Opinions on Thompson Center 54 Cal. Renegade

[wingspar]

I’ve been thinking about buying a muzzle loader off and on for a while. I was concentrating on the Lyman Great Plains rifle but have an opportunity to buy an unfired Thompson Center 54 Cal. Renegade for just over $300, but I hesitate cause I just don’t know much at all about muzzle loaders.

[bubba.50]

you'll be hard pressed to find a better production gun than the T/C Renegade especially in that price range and the 54 is an awesome caliber. but then, the Great Plains is an awesome choice too & has more authentic stylin' reminiscent to the Hawken & other plains rifles of the mountain man era.


to put it in another perspective, my first two muzzleloaders were a Renegade kit and a Great Plains kit both in 54 & ordered at the same time. to give an idea of how long ago that was, the Renegade was $118.00 shipped & the Great Plains was 5 bucks more at $123.00 shipped.

[quilbilly]

Hard to go wrong with an unfired Renegade at that price. I have five T/C muzzleloaders that I acquired over the years and all have been great shooters. A PRB in 54 cal will work just fine on elk out to 80 yards depending on the powder charge, of course, and that powder charge doesn't have to be as heavy as modern conventional wisdom would have you believe so you don't have to beat yourself up with recoil. That rifle will shoot well with conicals too if you don't want to go old school.

[koger]

The locks are nearly identical, the Renegade is easier on the shoulder with hunting loads, due to the flat buttplate. I have had 2 Lymans, both shot great, still have 6 Renegades. If you buy this one, pm me for some good load data. I have taken over 40 deer with a . 54 Renegade, most were bang flop! I have taken deer close to 200yds with open sights, and Hornady GP bullets, TC Maxi hunters.

[BigAl52]

What Bubba 50 says. TC all the way. I have both and the Lyman is a great gun mine is a flintlock in 54 cal. But if your going to use it for hunting at all the renegade is top notch for carrying while hunting. I have one that I had Bobby Hoyt punch to 58 caliber and its great to carry and very accurate if all you want to do is kill paper. Al

[Buttonbuck]

I own 3 renegades 2 I use as platforms for other barrels the other. My 54 cal is my go to gun. I put fiber optic sights on for the dark timber. It is my go to gun drops them with a prb no problem. I like the Great Plains. but look at old TC guns as the small block Chevy of muzzleloaders. Lots of original and aftermarket parts. If I was going flint I may consider the Great Plains.

[Buttonbuck]

What rate of twist did you do your Hoyt barrel. I had him do a 62 and had it done 1 in 66

[OverMax]

54 cal has a stiff recoil irregardless what conical ball is fired. Although a Renegade's shotgun like butt stock is a bit short on preferred shoulder fit for us taller & wider in stature fellows. A slip on Recoil Pad will undoubtedly tame the rifles recoil and too improve upon the barrels sight plane.
As far as the Lyman. It having a crescent butt stock it requires sighting & firing from its shooters upper arm. Not the typical shoulder position were all accustom too. A heavy recoiling caliber as the 54 is and it being fired from the upper arm can be punishing to a bruising experience. Some fellows have mounted shot gun type recoil pads on their crescent butt stocked rifles. But I never found a recoil pad fitting very well on my crescent butt stock rifles. So I've learned when out and about with my 54 cal's. I make darn sure my first shot is my most accurate shot as I have little ambition in wanting to fire a second follow up shot.
My advice.
Buy the Renegade. Their accurate and adaptable to fit most any shooters shoulder. Without a doubt the 54 cal is the >Boss B/P rifle< back in those woods. Or in your case OP> Oregon's mountainous hill sides.

[wcp4570]

I agree with all the above comments. Basically a new TC Renegade for $300.00 is a no brainer. I have owned a Renegade 54 since 1979 and have taken a number of deer with it. Never got to pull the trigger on an elk but it would have done the job without any trouble.

wcp

[Beagle333]

Buy the Renegade. Fast.

[wingspar]

Ok, this gun is on GB and when I got the notice that it was ending soon ( I was watching it) I looked. I think it was about $320 with 3 bids. That was about 3 hours ago. It is now undergoing a 15 minute bidding war and is up to $565 and 20 bids, and I’m sure it will go higher. (Nope. It sold for $565). Needless to say, I am going to pass.

