Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Muzzleloaders => Topic started by: Eric Krewson on January 22, 2022, 10:26:58 am
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On a whim I bought a 15/16" GM .54 drop in barrel for a TC and planned to put it in my .50 TC. After getting the barrel (now as scarce as hens teeth) I decided to find a TC stock with all the hardware and make another complete gun.
I found a stock online, bought it and put together my extra gun. The stock wasn't in bad shape but a bit worn around the edges, I decided to refurbish the stock to new so it would match the new barrel I had on it. The standard TC stock design leaves a lot of room for improvement particularly with the cheek piece, wrist and height of the comb. The forearm is too square and bulky as well.
I will make the old stock look like my other TC after reworking the stock. I reshaped and re-inletted a lot on this stock.
(https://i.imgur.com/Eb9biz8.jpg)
I am starting with this;
(https://i.imgur.com/AVyqjgA.jpg)
Stripped off the hardware;
(https://i.imgur.com/j0As1Ua.jpg)
I wanted to run the tang bolt through the wrist and thread it into the trigger plate but found when I disassembled the gun that this is a very old stock with a trigger model that doesn't have enough metal in front of the spring to thread for the tang bolt. A common fix for this is to install a threaded bushing in the wood just above the trigger inlet so you can do away with the tang wood screw and replace it with a much stronger bolt. They sell these at Lowe's in 11-32, I am going to install one for the front and back screw.
(https://i.imgur.com/yazSYtG.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ziRioKm.jpg)
I use ZIP Strip to get the old finish off the stock so I am off to Lowe's to buy some.
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I picked up the stock finish stripper and found Lowe's didn't have 10-32 screw in inserts, they only had only 10-24, Home Depot did have them in 10-32.
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Looks like a fun and worthy project there Eric. :OK
I remember a fellow at the Muzzleloader Forum years back who liked to gather up TC parts and stocks and then put together some very nice guns. You remember him..?
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I seem to remember that guy, me.
This was my last random parts project, NOS stripped down barrel in the white, a TC Renegade a stock that looked like someone had batted rocks with it, I steamed all the dents out, and an L&R RPL lock. I bought some parts off eBay like the under rib and thimbles.
It was a lot of work but came out nice.
(https://i.imgur.com/LIYIpP3.jpg)
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Yeah I knowed it was you Eric... ;)
That Renegade makeover looks pretty sharp. I had one in 54 caliber years back that was my 1st muzzle loader.
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It is only 45 degrees outside, I sprayed down the stock with paint stripper and gave it about an hour but found although the stripper had started to work it wasn't doing much. The instructions recommend using the product at a temperature above 65 degrees.
(https://i.imgur.com/kdNwqcN.jpg)
I decided a little solar power was in order, I didn't take a picture because my hands had paint stripper on them but the finish had bubbled up all over the stock like I though it should after 1 hour under the black plastic.
(https://i.imgur.com/SBaEait.jpg)
There were a few place that needed more work so back under the black plastic the stock went.
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Nice job on the TC Renegade. That's my go-to BP Hunting Rifle. .54 cal.
I've truly enjoyed your build-alongs with your rifles and smoothbores.
Looking forward to this one and future ones.
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The paint stripper did its job, turns out the stock has some curl in it, it took three coats of stripper to get most of the finish off, there is still some in the inlets that I will sand off.
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Deer season is is still open here, that plus my knee rehab sessions at the Bone and Joint Clinic plus making myself get back into my 3 day a week gym routine and caused me to put this project on hold for a week or two.
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Deer season is over, time to get back to work.
There were several cracks in the lock inlet of this stock, two were superficial in thin webs of wood that superglue easily fixed.
One looked superficial but I decided but I decided to see just how far down it went, it wasn't superficial and started at the rear of the lock bolt hole and traveled to the hole for the sear.
