Ipurchased one of these years agoand have found it will not go off unless when loading you turn gun on side and hit with palm of hand pretty hard a couple of times and then slam the butt of gun to the ground three times. If you don't follow this procedure it wont go off. A local gunsmith told me they had a casting problem with the barrels and there is an obstruction that keeps powder from reaching the nipple.Now that I've joined the forum and found out that several of you fellows know what your talking about I thought I would ask ifanyone else have this type of problem. The little gun is deadly accurate with 90 grains of black powder and a maxi-ball butitsnerve racking wondering if it will go off so I never carry it, Thanks

I've never played with a tree hawk, but it sounds like there might be a bolster obstruction. Try running a wire or nipple pick, through the nipple and into the bolster. The turning the rifle to the side is knocking powder into the bolster under the nipple.

First thing I would do is make sure I had a stainless steel hot shot nipple. Second is take the nipple out of the rifle before you start your shooting for the day. Pour a few drops of isopropyl alcohol down the nipple threads into the bolster. If you have access to an air compresser, then blow some air through the bolster.

Another thing is change over to real black powder. That will help in the ignition of the rifle. Use 3f black powder. Also if you want to hunt with it, remove the nipple and put a pinch of black powder into the bolster and replace the nipple. This will also help insure that the rifle will go off. That small amount of powder in the bolster will send a bigger spark through the snail and make a hotter flame hit the breech.

If you still have troubles, do not be afraid to contact T/C. They are great with fixing things..

Some T/C breech plugs seem to have problems. I'd contact T/C's customer service and explain the problem to them.

+1. It takes them up to 7 weeks to return a rifle, but when they do it is fixed. I have been very happy with their customer service. I would send the rifle back to them explaining what you have to do to get it to fire. There is something definitely wrong and they should fix it. Another thing that may work is to replace the nipple with a 209 Hot Shot Nipple (I think that is the name). I forget who makes these but that would put a lot more fire into the rifle. Google Search for 209 Nipple Replacement.
Chap Gleason