.45 Cal, .50 Cal and .54 Cal. I don’t hunt, I’ll just be shooting cans and what not. For those of you that have watched hickock45's black powder videos, you can understand why I have an interest in them, but I’m in no hurry. If I find a gun and buy it, I’ll probably spend the next several weeks researching and buying the accessories I’ll need to shoot it while I drool on it and take dozens of photos. But for the 3 different calibers I see mentioned the most. Why would someone choose a .50 over a .54 or visa versa?

[rda72927]

This is a good time of the year to be looking in the gun shops and pawn shops. Black powder is over and the shops can fill like they are a little stuck with them. I got my 54 for 200.00 and just bought a 50 for my brother for 125.00 ( the pawn shop had it for a long time ). The TC Renegade is a GREAT muzzleloader...

[bubba.50]

the T/C Renegade is my all time favorite muzzleloader. but even if it was a new-in-box Big Boar I wouldn't give 600 bucks for one. with a bit of patience you can buy two or three nice Renegades or even Hawkens or Great Plains rifles for that much money.

[waarp8nt]

I have 7 T/C muzzleloaders. 1 Hawken, 2 White Mountains and 4 Renegades. The two .54 caliber Renegades are my favorite, although I like to shoot the flintlock White Mountain from time to time.

I would not worry about missing out on that one, bubba.50 is right...Renegades can be bought for $200 or so if you can be patient. I passed on one for $200 shipped because it was the rubber butt plate version.

When it comes to caliber you need to ask yourself if you plan to cast for it, if not you might consider 50 caliber. Round these parts you will always find 50 caliber balls on a trade blanket or gunshow table, not always so with the 54 caliber.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I have had my T/C 54cal Hawken for many years. great rifle!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/BAWallace/IMG_0685.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BAWallace/media/IMG_0685.jpg.html)

[koger]

If you are target shooting or plinking, the Great plains rifle, will do great, with their slow twist1-66, and about 45-50gr of 3fffg, and a .495 patched ball. I also put a aftermarket lock from L&R in mine, twice as fast as factory lock, minimal fitting.

[Good Cheer]

Opinion on the Renegade...
It's the modern analog to the jaeger rifles of old.
My latest is a rebore to .52.

[izzyjoe]

Wow, that's a lot of money for a renegade, I too have seen them in gunshops for under $200. Bore condition is a big issue to me, so I would never buy one sight unseen, unless it was cheap!

[wingspar]

At the price that one sold for, I’m fine with some bideraholic getting it. There are a couple more I’m watching, but I’m probably going to let them go. I’ve never been comfortable with auctions. Till this thread, I’d never heard of the Renegade, but that should be no surprise as I really know no more about muzzleloaders than what I’ve learned watching hickock45. He’s done more than one video with the Lyman Great Plains rifle, and the one where he showed that you can load bunny farts all the way up to thumpers made me want one. I think I’ll still be looking at the Great Plaines rifles, but I’ve now added the Renegade to the wish list.

I think I will concentrate on .50 cal. I wasn’t really aware that these style of muzzleloaders had rifling. (Shows you how much I know). Most of my shooting will be 50 yards and under with an occasional foray out to 100 yards when I get comfortable with what I’m doing, so should I be concerned with twist ratios?

[wingspar]

Wow, that's a lot of money for a renegade, I too have seen them in gunshops for under $200. Bore condition is a big issue to me, so I would never buy one sight unseen, unless it was cheap!

I bought a Mosin with a sewer pipe for a barrel once. Don’t need to go thru that again.

[BigAl52]

What rate of twist did you do your Hoyt barrel. I had him do a 62 and had it done 1 in 66
Mine are 1 in 60 I had him do 2 of them one off of a Hawken and one off of the Renegade. There both 58 caliber and the 1 in 60 is what Bobby reccomended when we spoke on the phone. Al

[Buttonbuck]

I was debating between 56-66 he said go slower with one used for hunting loads. I'd like to get it so I can shoot out to 100 yards well. Like under 4" need to develop a better load.

[Buttonbuck]

Kittery trading post often has good used ones fairly priced. They get a lot of the 56 cal smoothbore renegades

[Good Cheer]

One of the cool things about the Renegades is their being engineered for heavy charges.
Got one of those .56 barrels that was a little bit rough inside when it arrived in a swap.
Every time I look at it I think it needs to be a fast twist .57 for minie molds with a plain base plug.
Or maybe a fast twist .585 for plain bases with paper patches...

