Howdy all,
Liked the tips for cleaning a T/C Hawken, but they all seem to be directed towards flintlocks.
My question is *ahem Cayugad* what is a good process for cleaning a percussion cap T/C Hawken in a .50 cal. Alot of people have this smokepole, so I figure if we all share our methods we should get some good ideas out there. Plus, I am looking to keep my Hawken looking new forever (minus the character dings) Also, I have yet to shoot mine yet, and wanted to clean the barrel and season it first, any suggestions on what to do before the first firing?
Lets have it, and thanks again all!

You don't need to season anything except the meat you gather with that rifle. That being said let's get on to your first shot.

OK I assume the rifle is new so you will have to remove the factory "cosmolene" that protects the bore as the gun sits waiting to be bought. I would either do a hot soapy water washing by removing the barrel and the nipple putting the breech in hot soapy water and pumping the water through it using a patch on a jag then use some alchohol on a patch and drying the bore real well. Another thing you can do is use a high quality bore solvent followed by the alchohol patch and dry patches.

If you shoot your rifle with the factory grease in it it will be a real pain to clean and wont be very accurate.


Lose the word "seasoning" and replace it with "breaking in" you didn't buy a frying pan

How I clean my Hawkins


The easy way to clean a T/C Hawkin Rifle is remove the wedge pin and take the barrel from the stock. I use a coffee can for the next step. I get some VERY HOT water (I have one of them taps in my home that you can make instant soups and coffee from) and put a squirt of dish soap in the coffee can. Then fill the coffee can about 3/4 full. Have your nipple wrench, patches, alcohol, solvent, bore brush and gun oil all with in reach of your chair.

I put the breech of the barrel with the nipple still on mind you, into the soap and water. I did a patch into the water and lay that over the muzzle. Now push a cleaning jag on a long ramrod through the patch and start swabbing the barrel. You will see the air and suchin the water from the pressure you are making. As you work that jag up and down it will clean the nipple at this point for you.

Work one patch all the way through the rifle barrel then force the water still in the barrel out through the nipple. At this point I take the nipple off the rifle barrel. I leave it on for the first swabbing because it will loosen the fowling around the nipple and make it easier to turn off, plus it cleans the inside of the nipple free of fowling.

With the nipple off the rifle and if possible the bolster clean out screw too, put the barrel back in the water and work a second patch through the barrel. This time really work that water good and hard through the rifle. It will really get some force behind the down strokes with the nipple out. Many times, this patch will actually come out clean. So do not be surprised. If it does then go to the next step. If not, send a third wet patch through the rifle. Some will rinse the barrel with fresh hot water at this point. If the was was real soapy, this is not a bad idea.

If your patch came up clean, then saturate a patch with solvent. Swab the barrel with the saturated patch. Solvent many times will actually come out the nipple hole and bolster clean out hole, so make sure you do this in a place where the better half will catch you and give you the devil for your foolishness.

Now put your bore brush on the rod and dunk that in the solvent and give the barrel about 5-10 strokes in the bore. This will free up anything else that might be in there.

Now another solvent patch is necessary and keep running solvent patches until they come up clean. After that, wet a patch with alcohol and swab the barrel real good with an alcohol patch or two. After that I like to run a couple dry patches through the barrel to make sure the barrel is bone dry.

Now put a excellent quality gun oil on a patch and swab the barrel with that oil patch. Work that in short strokes all through the bore. At the breech I like to turn the whole patch on the rod clock wise one full turn to put a little extra oil down there. Then remove that oil patch and save it.

Set the barrel to the side to cool. It may still be rather hot from the water bath believe it or not. Now take the stock with the lock attached and wipe the inside of the stock out with a damp water patch. You need to make sure the fowling in there is removed. With a solvent patch wipe the lock down real good. Work the patch behind the hammer as it likes to collect there. Also take a Q-tip as saturate it with solvent and scrub the inside nose of the hammer out, and keep doing that until you get all the fowling out of the nose of that hammer.

After that take the oil patch you set aside and have already lost so you need a new one, and wipe the lock down, and the trigger assembly too. Now hold the barrel at the muzzle and wipe the barrel down from the breech towards your hand getting all the prints off it. When your sure you're further up the barrel then the stock, replace the barrel into the stock. Wipe the wedge pin with the oil patch and re wedge the barrel from right to left.

Wipe the rest of the barrel off, and the ramrod and your done for the major stuff. To keep the brass nice and shiny I use Brasso Cleaner and I polish the brass on the rifle every do often. The wood stock I like to wipe down with a little murphy's oil soap on a paper towel damp with some water.

cayugad,you covered it real well. The only things I do different is I use brake cleaner to get out the cosmoline and give it about 20 strokes with a brass brush to make sure any rifleing burrs are removed. Lee

If I remember right, his rifle is new to him, but was purchased used so there would not be cosmoline in the barrel. I also use brake cleaner in my Hawkins once in a great while, but since I do not shoot sabots out of my Hawkins except once in a while a powerbelt or two or some T/C Cheap Shots (which it does a good job with)the use of Brake Cleaner is really not necessary since there is no plastic in there. I like Black Off Rusty Duck as my favorite black powder cleaner.

In my inline rifles I use brake cleaner all the time. Just make sure that stuff does not get on the stocks of any rifle or plastic sights....

But I see your point.

I usea copper solvent that says it removes lead,copper plastic,etc. I can't remember the exact name of it but I know it has ammonia for the copper. It's a short brown bottle with a black and copper colored label. What is the cosmoline and will the solvent I'm using remove it, if it supposed to remove plastic?

cosmoline is packing grease. Many years ago almost anything you bought was covered in the stuff. A lot of the rifles from over seas (and the USA) come NIB filled with the stuff. My Lyman Trade Rifle was just full of the stuff. Usually a good hot soap and water bath will clean out 99% of the stuff, but there can be some that tries to linger in the barrel, then a good solvent such as you described will take that right out.

Lots of the stronger solvents have ammonia in them. The stuff is part of what takes the plastic and metal particals out of the bores. I use Butch's Bore Shine, J-B Bore Paste and Birchwood Casey Black Powder Solvent. They seem to do the job real well. For plastic inexpensive brake cleaner from your local Wal Mart will do the same thing. Just don't get it on the stocks or anything plastic like some of the fiber optic sights.