As I used a V gouge to dig the cracked wood out I could see the wood in the crack was oil soaked and no amount of superglue would close this crack, time to replace the wood. I dug down until the crack was barely visible and started to disappear then used a V shaped riffler file to try to even out the cutout end to end. Next it was shaping a piece of walnut to fit the cutout perfectly, not an easy task, after about ten tries I got the right angles for an tight fit.
Here is the patch in place and clamped with plenty of TB3, I will cut out the extra wood after the glue dries and level the patch to be even with the bottom of the lock inlet.
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Because this crack started from the lockbolt hole I will probably drill out the existing hole, glue in a 3/8 hickory dowel and re-drill the lock bolt hole, this will provide some very strong wood surrounding the lock bolt hole that will never crack again.
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I left the lock inlet patch oversized for clamping.
(https://i.imgur.com/naLSPu0.jpg)
Dressed down the crack is gone and the patch is not obvious.
(https://i.imgur.com/CwClJWB.jpg)
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I am going with a hickory dowel in the lock bolt hole which presents a few problems, the most pressing one is how to drill the new hole perfectly aligned with the lock bolt hole in TC lockplate, there is no room for error.
Here is what I came up with; the lock bolt hole in the lock plate wasn't threaded all the way through, to mark the hole location on my glued in dowel I need to put a marker screw through the plate so I threaded the lock plate all the way through, it has 8-32 threads.
(https://i.imgur.com/6wiB876.jpg)
I found an 8-32 screw in my junk box, I plan to sharpen the tip as a marker.
When I get the dowel glued in I will install the lock plate into the inlet and screw the screw in until it punches a hole in the end of the dowel.
(https://i.imgur.com/0fuU8RG.jpg)
I will place this marked hole on the lower end of my drilling spike and drill the new lock bolt hole, I should have perfect alignment.
(https://i.imgur.com/8tjr1yz.jpg)
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Looking good there Eric. :OK
Another informative and educational build along.
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I always show my progress warts and all, bottom line I put in the hickory dowel, drilled my new lock bolt hole and missed by about 1/16", I have to do it over.
Turns out there was a lot of broken wood at the breech which broke out when I drilled for my hickory dowel. Because this area is under the hooked breech and out of sight It will get a superglue and sawdust treatment which will turn this area to concrete.
(https://i.imgur.com/kL1uXst.jpg)
My hole marker seemed to work well.
(https://i.imgur.com/JAI3rpr.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/qrkDiHx.jpg)
I set up my drilling table carefully.
(https://i.imgur.com/FYGy6C2.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/xSf8JDy.jpg)
But still missed, I am pretty sure I drilled too large a hole in the lock inlet for my drilling spike which gave it a little slop to move around. I will correct this on my next attempt. I will drill a 5/16" hole in the middle of the the 3/8" dowel, glue in a new smaller dowel and start over.
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SO, I am thinking how could I miss with something I had done before and hit a blind socket on an L&R RPL lock on the first try.
I was measuring the TC lock bolt to pick a closer tolerance clearance bit and noticed something odd, the dang bolt was bent, that is why it didn't hit the threaded hole, dang, I have already plugged the hole with another dowel to re-drill.
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OK, round two on lock bolt drilling; first I straightened the bent lock bolt, picked a .1645 clearance bit instead of the suggested .1770 which was a sloppy fit, increased up my drill press speed to 2100rpm from the 550 it was set on which was way too slow for hardwoods, next I sharpened my drill bit on my drill doctor, marked the holes with a punch and proceeded.
One shot and I had a perfect hit into the threaded hole in the lock plate.
Another thing I did before I started marking the new hole location was re-inlet the lock plate, the plate fit in so tightly that I had to knock it out with a hammer from the back side. I blackened the edges with an oil lamp and sanded off the black spots with a a piece of 220 wrapped around a 5/16" dowel. I went slowly and probably spent an hour sanding. When I felt like I had it just right the lock plate would fall out when I tilted the stock upside down plus there were no visible gaps around the plate.
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Next I have to address this damaged and splintered wood. I have a gunsmith friend who lives nearby who probably has some fresh accu-glass. I will give him a call to see if he can give me a teaspoon or so to glass bed the bad wood area.