Once I found out that I could swap out the plugs in all my Lyman minie molds my mind just started going in all kinds of directions.

[BrianL]

PM sent

[Kylongrifle]

cant go wrong with a renegade..Mine will cloverleaf three .530 roundballs in front of 80gr FFG goex at 50 yards..

[Lead pot]

I have had my T/C 54cal Hawken for many years. great rifle!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/BAWallace/IMG_0685.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BAWallace/media/IMG_0685.jpg.html)


BA, you and I should get together and make a swap. :) your a south paw and I'm a right hander were both shooting the opposite rifles. :)
I picked mine up when I short seated a quick follow up shot and put a walnut in the .54 Renegate barrel. Went to town and found this .50 Renegate lefty on the shelf to finish Deer season.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/940Leadpot/IMG_2843_zpshux2tbuf.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/940Leadpot/media/IMG_2843_zpshux2tbuf.jpg.html)

[GoexBlackhorn]

If I had $565 to spend, I would much-rather have a brand new 54-cal Lyman Trade Rifle.

With all that smoke-in-the-air leadpot, I'll bet you were firing at least 100gr powder there.

Over a dozen sidehammers and no inlines. Come on over to the other side man...... at least buy one. The water's nice & warm. :)

[Lead pot]

:) Nope that ain't me making that smoke, that is Bad *** doing that.
The way that muzzle is elevated and his size I bet it was 150 grains LOL.

[Buttonbuck]

Same 80g 2f load with pilliwticking patch 530 Rb cast with lee single cavity mound. Out of xray room sheathing. Use ballistol and water. Honoring Dutch Shoultzs' methods. load same result drops deer in their tracks. I get awesome expansion as well.

[barnabus]

TC is american made...Plain and simple.Lyman made over seas

[mooman76]

Unfortunately, they no longer make sidelocks.

[wingspar]

Unfortunately, they no longer make sidelocks.

I have never looked at the Thompson Center web page till I read your comment. You are right. It took a long time to find anything about side locks. Buried deep in their web site I found the manual for the Hawken, but nothing for the Renegade. Once again, I am late to the party. I sure wish I could find some of those rifles mentioned in this thread for $200, but nothing of the sort from what I’m finding. I expect to pay $400 to $500 for a Renegade, and that might be enough for me to put off my black powder dreams for a while.

The Lyman Great Plains rifles appeal to me, but that curved butt stock looks like it would be painful.

[Beagle333]

Keep your eyes open. You'll find a .54 Renegade or Hawken for $250± soon enough. They're out there.

[wingspar]

Well, I just did it. I won a GB auction for a used TC Renegade in .50 cal. Seller says there is no pitting or rust. Photos aren’t very good, but I do wonder about the condition, but I’ll find out soon enough. I took one of his photos and improved it slightly for posting here. I will definitely post some good photos when I get it.

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164514887/original.jpg

[Beagle333]

Looks good from that. Happy shooting!!!

[marlin39a]

I've got 2 Renegades in 54 cal. A percussion and a flintlock. I love them both.

[wingspar]

I sent the guy an email minutes after I won the auction last night and I still have not heard from him. Hope to hear from him soon as I’d like to get the check in the mail first thing Monday morning.

Since I have zero black powder experience, I’m probably going to have a ton of questions. I finally figured out what a sabot is and I doubt I’ll have any interest in shooting them. Do people shoot round balls in these guns and or mini balls?

[Good Cheer]

Both really.
Renegades were engineered to use round ball as well as solid and hollow based projectiles.
48" twist creates enough RPM's to generally let you use bullets up to about an inch long. Hollow bases will let the bullets be a little longer. And at the same time 48" has long been known as a useful twist for shooting round ball.

Along these lines I'm getting a replacement base plug for a Lyman 533 diameter minie to give a thick walled skirt.
Gonna paper patch it for .54 with heavy charges.

[wingspar]

Both really.
Renegades were engineered to use round ball as well as solid and hollow based projectiles.
48" twist creates enough RPM's to generally let you use bullets up to about an inch long. Hollow bases will let the bullets be a little longer. And at the same time 48" has long been known as a useful twist for shooting round ball.

