waarp8nt
10-23-2016, 09:11 PM
***Warning this Story has Absolutely nothing to do with Johnny Cash * Only the means by which a poor fellow assembled a .54 Caliber T/C Hawken "One Piece at a Time".
I've had a hankering to get me a .54 Caliber Thompson Center Hawken for some time now. With my Son in college and my Daughter fixing to go in a year and a half...my spending money is at an all time low. With a little Internet searching and some help from some old and new found fiends on the forum, I have managed to assemble one for an agreeable price. Most everything came from the forum, but one piece did not...the Renegade barrel that I chose to use on the project.
This issue came when I took my new to me rifle and my new to me Golden Retriever mix pup for a perimeter check of the fence on the old family 40 acre hobby farm. I loaded the Hawken and took off with the pup to check the fence. Two things were to happen, I was going to shoot the Hawken and see if the pup was gun shy. I never got to see if the pup was gun shy because the Hawken wouldn't touch off the round. The first cap snapped, but the main charge never went off so I installed another cap and again nothing. I immediately pulled the ball and shook out some powder, then tried another cap to see if the remaining powder would igniite, still nothing. Somewhat disappointed we continue to check the fence, it could be looked at later as nightfall was coming rather quickly.
The next day I took the rifle outside in an attempt to scrape the barrel with a brass attachment on the ramrod. Some more power came out on the tip of the tool. A little nervous about using anything that would cause a spark, I tried again to touch off any remaining powder with a cap. Nothing, the cap popped. I attached the screw end of the ball remover on the ramrod and attempted to remove any restrictions, the end came out with some crude on it so back to the brass end. Again, I tried a cap and waited a little bit so any residue should be burnt out. I could blow only a little back through the nipple. Not thrilled about the potential of face full of unburnt powder, I tried yet another cap...nothing. At this point I was getting frustrated, so I got a plastic glass of warm water, put a cleaning patch on the ramrod and tried to wash the barrel. The water was not flowing and it actually plugged up tight. I poured some of the water mixture down the barrel and attempted to flush through the nipple, yet most of the water came out the barrel end. I put the ball remover back on the ramrod and twisted a few rounds it became somewhat difficult to twist. It took a little force, but the ramrod came out and to my surprise a patch pulled out. The ramrod was one that I used before on a Renegade project, it had been marked for a T/C maxi, so when the mark fell into the barrel with a round ball I thought nothing of it. It also, falling far enough to show the barrel was not loaded. That darn patch sure had me fooled, and my previous marked ramrod didn't show an unfired load. While I understand there was a patch in the barrel when I bought it and likely it had been there awhile. The only think I can think is the patch moved somewhat up and down the barrel as the cap went off and I was able to blow some through the nipple. See pictures.
179351
I've had a hankering to get me a .54 Caliber Thompson Center Hawken for some time now. With my Son in college and my Daughter fixing to go in a year and a half...my spending money is at an all time low. With a little Internet searching and some help from some old and new found fiends on the forum, I have managed to assemble one for an agreeable price. Most everything came from the forum, but one piece did not...the Renegade barrel that I chose to use on the project.
This issue came when I took my new to me rifle and my new to me Golden Retriever mix pup for a perimeter check of the fence on the old family 40 acre hobby farm. I loaded the Hawken and took off with the pup to check the fence. Two things were to happen, I was going to shoot the Hawken and see if the pup was gun shy. I never got to see if the pup was gun shy because the Hawken wouldn't touch off the round. The first cap snapped, but the main charge never went off so I installed another cap and again nothing. I immediately pulled the ball and shook out some powder, then tried another cap to see if the remaining powder would igniite, still nothing. Somewhat disappointed we continue to check the fence, it could be looked at later as nightfall was coming rather quickly.
The next day I took the rifle outside in an attempt to scrape the barrel with a brass attachment on the ramrod. Some more power came out on the tip of the tool. A little nervous about using anything that would cause a spark, I tried again to touch off any remaining powder with a cap. Nothing, the cap popped. I attached the screw end of the ball remover on the ramrod and attempted to remove any restrictions, the end came out with some crude on it so back to the brass end. Again, I tried a cap and waited a little bit so any residue should be burnt out. I could blow only a little back through the nipple. Not thrilled about the potential of face full of unburnt powder, I tried yet another cap...nothing. At this point I was getting frustrated, so I got a plastic glass of warm water, put a cleaning patch on the ramrod and tried to wash the barrel. The water was not flowing and it actually plugged up tight. I poured some of the water mixture down the barrel and attempted to flush through the nipple, yet most of the water came out the barrel end. I put the ball remover back on the ramrod and twisted a few rounds it became somewhat difficult to twist. It took a little force, but the ramrod came out and to my surprise a patch pulled out. The ramrod was one that I used before on a Renegade project, it had been marked for a T/C maxi, so when the mark fell into the barrel with a round ball I thought nothing of it. It also, falling far enough to show the barrel was not loaded. That darn patch sure had me fooled, and my previous marked ramrod didn't show an unfired load. While I understand there was a patch in the barrel when I bought it and likely it had been there awhile. The only think I can think is the patch moved somewhat up and down the barrel as the cap went off and I was able to blow some through the nipple. See pictures.
179351