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When I drilled the hole for the hickory dowel some of the cracked wood broke out of the lock inlet, this was totally unnecessary wood but I didn't like the look so I glued in new wood and shaped like it came from the factory to improve the appearance.
(https://i.imgur.com/qrkDiHx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/DQ4lHte.jpg)
The wood under the hooked breech was in bad shape and splintered out in hunks when I drilled for the dowel. I decided to fix the damage myself and not go see my gunsmith friend.
(https://i.imgur.com/kR78sRt.jpg)
I dug out the cracked and splintered wood and cut a neat square mortise, I first filled the cracked area with superglue and let it soak in, next I sprinkled sawdust on the puddle of super glue and packed into the cutout tightly. I left enough room above the superglue and sawdust to inlet a nice piece of walnut to cover the mess the superglue and sawdust made. I put this piece of walnut in while the superglue and sawdust were still wet so it would bond with the sawdust and superglue.
I put in an oversized piece of wood and trimmed it down to match the existing barrel inlet.
Looks pretty good, I tried to dye the patch with leather dye to match the surrounding wood but my dye was too light.
(https://i.imgur.com/6JhJquT.jpg)
I would imagine many of you are wondering why I am going to so much trouble on this project, the answer is just to see if I can take a mess of a stock and make it strong and dependable, plus I am out of other gun projects until my bear pistol barrel gets here.
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My next project is to replace the tang screws with tang bolts and threaded inserts. I went with 10-32, these will fit in the trigger plate inlet but just barely, I should have gone with 8-32. I can get some 8-32 threaded inserts in a couple of days and may change my plans.
(https://i.imgur.com/k3C0WgD.jpg)
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Here is where I am headed on the stock makeover. The top stock is a TC kit I put together and shaped to be trimmer and more more pleasing to the eye, the bottom one is the factory stock I am working on (when the mood strikes me). I will use the kit gun stock as reference for what I want to make out of the old stock.
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I started this yesterday, going slow. I popped a shallow 11/64 hole through the tang and stock wood using a centering bit. Using the drilling fixture on my drill press I drilled from the trigger plate inlet to the tang with the 23/64 bit supplied with the bushing kit.
I glued a piece of hickory ramrod in new hole from the tang down leaving enough room for the bushing to be installed from the trigger side
The 11/64 hole is a very tight fit for a 10-32 screw, today I am going to use my 11/64 centering bit to drill through the tang countersink and through the hickory plug.
To line things up all the way to the trigger inlet I am going to insert another piece of ramrod without glue between my plug and the trigger guard inlet (tight fit but I can get it out). I will rest my drilling spike centered on this piece of ramrod so I can aim the hole at the center of the drilled hole in the trigger inlet. I will pull the extra piece of ramrod out after I drill the hole
To get the bushing started and properly aligned I am going to insert a 11-32 tang bolt through the tang and tight clearance plug then screw it all the way into the bushing while the bushing is all the way out of the stock. I plan to pull the bushing up to the hole on the trigger inlet with excess tang bolt length centering it and start it in with a screwdriver. It should be perfectly aligned because there is no slop at all in the tang bolt hole through the plug.
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My method worked perfectly except my installer tool twisted off and left the threaded part in the bushing. I was able to get some needle nose pliers on the part and unscrew it. I don't know if the bushing bottomed out on the dowel I plugged the tang hole with or was just over powered by the hard walnut. Anyway, couldn't go any deeper with the bushing but all the trigger parts clear it. My alignment was pretty good, no problem screwing the tang screw in and out with a screw driver but I did run a tap through the bushing so I could run the tang screw in with just finger pressure.
I didn't take pictures of everything, there was a lot more to the process.
Here I am aligning the bushing on the tang bolt to start it into the wood.
(https://i.imgur.com/5yP8N0b.jpg)
This is as far as I could go after the installer broke, should be deep enough. the alignment to the tang bolt is very good. I am going to have to rethread and shorten my replacement tang screws to have the right length for the TC tang.