For some dumb reason, emails from GB have been going to my ISP’s spam box, so it was my ISP blocking them all of a sudden, and not poor communications from the seller. What really bugs me about this is that some emails from GB arrived and some got stuck in the spam folder and they all started going to the spam folder as soon as I won the auction. Anyway, it’s all resolved, I’ve talked to the seller on the phone and the check is in the mail. I should have the gun sometime around Thanksgiving. Now, for some questions. Hopefully it is ok for me to ask these questions here.

1. I have a bunch of accessories in a wish list at Midway, but want to do a little more research before I order them. Are there any good sites out there for black powder purchases, from the powder to bullets and all accessories?

2. As I’ve mentioned, most of what I know about black power and muzzleloaders is from watching hickock45. His go to powder is Goex 2F which is what I’m thinking of using. I know there are a lot of synthetics out there, but how many think sticking with real black powder is the way to go?

3. Right now, I’m not leaning towards bullets or round balls. I don’t hunt and wonder if there is an advantage of sorts between bullets and round balls? I see round balls are a lot cheaper.

4. As for the size of round balls while looking at them for .50 caliber I’ve seen .480, .490 and .495 for a .50 caliber gun. Can there really be that much difference in a ball that works in a .50 caliber rifle? What works best in the Renegade?

[triggerhappy243]

Being new to this, you will in due time experiment with everything. Get used to it. lots of good info in different threads. In your 50, typically the .490 and .495 are normal fits. Less felt recoil for sure.

As for accessories, I will bet most here have extras of everything.... me included. So before buying new.... ask here. I have a bunch of extras too.

If you are getting into target shooting, you will find the curiosity tugging at you to try both round ball and conicals.

[wingspar]

Being new to this, you will in due time experiment with everything. Get used to it. lots of good info in different threads. In your 50, typically the .490 and .495 are normal fits. Less felt recoil for sure.

As for accessories, I will bet most here have extras of everything.... me included. So before buying new.... ask here. I have a bunch of extras too.

If you are getting into target shooting, you will find the curiosity tugging at you to try both round ball and conicals.

For now, I think I will start off with the Thompson Center round balls .490 175 grain. Some of the round balls on the Midway site do not show grains. Are round balls all the same weight in .50 cal?

The choices in conicals seems overwhelming, so I need to learn more first. Balls seem simple.

[wingspar]

Looking at pillow ticking things get confusing. In the Thompson Center Black Powder Pillow Ticking (https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1073320213/thompson-center-black-powder-pillow-ticking-shooting-patches), the description for using with .50 cal is excellent. Copy paste below.

For use with a round ball of approximately .010" less than caliber, example would be a 50 caliber rifle uses one of these patches with a .490" diameter lead ball.

Now, all that is available is .32, .45, .54, and .58 cal. Are they leaving out .50 cal ticking for some reason?

[triggerhappy243]

the problem is you are looking at "MIDWAY" I buy from Midsouthshooters supply. Honest folks.

[triggerhappy243]

Whichever brand of round ball you choose, weigh them all on a scale. segregate them. Shoot for groups with balls weighing the same. I buy my patch material in bulk from a fabric store and cut my own. Most pillow ticking runs between .015 and .018

[spitstickler]

Looking at pillow ticking things get confusing. In the Thompson Center Black Powder Pillow Ticking (https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1073320213/thompson-center-black-powder-pillow-ticking-shooting-patches), the description for using with .50 cal is excellent. Copy paste below.

For use with a round ball of approximately .010" less than caliber, example would be a 50 caliber rifle uses one of these patches with a .490" diameter lead ball.

Now, all that is available is .32, .45, .54, and .58 cal. Are they leaving out .50 cal ticking for some reason?

I did the same and ended up buying from track of the wolf since I wanted to get a synthetic ramrod anyhow. I bought pre-lubed .010 cotton and .018 ticking patches and .49 and .495 balls. Anxious to try them out and look forward to hearing your results as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wingspar]

the problem is you are looking at "MIDWAY" I buy from Midsouthshooters supply. Honest folks.

I’ve bought powder and reloading supplies from Midsouth before, but was not aware they sold stuff for muzzleloaders. Cool.


