New to MLing, and photos of my new toy

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey all, thought I'd show off my new (to me) Thompson .54 Renegade.
I bought it for $150, along with (yet to be delivered) "goodies" to get me started.
I've done a little research and have already learned a bunch. So thanks to all who have ever posted knowledge in old threads about the rifle.

Regardless, here's the pretty pics;

[Beerd]

With all that brass furniture it looks like you have a .54 cal TC Hawken.
It's a nice one, too!
..

[Tatume]

Very nice! I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[Bob in St. Louis]

With all that brass furniture it looks like you have a .54 cal TC Hawken.
It's a nice one, too!
..

Oh, really? I thought it was a Renegade. Shows how smart I am. haha
Thanks for the heads-up, I'll do some more research.

[Beerd]

The Renegades I've seen all had a blued steel trigger guard and a shotgun style butt plate. No cap box on the stock, I don't think there was a nose cap.
Hawken or Renegade, if you are a hunter that will be one skookum meat maker with a patched roundball.
..

[Bob in St. Louis]

Indeed! This is a "Hawken".
Beerd, Thank you!

[pietro]

.

You'll find that that .54 Hawken can be very useful with either patched round balls (PRB's) or a conical, like the T/C MaxiHunter.

The Renegade's were made along the simpler lines of the T/C Cherokee rifles, with no nosecap, patchbox, or brass BP - instead (as noted above) having black furniture (TG/BP).
All Renegade's (.50, .54 & .56 Smoothbore) were issued with a 1" (measured across the flats) octagon bbl.

The .45 Hawken's had a 15/16" bbl, and the .54 Hawken's a 1" bbl - but I misremember if the .50's had a 1" bbl, or were also made with a 15/16" bbl.


You gotcherself a good deal on that early Hawken, for sure.

(T/C made them for awhile before the "HAWKEN" was stamped into the barrel flat just fwd of the caliber designation)


.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Pietro, Thank you!!
As I've been reading, I've wondered what "PRB" meant. So thanks for clearing that up too!

[Beerd]

Pietro, Thank you!!
As I've been reading, I've wondered what "PRB" meant. So thanks for clearing that up too!

Not to be confused with "PBR"
..

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Yeah. You kinda need to specify patched roundball every time. Otherwise you end up writing posts about weighing and sorting your balls, and chewed balls, and . . . well it just gets a little weird.

[725]

Wow. You got a great deal there. Enjoy your treasure. Be sure to clean it well after every session at the range. Lots of prior threads on cleaning.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yea, I can't help but to think of "PBR" when I read that. haha
I have read so many times the need for cleaning and caring for the barrel after firing.
As many times as that's been stressed, it's obvious that's EXTREMELY important.

Here, I get to talk about my "balls". On the BBQ/Smoking site, we get to talk about what we like to rub on our butts.

[OverMax]

There yaw go. (a Pre-warning T/c.) Good start for a caliber 54s make. Keep in mine there are two sweet spot accuracy points. Heavy and another for light charges with the same projectile. Have you decided what you intend on shooting there Bob in St. Louis?__ (what projectile)

I personally don't shoot 50s as I wanted to be different than most. But a do have more than my fair share of 54s because I personally think its the best of all the rest as a big game caliber. Although,
my deer hunting rifle these days is a 45 cal Hawken w/ P/b. Getting old caused me to scout out something having less recoil which the 45 offers. I sure do miss that wallop a 54 dispenses at any range..

[Bulldogger]

I have the Renegade version of that rifle and am very pleased with its accuracy. I think you will come to like it.
BDGR

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks fellas!
Not sure what projectile I plan on using. More than likely play around with various 'recipes' and see what's most accurate, and makes the most smoke.

I got my "extras".
- About (200) .54 cal Hornady balls.
- About 25-35 conical bullets
- Several dozen caps
- Large handful of patches
- Bore Butter and bore cleaner
- Ball starter

No other tools though. But about $50 worth of goodies.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Can't wait to shoot it!

[pietro]

I got my "extras".

- Bore Butter and bore cleaner

You have all you need for cleaning, Bob - Here's what's worked for me in my T/C's since the early 1980's, never having any internal rust or accuracy issues:

1) Condition the bore

* Remove all oils/grease & fouling from the bore with very hot water until the barrel's warm to the touch, then dry the bore with clean/tight patches (on a jag) before coating the bore with the BoreButter on a loose patch.

* Use the BB patch on the exterior metal parts after the bore's done, then leave it alone until it's shooting/hunting time.



After a day's shooting (best done at the range or at your vehicle after any shot(s), but certainly within a few hours at most:


1) Remove the nipple with a nipple wrench & run it under a hot water tap until it's warm (the heat will help evaporate the water), the set it aside.

2) Pour a bit of the bore cleaner downbore until a little runs out of the bolster (the nipple seat), then scrub the bore with tight patches wetted in the bore cleaner, until they come out a light gray color (no soot/fouling).

(note: T/C's have a "patent breech" with a powder chamber at the rear of the bore that's much smaller then the bore diameter, and while the bore cleaner will usually flush it out, can occasionally benefit from focused cleaning with a .22 or .30 cal cleaning brush)

3) Dry the bore with tight/clean patches until they come out fairly clean (they don't have to be perfectly white)

4) Recoat the bore with BB on a loose patch, as above, use the same patch on the outside, and it'll be good to go (no rust/etc) until your next use.

I've never found the need to run patches downbore after storage & before hunting/shooting - so long as the storage application of BB isn't thick/heavy.

(a heavy application can get pushed downbore into the powder chamber during loading, blocking proper ignition.)

I would recommend having 2 extra jags, one with spiral spring arms for retrieving lost patches from the bore, and the other with a woodscrew tip for pulling out the projectile - sooner or later you WILL suffer from the dreaded "Dry Ball Syndrome" (no powder).

[Bob in St. Louis]

Wow, there's a BUNCH of great information. Thank you!
The two things that raise my eyebrows was the comment about about using too much BB, and ruining the first shot of the next session... and .... The Dry Ball Syndrome (giggle). I'd have scratched my head for quite a while figuring that one out. Would compressed air also work?
THANK YOU Peitro!

[Camper64]

Another recommendation is before you load your first bullet after a cleaning session is to fire a cap with an empty barrel. It will clear the ignition passage.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Excellent, thank you!
Ok... So here's a question for y'all.
Being the "child" that I am, I like the big boom, the smell and the smoke of it all.
That being said, what is the smokiest powder? Of course, this is the equivalent of having a fast car and doing a "burn-out", just with a gun.

[Eddie2002]

My Chrystal ball sees a .54 caliber pistol in your future, might as well work on getting a matched set Nice rifle you got there, have fun going down the BP rabbit hole.