(https://i.imgur.com/WlO8AJN.jpg)
I am going to make a wide blade screwdriver to install my other bushing, I don't have any that wide. I may just saw and grind down the body of the failed installer to make a wide screwdriver with a 1/4" drive. I decided a drill was too fast to to use in the initial installer so I used a 1/4' ratchet.
I have another TC to install bushings in, it will go much easier now that I worked the bugs out.
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I got stared on tomorrows bushing installation, I drilled out the old screw hole and installed a hickory dowel to reinforce the tang area.
I drilled in from the trigger side;
(https://i.imgur.com/F6wnpy8.jpg)
The dowel glued in and glue curing, I use TB3.
(https://i.imgur.com/aj3mozJ.jpg)
I use what we call a drilling spike to drill a hole in one side of the stock and have it hit where I want on the other side. For drilling for the dowel I put the tang bolt hole countersink on the field point and drilled in from the trigger plate side. I don't go all the way through and finish up the hole with a cordless drill and the same brad point bit.
(https://i.imgur.com/7PcCC8I.jpg)
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I got the bushings installed, it was a pain, screw alignment from the tang to the bushing was the big issue.
(https://i.imgur.com/UYduskg.jpg)
I rethreaded some long tang screws and finished the job, it came out OK but could have been better.
(https://i.imgur.com/Q2HIDFi.jpg)
The main reason I put the bushings in was to have a more solid attachment for one of my homemade peep sights, I found out that wood screw attachment just didn't cut it, the screws would strip out in this old oil soaked wood.
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This stock was pretty dinged up from use, I have found just about every ding will steam out with just a little effort and and an old steam iron. I believe I paid all of $2 for this old iron at a thrift shop, and have used it quite a bit both to steam out dings in stocks that I have refinished as well and tighten the wood around an inletted part that I got too sloppy inletting. Quite often when we inlet a part we compress the wood in the inlet some, a damp wash cloth and my old iron will decompress this wood for a tighter fit.
I was able to remove every dent on this stock but one with my steam iron and a wet washcloth.
(https://i.imgur.com/km1SqE8.jpg)
I was able to raise this dent a good bit but on close examination I found that there was actually missing wood in the dent. I know how to fill this dent with wood where it will barely show.
(https://i.imgur.com/Jg4kL2Y.jpg)
I have a lot of random walnut pieces from making tillering gizmos, I will do a few tests first to see if I can get a close match, if not I will take a small piece out of the barrel channel to make the patch. This is a tiny ding, only about 3/16" long but even if the rest of the stock is flawless when I get done this place will stand out like a sore thumb if I don't fix it.
(https://i.imgur.com/ivvKwWA.jpg)
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I patched the torn place in the stock, didn't come out as invisible as I would have hoped, but I can live with it.
I used a small gouge to remove the damaged wood from the stock and then used the same gouge to cut a patch out of a scrap of walnut and checked the fit before I superglued the patch in place.
(https://i.imgur.com/7vUl9TU.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vTt2JXq.jpg)
My glue lines show too much but this is better than having a hole in the stock. I put a little Tru-oil on the wood to darken it.
(https://i.imgur.com/J9WEoXh.jpg)
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Looking very good Eric, love watching your work, I don't do much gun work but some of the tips i get from here also works well on self bow and other projects that I do work on. ;) Thanks.
Pappy
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Worked a little more on my TC stock overhaul. I started inletting the wedge pin escutcheons down to the level of the forestock. I will do a final sanding later when I round off the slab sided forestock to match the wood to the brass.
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Time to get rid of that oversized butt ugly cheekpiece.
Taking off the front end humps.
(https://i.imgur.com/HpOQOkE.jpg)
Extending the wrist into the buttstock
(https://i.imgur.com/smFkVDJ.jpg)
Removing the excess blocky wood at the rear of the cheekpiece, I used a big rat tail file mostly
(https://i.imgur.com/HhIR2Er.jpg)
Almost shaped to suit me, just a little more refining.