Whichever brand of round ball you choose, weigh them all on a scale. segregate them. Shoot for groups with balls weighing the same. I buy my patch material in bulk from a fabric store and cut my own. Most pillow ticking runs between .015 and .018

It’s an hour and a half to the nearest fabric store, so I’d be buying ticking online. The options are mind boggling. Never would have thought about weighing the balls.

[wingspar]

I did the same and ended up buying from track of the wolf since I wanted to get a synthetic ramrod anyhow. I bought pre-lubed .010 cotton and .018 ticking patches and .49 and .495 balls. Anxious to try them out and look forward to hearing your results as well.

Never heard of Track of the Wolf. Difficult site to navigate. Since my first order will probably be .490 balls I need to find some .010 ticking patches. I have no idea when I’ll actually shoot this gun. I’ll have the gun before I have any powder and accessories I need, but I’ll be updating this thread from time to time.

The photos of the gun on GB makes it look like the nipple has been changed, so until I have the gun in hand, I won’t have any idea what size percussion caps to order. Looks like they come in 1k size. That’s a lot. Can I assume that they will be shipped with the extra hazardous materials cost as if I was ordering powder?

[triggerhappy243]

Once you get the hang of it.... possibly entertain the thought of casting your own RB, options will really open up. I try to combine as many chores/to do's as possible when I go into town.

[triggerhappy243]

your rifle uses a standard #11 cap. put this on your list of things to look for when you go into town (hour and a half away). Keep in mind, many of us have extras of your loading and cleaning accessories that you could buy before paying full price.

[Flintlock1812]

Congrats on your new Renegade Muzzleloader. (Great Gun) Since your not a hunter, round ball is your best and least expensive choice.
( Not to say round ball isn't good for hunting, because it is all I hunt with.)
October country has cast round balls for sale at a very good price.
http://www.octobercountry.com/cast-round-balls-36-to-8-bore/

[Nazgul]

Found my Renegade 54 cal. the last day of a flea market. Excellent condition, shiny bore- $125.

Never looked back. Shoots great!

Don

[Lead pot]

Just go to Walmart with a micrometer in your pocket and get a yard or two of ticking if that is what you like. Myself I prefer twill fabric 100% regular weave cotton. It is a very tight weave, a little stiff but I throw it in the washer and that softens it up. This time of year when dry leaves are on the ground and grass drying up the last thing I want is a smoldering patch on the dry leaves starting a fire. Ticking will smolder pretty easy, especially if they have been lubed for a spell and I see them smolder quite often. Twill will not get blown by like ticking especially in a deep groove barrel.

[ogre]

I had many hours of fun with my Renegade but the darn think sure did smite me upon the cheekbone.

[bubba.50]

the too short length-of-pull of the Renegade contributes to the cheek-slap. puttin' a slip-on recoil pad on mine added about an inch & helped immensely with the slap aspect of shootin' it.

[wingspar]

Congrats on your new Renegade Muzzleloader. (Great Gun) Since your not a hunter, round ball is your best and least expensive choice.
( Not to say round ball isn't good for hunting, because it is all I hunt with.)
October country has cast round balls for sale at a very good price.
http://www.octobercountry.com/cast-round-balls-36-to-8-bore/

Thanks for that link. Being new to black powder, I’m unfamiliar with places that specialize in black powder. I’ll be ordering some stuff from that site.

[wingspar]

I had many hours of fun with my Renegade but the darn think sure did smite me upon the cheekbone.


the too short length-of-pull of the Renegade contributes to the cheek-slap. puttin' a slip-on recoil pad on mine added about an inch & helped immensely with the slap aspect of shootin' it.

I keep a slip on recoil pad in my range bag. Good info. If I get the cheek slap, not fun, I’ll try it with the pad.

I’m wondering if lighter loads help with the cheek slap?

Tracking says I’ll have the gun on the 29th of the month. :)

[triggerhappy243]

I remember years ago(more than 10), i was working my 54 for a hopeful elk hunt. trying roundball and maxi-ball, I remember the round ball not slapping me.

