I'm looking at a used TC 50 Hawken today. The guy want $150 for it and claims it's in great shape. He has never fired it as he bought it at a garage sale thinking he would hunt but it never happened.

How do I give it the once over? How do you inspect the barrel if you can't remove the BP? How do you check the hammer springs? Just dry fire it and look for a good snap? Anything else I should be on lookout for?

Sorry for the rookie questions but I'm new to traditionals.

1st thing is to make sure it's not loaded. Get a boar light and see what you can with it. yes on check the hammer spring.Easy to replace if bad. Best I can tell you. Good luck. Let us know how you make out with it.

You can take a bore light and still look in the barrel. Also you can remove the nipple and shine the light in that hole and the light should reflect up the barrel. Really if he only wants 150 dollars the stock is worth that alone. If the lock is in good condition thats worth 100 dollars. I dont think you really could go wrong with the sale. Even if the barrel is bad you can buy a new one at Green Mountain for 200ish. So you pay 150 plus 250. 400 dollars and you have almost a new gun. Way cheaper then what TC is selling them now. Double check the serial number on the barrel and see if there is a K. That means its a kit gun and someone put it together. That might turn some people off. You could dry fire it, but you can easily replace the spring or other parts on the lock. I'd buy it.

I have to agree with 50calty,$150 for a T/C Hawkin in almost any shape is almost a no brainer.If it is in good working order, and the bore is clean ,that could be the best bargain
you ever bought.

That's an awful good price for it to be in real good shape.
I normally check the bore by dropping a small light preferably an LED down the bore, i usually pull the barrel and the lock and make sure it has not been butchered, i check the movement and that the fly has not been lost.
In this case if the lock and the barrel are in decent shape its worth the money.

Well, I own it for $120.

The bore is rusted and there's a little surface rust around the nipple but the rest of the gun looks good. No cracks in the stock and the trigger system seems to be in fine working order.

Now I need to see if the barrel can be saved. I'll search the forum for threads on barrel recovery but I'm open to any tips.

Yes, I know.... Must post pics. Give me a little while.

The serial # is 167XXX. Any idea how old this woud be?

What I do...

Drop the ramrod down the bore. It should all but disappear. That usually means the rifle is not loaded. Because the ramrod is as long as the barrel. So if it disappears, that means that it is falling back to the cone. The problem is when the rifle has an after market ramrod. BUT then hold your finger over the nipple and blow hard into the barrel. Can you feel the air passing through the bolster and nipple? That means it is not loaded and not clogged. Some places by the way, frown on you blowing air through their rifle barrels. Why, I have no idea. Other then they claim that the breath can cause condensation which in turn can cause rust. My response usually is... and you don't swab the rifle bore and wipe off the finger prints after you inspect a rifle? But that is one way to check if it is not loaded. The problem with a bore light.. you drop it down, the light lands on the roundball and shines back at you. What do you see... a light.

Next, c0ck the hammer slowly. Make sure it locks on the half c0ck. Sometimes if it does not... you have to c0ck the rifle and actually fire it. The fly gets strange in the lock sometimes and needs to actually fall through. But make sure the rifle has a half c0ck. When it is in half c0ck.. slap the lock kind of hard. See if it fires itself? Now wiggle the hammer. Is it good and tight? Did you see the lock move in its stock? Maybe needs a good tightening. I like to pull the lock and look at the back of them, but some people just plain FORBID this. On the back of the lock I like to look for fouling and rust. If there is fouling the fit of the lock in the stock is sloppy and it is allowing burnt powder to drift back there. I purchased a T/C Hawkins Flintlock on line from a gun site. When it got to my house, I checked it and it had a lot of crud back there. Turns out, the rifle was a kit and they kind of over did their fit there. Which means every time I shoot the rifle, I have to pull the lock and scrub both front and back, dry it, oil it and replace it.

C0ck the rifle and put a cloth that you fold a few times over the nipple. Pull the trigger. Is there a lot of play in the trigger? Does it break nice and clean? Does it pound that cloth? I have seen it actually cut the cloth. This means there is a good trigger spring under it. Also you can check on how true the hammer hits the nipple. Look at the cloth and see the mark.

Check the nose of the hammer. Have then been cleaning it? A rusted hammer nose is not good. It usually means down the road it has to be replaced.

Check the stock over carefully for cracks. Pay attention to the forearm, around the tang, especially behind it, and along the edge of the lock. Some people like to really load these things and they can actually damage the wood.

Last check the over all appearance for rust. I like to bore light the barrel and see if it is pitted, rusty, scratched, etc. If you have no bore light, take a piece of tin foil. Roll that into a ball SMALLER then the size of the bore. Drop that down the bore. Now shine a flashlight to the side of the barrel, down the bore. The light will reflect off the tin foil and give you somewhat of a look at the bore. When your done, dump the tin foil out.

If you can get that rifle for $150.00 it is a good deal. Even if the barrel is in bad shape. A lot of the things I do is to get bargaining points should I not like the price. Good luck. Nice find by the way.

What a good deal you have there. Get some JB Bore Paste and give that rifle a good scrubbing. Then go shoot it. I bet it does just fine.