(https://i.imgur.com/SosyKSJ.jpg)
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While I worked down the cheekpiece I lowered and rounded the wrist, here I am checking how even I have it rounded off.
(https://i.imgur.com/RUlQEBd.jpg)
I am going to refine the lock and sideplate panels, I use an old compass with the point cut off to give me an even line to work to around the lock mortise. I don't like wide lock panels like many people leave on CVA and Traditions kits, they make a gun look clunky.
(https://i.imgur.com/heoDvP5.jpg)
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Lock panel reshaping time;
TC lock and side plate panels are just plain ugly, I didn't take a picture of the lock panel before I started reshaping it but is was as ugly and plain as the side panel.
(https://i.imgur.com/HLJKfsc.jpg)
I started the shaping using a rat tail file to define the panel.
(https://i.imgur.com/gwAcb9u.jpg)
I used small gouge to get close to my lines on the border, I took a picture but it was out of focus so I deleted it.
I used a variety of files to blend the wood around the lock panel into the stock and finished up with a piece of sandpaper wrapped around a chainsaw file.
(https://i.imgur.com/6UtoCBE.jpg)
I will call this done, the perspective of the photo makes the nose of the panel look narrow but the width is constant around the circumference of the lock. Now on to that ugly side panel.
(https://i.imgur.com/aqCoBPg.jpg)
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Shaping the side plate side.
I needed to make a pattern of the lock mortis to transfer to the lock plate side.
(https://i.imgur.com/HZ5lQ9i.jpg)
Transferred;
(https://i.imgur.com/4Xvtf3V.jpg)
On TCs there is some ugly wood at the breech that looks better if it is transitioned into the stock alongside the barrel.
(https://i.imgur.com/2ZJM0Os.jpg)
Removing the excess, I did the same on the other side of the tang and left no sharp corners.
(https://i.imgur.com/PuyZbqu.jpg)
Transitioned, I may replace the piece of wood at the corner of the tang and hooked breech. It is oil soaked and chipped out.
(https://i.imgur.com/qWyK6iZ.jpg)
I started shaping the panel with a small gouge, progressed to a rat tail file and then scrapers and sandpaper.
(https://i.imgur.com/YJZjjiy.jpg)
This is very soft walnut that splinters easily, pieces kept chipping out around the edges so I am going to call this done.
(https://i.imgur.com/0jTDxQx.jpg)
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Getting down to the wire, I did the final wood removal with a file and removed as many of the file marks as I could find with a card scraper.
(https://i.imgur.com/nSrafkN.jpg)
I went over the stock with a damp paper towel and dried it off with a heat gun to raise the grain.
(https://i.imgur.com/Bgv0qgQ.jpg)
These whiskers came up after the wetting in spite of a good sanding before I wetted the stock.
(https://i.imgur.com/SIDLa4m.jpg)
The wetting and sanding makes every file mark you thought was gone show up, I removed them with a cabinet scraper. I whiskered the stock twice and had a smooth surface after the second time, no whiskers.
This was once a very rough stock, now it would pass for new. I will look it over with a new set of eyes tomorrow, if it looks OK I will start sealing the wood with a walnut stock sealer. I checked my bottle of Birchwood Casey walnut sealer and found it had set up. I filled the bottle with mineral sprits and stirred the contents up. Next I did a test with the resulting goop on a scrap piece of walnut to see if it will dry and do the job, I will check my test piece in the morning.
(https://i.imgur.com/doBliQh.jpg)
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That thing is looking really good Eric. :)
Pappy
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Time to finish the stock, first the walnut sanding sealer, I tried putting it on with 220 grit sand paper to add walnut dust to the mix for better pore sealing. I did a couple of coats this way but found it to be a bit sloppy.