[wingspar]

The gun arrived yesterday in a brand new real tree camo soft gun case, a nice surprise. Still has the tag on it. Looking down the bore with a good light and I see light rust. No pitting that I can see. I asked the seller about pitting and he said no. Should have asked about rust, as photos with macro lens show rust around the lock and on the rear sight. I don’t how I’m going to go about seeing if I can get the rust out of the bore. I have no accessories for this gun yet, so I’m wondering if a 12 gauge brush and mop might work for this .50 cal muzzloader.

Trigger pull is 6 ½ to 7 ½ pounds. Set trigger pull is 1 ½ pounds.

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164612212/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164612214/original.jpg

Wish I could see cat hair before I take a photo.

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164612221/original.jpg

I suspect that the nipple may have been changed and am wondering if the nipple change was to use a different size cap, so these next two photos show closeups of the nipple, how I measured it and the measurement which is 0.0205. I have no idea if the OD of the nipple determines cap size, but it seemed like a good place to start. Can anyone determine from the photos below if I have the correct size nipple to take #11 caps or has it been changed?

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164612222/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164612223/original.jpg

How does one go about finding the date of manufacture on these guns?

[bubba.50]

as it has no trace of case-color I believe the lock to have been cold blued. which may also explain what looks like rust on the breechplug as cold blue doesn't do well on cast steel which is what T/C breechplugs are made of.

DO NOT TRY TO USE A 12GA OR ANY OTHER GAUGE SHOTGUN BRUSH IN YER BORE. IT WILL BECOME A PERMANENT RESIDENT REQUIRIN' STRONG EVICTION PAPERS TO REMOVE IT. instead use a 45cal jag & a piece of green scotchbrite along with some oil or bore cleaner.

the nipple has been replaced with a musket cap nipple. nothin' wrong with that unless musket caps are hard to come by in your area.

life will be much smoother for ya if ya just shoot & enjoy yer Renegade & forget about worryin' when it's birthday was. nobody knows & if ya ask T/C you'll get their standard "we had a fire & all records were lost" story. you can get pages of estimations & guesswork but no real answer.

[triggerhappy243]

Sending you a picture of a bore light

[wingspar]

as it has no trace of case-color I believe the lock to have been cold blued. which may also explain what looks like rust on the breechplug as cold blue doesn't do well on cast steel which is what T/C breechplugs are made of.

I was hoping the lack of case-color in the sellers image was a poor photo. I suppose there is no way to remove the cold blue revealing the true colors?

As for what looked like rust on the breech plug, it looked more like some kind of brown liquid and a close up of the hammer revealed plenty of brown liquid inside. A q-tip and some mineral spirits cleaned all that up. Seemed like it was some sort of preservative.

While running a q-tip around the nipple, the nipple started moving. It was fairly loose, so I removed it and cleaned it. There is still some of the brown preservative on the threads. I’m assuming I should clean that off?


DO NOT TRY TO USE A 12GA OR ANY OTHER GAUGE SHOTGUN BRUSH IN YER BORE. IT WILL BECOME A PERMANENT RESIDENT REQUIRIN' STRONG EVICTION PAPERS TO REMOVE IT. instead use a 45cal jag & a piece of green scotchbrite along with some oil or bore cleaner.

the nipple has been replaced with a musket cap nipple. nothin' wrong with that unless musket caps are hard to come by in your area.

I don’t have any jags. They are on my list of things to get. Taking a more careful look down the bore, most of the rust is from about an inch from the muzzle to about 3 or4 inches from the muzzle. The rest looks fine, and it is unloaded.

I had to do some research as to what a musket cap is. I found some TC #11 nipples and some TC musket cap nipples online and had to really study them to see any difference. Is the slightly rounded edge at the top of the musket cap nipple how one tells them appart?

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164613078/original.jpg

[triggerhappy243]

this is a bore light. one of the tools you really need

[bubba.50]

no there is no way to remove the blue so the colors can show through because any colors that might have remained would be removed so it could be blued. most likely because the colors were faded or fuzzy rusted.

[wingspar]

Guess I should have known the photos he posted would not hide the case hardening colors. Oh well. It looks nice in person.

Today I finally got some powder, caps, bullet puller, flask and a bunch of other stuff ordered, so sometime in the next week or two I should be ready to shoot it. I’m thinking of spraying some Ballistol down the barrel and letting the rust soak till I have my accessaries next week. Anything wring with doing that?

[bubba.50]

nothin' wrong with givin' it a ballistol soak for a day or two but, likely no real benefit either. don't give it so much that it runs out the nipple & all over yer stock.

