TC Renegade 54

[kevshell]

I picked up the Hawken a few months ago and had a desire for a bigger bore. I've been searching for a 54 or 58 and found a new in box Renegade. I hope late season in Montana will get a little smokey.

[junebug]

The Renegade's were always good shooting no frills rifles, good luck with yours. What caliber did you get?

[AxeHandle]

Bought a TC Hawkin 50 cal kit in the mid 70s. Enjoyed playing with it. A few years back a nice TC Hawkin came into the shop. Got certified to teach BP about the same time. Turned out to be a 54. A couple of months another like new TC came in that looked like a Hawkin but turned out to be a 36 cal. They live with me. I like them.

[kevshell]

May 30, 2024 17:32:27 GMT -5 junebug said:

The Renegade's were always good shooting no frills rifles, good luck with yours. What caliber did you get?

54. I picked up a 50 cal Hawken late last year and wanted a bigger bore plus a renegade. So....2 boxes checked.

[kevshell]

May 30, 2024 19:34:17 GMT -5 AxeHandle said:

Bought a TC Hawkin 50 cal kit in the mid 70s. Enjoyed playing with it. A few years back a nice TC Hawkin came into the shop. Got certified to teach BP about the same time. Turned out to be a 54. A couple of months another like new TC came in that looked like a Hawkin but turned out to be a 36 cal. They live with me. I like them.

Was the 36 the Seneca?

[junebug]

They should be 1-48 twist so will handle round ball or great plains style bullets. I used round ball for deer in my 54 with 90 grs of powder. The ball would be the size of a nickel and under the skin on the off side of the deer. Think I would use a heavy great plains style bullet for elk trying to get that second hole, that lets them bleed better.

[kevshell]

May 30, 2024 22:30:01 GMT -5 junebug said:

They should be 1-48 twist so will handle round ball or great plains style bullets. I used round ball for deer in my 54 with 90 grs of powder. The ball would be the size of a nickel and under the skin on the off side of the deer. Think I would use a heavy great plains style bullet for elk trying to get that second hole, that lets them bleed better.

I think the Great Plains 54 cal was dropped. I've been looking but I think they're gone. However I'm looking for other conicals.

[Ken O'Neill]

I had a .54 Renegade for years. Changed the sights to a Lyman peep on the rear and a taller bead front sight. A wonderful hunting and match rifle.

[mattyb]

I had that very rifle at one point; I sent it off to Bob Hoyt to have re-bored out to .58 with slow-twist rifling for round ball and converted it to flintlock and a full-length stock fitted. It was great as it was, though.

[aciera]

Around here we always called him Bobbie……used to clean out the snow at the end of his driveway if it was bad.
Very nice easy going guy. Haven’t seen him in years…….

[revolvercranker]

Talked to a tech at TC one time about the BP rifles. He told me the best deer rifle in their opinion was the 45 caliber. Said it has a higher velocity, shoots flatter, and plenty enough for deer. Said if you're going after larger game the 50 caliber is fine. In his opinion TC should never had made the 58 caliber, that there was no need for it. Myself I think the 50 caliber is the all around caliber.

[parallaxbill]

May 30, 2024 22:30:01 GMT -5 junebug said:

They should be 1-48 twist so will handle round ball or great plains style bullets. I used round ball for deer in my 54 with 90 grs of powder. The ball would be the size of a nickel and under the skin on the off side of the deer. Think I would use a heavy great plains style bullet for elk trying to get that second hole, that lets them bleed better.

That is the same results my son had with his 54 caliber T/C New Englander shooting round balls on the two whitetail does he killed. Both stopped inside the skin on the off side at less than 100 yards.
It worked but we still had to blood trail them for recovery.

[junebug]

The way to more power, better penetration for two holes in game is not necessarily more powder, but more weight. The way to get said weight is a bigger ball or an elongated bullet. When you are limited by bore size[say 50 caliber] a long lead bullet is your option. More powder is not the answer as there are limits to how much powder you can effectively, and safely use.

[kevshell]

I ended up ordering some bullets from the company No Excuses. I ended up with their 485 grain conical. We will see how that works out.

[sharps4590]

May 30, 2024 21:30:24 GMT -5 kevshell said:

May 30, 2024 19:34:17 GMT -5 AxeHandle said:

Bought a TC Hawkin 50 cal kit in the mid 70s. Enjoyed playing with it. A few years back a nice TC Hawkin came into the shop. Got certified to teach BP about the same time. Turned out to be a 54. A couple of months another like new TC came in that looked like a Hawkin but turned out to be a 36 cal. They live with me. I like them.

Was the 36 the Seneca?

Yes sir, it was the Seneca and it also came in 45.  I had a 36 and I thought it was a much better rifle that either the T/C 'wanna be' Hawken or the Renegade.  Decades ago I settled on the 36 for small game after wringing out the 32 and 36.  I just liked the 36 better.  The last deer I took with a muzzleloading rifle was a 45 cal., Lancaster flintlock.  I took one with a 50 cal. and a truck load with various 54's.  I prefer the 54 and round balls.  

Here's the rifles.  Top to bottom; 36 cal. Southern Mountain, 54 cal. Gary White Jaeger, a real Hawken by Gun Works, a Jackie Brown 20 bore fowler I couldn't get rid of quick enough and the 45 cal. Lancaster that I forget who built it.

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