(https://i.imgur.com/4vJoR2X.jpg)
I switched to a fresh piece of scotch bright pad and found I got better coverage plus the pad acted like a sponge and held much more finish so I could cover more area. After I applied the sealer I wiped the excess off with an old washcloth, the finish dried almost instantly.
(https://i.imgur.com/tBIvwXu.jpg)
I sanded the sealer back between coats but not back to bare wood. With the scotch bright pad the stock was sealed completely in 4 coats. With all the sanding a little sapwood showed up near the tang, I chose to leave it and not try to stain it way for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/tot3SrY.jpg)
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Time for the Tru-oil; I am applying it with a clean square of scotchbright pad and wiping off the excess like I did with sealer. This is my first time using the scotchbright for Tru-oil application, I am getting more of a satin finish this way opposed to the normal shiny Tru-oil finish as applied by other methods.
This is after three coats, I plan to put on 3 or 4 more light coats to see how it comes out.
(https://i.imgur.com/gTfY8Hu.jpg)
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Looking good there Sir. :OK
TC really had some nice looking walnut for their stocks back then.
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Thanks,
While I am watching paint dry I decided to take all the nicks out of the brass, this gun led a rough life and had really dinged up brass.
I have found an old chainsaw file works the best to remove deep scratches.
(https://i.imgur.com/tK3cqpC.jpg)
I follow the file with 220, 400, crocus cloth and bronze wool.
(https://i.imgur.com/xxx5Hjk.jpg)
Next I use a Dremel buffing wheel and compound to polish things up.
(https://i.imgur.com/MvFXY94.jpg)
I spent three years in the late 60s learning how to get the best results out of Brasso so I finish up with it. Once highly polished I found some more scratches I had to go back and start over with sandpaper to remove.
Done,
(https://i.imgur.com/T51ACOS.jpg)
I only polish brass once on a build then let nature take it's course. It didn't make much sense to put old dinged up brass on a like new stock with a new GM drop-in barrel.
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It's really come a long way. Looking great
Thanks Leroy
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Looks good! I almost forgot what site I was on for a minute...
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I enjoy posting these kinds of things, just basic stuff, after we get a bit of gun building experience we often forget about the guys who are still in the thinking about it mode. Perhaps there are a few out there that have a stock they would love to refinish but don't have any experience or know how to start. This is my 8th stock shaping and finishing project, I learn something new on each one.
I see a lot of TC refinish jobs on the M/L forums, few if any seal their stock before they apply the finish and many leave their stock as shiny as a mirror which is fine if that is what you like but I prefer a low luster satin finish.
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I agree and recommend anyone who is thinking about building a muzzleloader to go for it, very fun and rewarding. Similar to bow building but also very different as well. Unless I do a project like you did I think I'm done with building ML's though. I made flinters in 40 cal, 54 cal and a 20 ga fowler so have the bases covered and one for each kid someday. Making bows is far less expensive than ML's!!!
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I am winding down as well, I put together a Kibler .32, .54 Lancaster (Beck), another .54 Lancaster (Haines), a 12 ga English fowler and a TN .40 in flint. On TCs I built a .54 Flint Renegade out of random parts with an L&R lock, a percussion TC Hawkens .50 out of a very old early kit and am reworking the present TC percussion which is a .54 as well.
The only thing I haven't built is a pistol, I have a TN bear pistol barrel in .50 (15") on order and just ordered this pistol stock blank.
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A pistol is somewhat on my radar as well. That is a beautiful piece of maple, looking forward to seeing that build!
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I could have wrapped the makeover up today but found a couple if faint fingerprints in the sideplate panel where I didn't wipe the excess finish off well enough and touched the gun so I put one more coat on that area.
One thing that people don't know about TC triggers is they are as rough as a wash board but the roughness is hidden under a coat of bluing. I found this in a couple of guns I reworked so now I polish the trigger bars and the sear make them silky smooth.
I checked the front trigger pull on a unpolished trigger set and it came out to 7.8#, Because I have a coat of finish drying on the gun I can't check the polished trigger pull until tomorrow but I suspect it will be less than the rough trigger.