[obx-shooter]

I recently acquired a .54 Renegade through a bit of a convoluted path. I "won" a clean .50 Renegade on GB ... but I almost immediately was informed by the seller that the gun had been accidentally sold. Since I'd gotten a good price (IMHO) of $240 or so dollars I was a bit ... perturbed. :-?

But the seller assured me that they would endeavor to make things right with me. The result was an almost pristine .54 Renegade for $200. Since I already have a TC Hawken and New Englander in .50 I was quite happy with the outcome. :-D

[wingspar]

nothin' wrong with givin' it a ballistol soak for a day or two but, likely no real benefit either. don't give it so much that it runs out the nipple & all over yer stock.

Ok. I’ll wait till I have my accessories and then let it soak for a couple of days since I’m not sure when I’ll have them.

I’ve finally figured out what a Mini-ball is, but what is a Maxi-ball? If anyone has a side by side photo and a description, that would help a lot. I have not had any luck searching that subject.

[wingspar]

I recently acquired a .54 Renegade through a bit of a convoluted path. I "won" a clean .50 Renegade on GB ... but I almost immediately was informed by the seller that the gun had been accidentally sold. Since I'd gotten a good price (IMHO) of $240 or so dollars I was a bit ... perturbed. :-?

But the seller assured me that they would endeavor to make things right with me. The result was an almost pristine .54 Renegade for $200. Since I already have a TC Hawken and New Englander in .50 I was quite happy with the outcome. :-D

I won an auction on GB for a new in box Marlin 1894 in .357 Magnum a few years ago. Seller said they lost it in their warehouse. He was a vindictive SOB and it got ugly. I had to resolve it thru GB to get my money back and to erase the F rating the AH gave me. Good to hear there are some good sellers on GB, and that $200 is an excellent price.

[wingspar]

I now have everything I need to go shoot this gun, but until our ugly gale force wind and horizontal rain takes a break, all I can do is watch videos and take photos of the gun. In the photo below taken after I cleaned all the gunk off, you can see lots of rust and pitting around the nipple. Looks ugly, but will it affect the performance?

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164659430/original.jpg

The way that the musket caps were advertized, I had to buy at least 1k caps. I know I’ll never come close to shooting this gun that much, but I did not have a choice. When I got them, they were in a cardboard box containing 10 tins of 100 each. Good Grief! Why do they not offer to sell them 100 at a time? Kind of frustrating, so I may putting some of them up for sale one of these days.

[shdwlkr]

My first muzzleloader was a renegade as that was all the dealer had in tc rifles that day.
I have used sabots, rb bullets, powder 2f and 3f, patching is a science all its own, have used the fake powders also some worked some not so much, caps have used most that are available with mixed results
I know the length of pull is short and I like 14 inch pull but never ran into any issues with the rifle
Wished I still had it.
Price on the TC's is going up as those that don't have want and those that do have don't want to sell many times.
Enjoy your TC if taken care of it will last you a very long time, as to the rusting most likely is nothing more that surface rust and you can live with that but will need to keep it cleaned up after use
You can take the barrel out and clean it with really hot water and some dish soap. I like really hot water as it dries so quickly and that means little to no rust, coat the firearm inside and out with a rust preventive.
Once the muzzleloader disease hits you be looking for different calibers in different designs. I have been around black powder firearms for over 50 years and just now looking at flintlocks as a new toy to learn about as with all firearms how far you go in learning is a very personal thing. Some will buy one of something and be happy others will want more in different calibers, design, makers, etc.
good luck and let us know your experiences

[wingspar]

The rust around the nipple in that photo looks ugly to me, but it’s the rust in the barrel that concerns me. It looks like light rust and the rifling looks ok. I took the barrel out earlier today and have had it soaking in Ballistol since this morning, but I think the rust will still be there once I run a brush thru the bore. I have a wire brush in .50 Cal that I just got yesterday, but it fits tight. So tight that I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it back out.

[triggerhappy243]

did you get a bore light?

[triggerhappy243]

when you run the brush down to the bottom, twist the rod clockwise 180 degrees and then pull it out all in one motion.

[wingspar]

did you get a bore light?

