Hi everyone - new to the board. Looking at purchasing a new flintlock for target shooting fun and use in the PA late season when I visit for the holidays. Been eyeing up the TC Renegade from TC Custom and the TC Hawken. Difference in price appears to be about $80-100. Differences in the rifles other than the brass that I can see in pictures are slightly shorter/thicker barrel on Renegade and a difference in stock configuration. Laying your hands on a flinter here in SW OH seem to be next to impossible. What are your experiences with each? Fit, comfort, pleasure of shooting? I believe a number of posters say they sometimes get smacked on the cheek from their renegade? Or should I scrap this and look at the Lyman Trade Rifle for much less in price. Need a rifle with the best chance for success with a lot of self teaching and help from boards like this. Sorry I started to ramble. Thanks

PaOhioHunter
Lyman trade is a good choice would go with the 54 cal. flinter
T/c new? would look for a used one in good shape check out a paper called the paper shop that sell on the newstand in PA. price is 99 cents man there are a lot of great deals in that paper

i have a TC 50cal hawken flinter. i love it. i found it at a gunshop used. i think i paid 235$ for it..it was 95% when i bought it..onnnnne tiny spot a bit smaller then a dime where the bluing was wore badly. looked like a chemical wear almost....barely noticable. boy does that gun shoot patch and ball. clover leafs out to 50yds and i have bad eyes! id LOVE to have a scope on it just to see its true accuracy..i killed a groundhog at 45yds with it. i was proud as heck of that. id love to have a 54cal though. just for a bigger ball for deer hunting..my gun absolutely hates any conical bullet ive tried. i tried atleast 5 diffrent ones too. 2 diffrent powders..and 100 diffrent combinations..but i still have confidence if i ever get a chance to put a round ball in the lungs of a deer its not goin very far.

Of the two, the T/C Renegade VS the Hawkins, the Hawkins hands down in much nicer to shoot recoil wise. The Renegade is a real meat and potatoes rifle and will do the job, but I like the Hawkins much better. As for the Trade Rifle, I have a flintlock in .54 cal of that model and without a doubt it is a good shooter and a pleasure to shoot.

Personally, I would get a Thompson Center Hawkins in .58 or .54 caliber leaning more to the .58 if all you want to do is hunt. If a lot of target shooting is in your future then the .54 would be a better choice.

I own and shoot all of the rifles you mention and that is a real hard question.

Heres my first buck i got with my first ever flintlock. I shot him sept 10th 2006. I used 110 grains goex 3f, patched round ball. I caught him bedding down under a tree and was able to use a few other trees to hide behind so i could sneek into range. 40 yard head shot dropped him. So much for a vital shot. He was curled up and i didnt want to spook him by whistling and having him stand up and possibly run off. But the rifle i used is a traditions kentucky classic. Awesome shooting rifle and deadly accurate out to 100yards. You can also see the doe in the back of the truck, i took her 45 minutes earlier at 90 yards with the same rifle. Doube lung shot.

The Thompson and the Lyman are both great rifles. They both perform the same. I own both. If I were you I would buy the Lyman. When you buy the Lyman you want to get thier peep sight, it fits perfectly, is easy to install and will make you a better shot. For PA deer hunting a 50 cal. is more than adequate, even a 45 cal. is fine. Trajectory and bullet selection is best for 50 cal. Check out your rifling to decide whether you want to shoot round balls or bullets. This is another great reason to buy the Lyman, you can get different riflings, can not do that with TC, Tom.