A normal rough TC trigger with the bluing sanded off.
(https://i.imgur.com/eoARdDO.jpg)
I polish triggers like I polish brass, 220, 400, emery cloth and a Dremel buffing wheel.
(https://i.imgur.com/87k6oNv.jpg)
Both the front and the set bar polished.
(https://i.imgur.com/BEJsCvb.jpg)
I like to polish the lock sear where it contacts the trigger bars as well, here it is before I polished it.
(https://i.imgur.com/lrtL3Sn.jpg)
And after a polishing;
(https://i.imgur.com/qKJ0AaL.jpg)
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A sneak peek of the assembly, I will complete the overhaul tomorrow.
(https://i.imgur.com/ssJP22y.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/XHkAFge.jpg)
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I tried to put the barrel in the stock for a photo shoot and couldn't get the wedge pin in, it went in just fine before the overhaul. I did add some wood at the back of the barrel channel and suspect I have a little barrel inletting to do to get things just right.
I put all the parts back in the stock and have to say it looks like a brand new gun, really nice.
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Seeing as how this is all about the stock makeover, it is time to wrap this up.
Full length lock side;
(https://i.imgur.com/ehbQ0oa.jpg)
full length cheek side;
(https://i.imgur.com/HGdyRUB.jpg)
Side plate side;
(https://i.imgur.com/lugF92M.jpg)
Lock molding;
(https://i.imgur.com/Ej55Oav.jpg)
Cheekpiece reshaped;
(https://i.imgur.com/HAusqUb.jpg)
Done but..... I have another repair waiting in the wings, I told my nephew I would correct his hack job inletting on an attempted patchbox installation on a GPR, this one is really bad.
(https://i.imgur.com/9aCruV0.jpg)
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Well done and much improved, side panels and cheekpiece especially! It's amazing how much extra wood they leave on the TC's as well as some other kits. The wrist is very thick, but I don't think there is much you could alter without changing entire geometry of the butt.
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One more picture; these are the replacements for the wimpy TC tang woodscrews. As received this tang was lopsided, I reshaped, re-blued it and installed these 11-32 tang bolts.
(https://i.imgur.com/5U8Q333.jpg)
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The front trigger pull on this gun after I polished the triggers is 3.4#. This is not a valid test because the the unpolished trigger I tested earlier was on a identical TC Hawken, not this one.
Now I need to pull the unpolished set, polish them and see just how much the poundage drops.
The front trigger on the overhaul gun is so slick and just the poundage I like for hunting, no need to use the set trigger.
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On the wrist; TC Hawkens are cheek slappers, they have a high comb for people who mounted a scope which many people did back in the day. This high comb put their eye in line with a scope but cheek slapped you if you got down on it and shot iron sights. An elderly, very knowledgeable gun builder told me this, then told me how he altered his rifle stock to shoot heavy conicals on elk and not get cheek slapped
I followed Fred's lead and dropped the comb of the butt stock which let me lower the wrist and take some of the bulk out of it and round it more.
To give you an idea of just how good a builder Fred is, here is one of his guns, built in his mid 80s.
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Fred's work is top notch no doubt.
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Nice work Eric, enjoyed following it. :)
Pappy
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A little more; I was showing my finished gun to a friend and held it up with a window behind it, I could see daylight between the buttplate and the wood, this won't do. I never looked at the factory buttplate inletting having found it to be good on all the TCs I have owned totaling at least 8 or more.
I can't stand glaring inletting gaps so I carefully worked to fix things. It is a little more touchy with the finish on the gun but slow and steady wins the race.
First I blacken the buttplate on an oil lamp.
(https://i.imgur.com/LN0ARVI.jpg)
Then tap it into place and look for the sooted high spots.
(https://i.imgur.com/BnCiSoA.jpg)
Careful removing the blackened areas lightly with a skew chisel after re-blackening about a dozen times brought the buttplate to a gap free fit.
(https://i.imgur.com/n3QGMWP.jpg)