But if you have to buy a new barrel, don't pay $100.00 for a lock, stock, and trigger!

Regarding the double-set trigger: this is the BEST type of trigger you can have on ANY KIND of a hunting rifle, IF you are willing to practice using it until it becomes instinctive. This trigger can be set and tripped without damaging anything, so you can use the DST for "dry-firing" your rifle without cocking the hammer. To use it correctly when hunting, you pull the rear trigger to set it ONLY when you are raising the rifle to take aim at the game animal, just after having brought the hammer to full cock!Then, the instant the sights are perfectly aligned, you just barely touch the front trigger to trip it, and the bullet will strike exactly where you aimed! Once you have practiced until operation of the DST is something you do without even thinking about it, it is the fastest of all possible triggers for hunting rifles.

be CAREFUL hunting with hair triggers!!! the guy that taught me to shoot my flinter showed me how to use it but said he didnt recomend hunting and using it....i was much more accurate with the hair trigger...and thats why they have them...the gun goes off with less effort and more surprise..well...me and another buddy were set up on 2 exscape routes...2 other buddys were driving for us..this was in october during a doe muzzleloader hunt....half hour passes and i hear deer coming...all the sudden they are FEET away...i carry a homeade set of shooting sticks with the flinter....im much more accurate like that..and wanted to try it while hunting...just seemed like it would help and not hurt...i caulked the hammer while they were at point blank range when they turned their heads...heared it....eyeballed me...and took off half arsed and i bleated with my mouth..got them to stop...and had the sticks ready with the gun on it...set the hair trigger and went to nudge the gun a HAIR just to put it on the shoulder bone(deer i was shooting was quartering towards me...i was shooting a 350gr maxi and wanted to bust the closet leg and send the bullet through the vitals..i always think of shots like that and how to maximize my bullets effectivness) and all the sudden KABOOM...i pooped..the deer pooped....we were all scarrred.....somehow right when i was getting ready to squeeze the hair trigger it caught on my finger and went off.....totally missed the deer for 100% sure....but i learned my lesson...the trigger just caught on my finger...i came home and adjusted it and made it a bit heavier.....it was a tad lighter then TC recomends at the time...(bought it used)....so just becareful..i still use my hair trigger...love it...but i learned to be careful the hard way......cost me my first muzzleloader deer...which im still hunting for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!