No. I can see the entire length of the barrel with a good flashlight. The rust seems to be the full length of the bore.


when you run the brush down to the bottom, twist the rod clockwise 180 degrees and then pull it out all in one motion.

Thank you. That is the exact info I was looking for. I’ll go try that right now... Even tho all I have for a rod that will take the brush is the rod that is in the gun, it came out easy. Looking down the bore, it is difficult to see any results, so I sprayed some more Ballistol down the bore and will try it again tomorrow.

I don’t have any dry patches, even tho I could have sworn I ordered some, so the only thing I have close to .50 Cal is some 12 Gauge patches. I do have some TC T17 soaked cleaning patches, but I think it would be a good idea to run a dry patch or two first?

[bubba.50]

a brush ain't gonna do much for rust. ya need a 45cal jag & either some green scotchbrite or steel wool along with a good cleanin' solution or even some valve-grindin' compound.

[triggerhappy243]

good point bubba, a 45 cal. jag wrapped with 0000 steel wool and some gun oil will get it down to raw steel. also, sounds like you need a range rod. I made my own from a 36 inch piece of 3/8 inch aluminum rod. fitted each end with female threaded fittings to accept the cleaning and loading accessories.

[wingspar]

a brush ain't gonna do much for rust. ya need a 45cal jag & either some green scotchbrite or steel wool along with a good cleanin' solution or even some valve-grindin' compound.

I had some more stuff I had to order, so I ordered a .45 Cal jag. I have plenty of steel wool. The Ballistol and wire brush did remove some of the rust, but not all of it, but enough to allow me to see the riffling a little better. I then ran some TC T17 saturated patches then some clean patches thru the bore. The patches all came out brown, which I’m assuming is from the rust. When I get the jag and have the opportunity to try the steel wool and oil, I’ll update this.

I just popped a couple of caps. Those things stink. I could also feel air coming off the caps and with the muzzle up against a piece of paper, I could see the paper move, so I think I am ready to shoot this gun, I just have to wait for the weather to let up. I did notice that the hammer did not line up with the nipple as I thought it should, but tightening the hammer screw fixed that and while I was at it, just about every screw on the gun was loose. No more.


good point bubba, a 45 cal. jag wrapped with 0000 steel wool and some gun oil will get it down to raw steel. also, sounds like you need a range rod. I made my own from a 36 inch piece of 3/8 inch aluminum rod. fitted each end with female threaded fittings to accept the cleaning and loading accessories.

I haven’t been able to find a rod that I like. All brass with a T handle on it would be nice, but I have not found one. This one (https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/33/1/RAMROD-C-29-10) looks nice, but does anyone know if that 29" length includes the handle and how long is the handle?

[bubba.50]

it says THE WORKING LENGTH of the rod is over 29inches plus the jag will add an inch or so. and you can get jags that are 3 to 5 inches in length if ya look around.

[triggerhappy243]

hardware store or lowes/home depot. they have a metals rack. look for 3/8 inch dia. aluminum solid rod.

[wingspar]

it says THE WORKING LENGTH of the rod is over 29inches plus the jag will add an inch or so. and you can get jags that are 3 to 5 inches in length if ya look around.

Oops. Did not see that. I’ve seen the longer jags and wondered why so long, but now it makes sense. My barrel is only 26 ½" long and that is the shortest rod there at 29" so is more than long enough.

[triggerhappy243]

ONLY REASON i SAY 36 INCH IS TO AFFORD SPACE FOR YOU TO GRIP WITH 2 HANDS.

[Good Cheer]

I've read of people using molasses with good results.
Anybody here tried it?

[wingspar]

Might be time for me to start a new thread, but for now, I’ll keep this one active. I just got around to swabbing the bore with some steel wool (0000) wrapped around a .45 Cal jag and some Remoil. It worked a little on the rust in the bore, but not what I was hoping for. There is pitting in the bore, so there is probably no way I will ever get all of the rust out. It is patchy here and there throughout the entire bore. Below is a photo I just took after the steel wool and running some dry patches thru the bore.

If I run an oily patch thru the bore, should I run some dry patches thru it before shooting?

http://www.pbase.com/wingspar/image/164735830/original.jpg

[Edward]

Rambling man on eBay custom makes beautiful brass rods with handles you can use. Take a moment and check him out,he's done good by me!:bigsmyl2: