Idaholewis
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2017
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I bought an Old .50 Cal Renegade here in the Classifieds recently for a Hundred bucks, The rifle showed up the other day I immediately started messing with it. I really wanted it for the Stock and Hardware for a New GM .54 Cal LRH barrel i have tucked away :yeah:
First off I’d like to state that the Seller did NOT tell me it was in Mint Condition, he stated that the Bore looked White the first few inches or something to that effect? He told me the Stock was about 85%, I would say he was very close to correct :yeah: The first thing i started on was the Barrel, When i got in to it all i could think was :shock: The Bore was ROUGH, REALLY ROUGH, But again i expected it to be. I have cleaned and polished up a few pretty bad ones, But this 1 was no doubt the Worst I’ve ever encountered, i tried cleaning my way in a Bucket of Water, i got a Wet Patched Jag Stuck at the Breech end and had to get it with my Grease gun, Not only 1 time but Twice! The Worst part of the bore is from the Breech and up about 8-10” (Typical of a Rifle that was fired and NOT cleaned, or cleaned properly and Forgotten about) after the Rough 8-10” It gets pretty darn good, Good strong rifling very visible to the Crown. I wrapped an old Bore brush tight with Copper Chore Boy and went to Town on it, I scrubbed the Bore the Absolute best i could, Dried it up good, Then went after it with Valve lapping Compound, Cleaned it, Then a Good going over with Montana Extreme Bore Polishing Compound (JB bore paste equivalent) Nothing besides a Rebore will fix this thing, But i have it pretty darn good for what i had to work with.
Then i moved on to the Stock, When i went to remove the Lock the Cross Screw that runs through the Stock was TIGHT, REALLY tight, and it stayed that Way all the way out? When i got it out I noticed the Threads at the End of the Screw were Gone/Stripped off, That obviously meant they were left in the Lock :shock: I blew the Lock out good with Compressed Air, and cleaned it up really good, Then i ran a 8-32 Tap through from the Opposite side of the Hole where the Stripped Cross screw came from so it would start Correctly and Stay true, She came out Perfect :yeah: Then to try and figure out why it did that? After a little tinkering with it i could clearly see that the Holes through the Stock were off, and Off fairly bad! This was causing a Bad Bind in the Cross Lock Screw and not allowing it to enter the Lock Square (Hence why the Screw was Stripped out) How this Rifle got out of TC’s Door back in the day like this is Beyond me? This is NOT a Kit Gun, This was a Factory fit and finished rifle. I had to Re Drill the Left side hole of the Stock and open it up about a 1/4” from their Original hole. After some tinkering i got it PERFECT :yeah: With all the TC Parts i have around i was hoping i would have an extra Side Lock screw, Sure enough i did. I pulled the Trigger Group, The Tang, And obviously the Lock, Everything was cleaned to like new again, and oiled up good. I adjusted the Set trigger pull to 13-14 Oz on my Lyman Trigger Scale, and called it Done :yeah:
This morning i figured what the heck, I grabbed the Ole Gal and headed for the Hills, 80 weight Grains of Swiss 2F powder, .54 Cal Wool Felt OP Wads, and my Lyman Plains bullets. This Rifle has the BLOCKY Square Front Sight, I am NOT a Good Regular Open sight shooter, Regular Open sights are Blurry to me (Hence why ALL of my rifles are setup with Peep sights) I set the Target up at 40 yards, or close there abouts (No idea where this thing would hit?) My First shot (Cold bore) was just off the Target to the Right. I swabbed the bore good, Reloaded, and Shot the last 4, Not bad for a Rifle that was in the Shape this thing was, No doubt in my mind This target would have been MUCH better with a Peep sight on this Gun.
This is an Older Renegade, Short Rear sight, Tall hammer Spur
RiFle to Target
Bullets, Lyman Plains 395 Grains, .54 Cal 1/8” Wool Felt OP Wads
And my Target, The 3 shot Group Above the Bull was my .308, Getting all the mileage i can from Targets
First off I’d like to state that the Seller did NOT tell me it was in Mint Condition, he stated that the Bore looked White the first few inches or something to that effect? He told me the Stock was about 85%, I would say he was very close to correct :yeah: The first thing i started on was the Barrel, When i got in to it all i could think was :shock: The Bore was ROUGH, REALLY ROUGH, But again i expected it to be. I have cleaned and polished up a few pretty bad ones, But this 1 was no doubt the Worst I’ve ever encountered, i tried cleaning my way in a Bucket of Water, i got a Wet Patched Jag Stuck at the Breech end and had to get it with my Grease gun, Not only 1 time but Twice! The Worst part of the bore is from the Breech and up about 8-10” (Typical of a Rifle that was fired and NOT cleaned, or cleaned properly and Forgotten about) after the Rough 8-10” It gets pretty darn good, Good strong rifling very visible to the Crown. I wrapped an old Bore brush tight with Copper Chore Boy and went to Town on it, I scrubbed the Bore the Absolute best i could, Dried it up good, Then went after it with Valve lapping Compound, Cleaned it, Then a Good going over with Montana Extreme Bore Polishing Compound (JB bore paste equivalent) Nothing besides a Rebore will fix this thing, But i have it pretty darn good for what i had to work with.
Then i moved on to the Stock, When i went to remove the Lock the Cross Screw that runs through the Stock was TIGHT, REALLY tight, and it stayed that Way all the way out? When i got it out I noticed the Threads at the End of the Screw were Gone/Stripped off, That obviously meant they were left in the Lock :shock: I blew the Lock out good with Compressed Air, and cleaned it up really good, Then i ran a 8-32 Tap through from the Opposite side of the Hole where the Stripped Cross screw came from so it would start Correctly and Stay true, She came out Perfect :yeah: Then to try and figure out why it did that? After a little tinkering with it i could clearly see that the Holes through the Stock were off, and Off fairly bad! This was causing a Bad Bind in the Cross Lock Screw and not allowing it to enter the Lock Square (Hence why the Screw was Stripped out) How this Rifle got out of TC’s Door back in the day like this is Beyond me? This is NOT a Kit Gun, This was a Factory fit and finished rifle. I had to Re Drill the Left side hole of the Stock and open it up about a 1/4” from their Original hole. After some tinkering i got it PERFECT :yeah: With all the TC Parts i have around i was hoping i would have an extra Side Lock screw, Sure enough i did. I pulled the Trigger Group, The Tang, And obviously the Lock, Everything was cleaned to like new again, and oiled up good. I adjusted the Set trigger pull to 13-14 Oz on my Lyman Trigger Scale, and called it Done :yeah:
This morning i figured what the heck, I grabbed the Ole Gal and headed for the Hills, 80 weight Grains of Swiss 2F powder, .54 Cal Wool Felt OP Wads, and my Lyman Plains bullets. This Rifle has the BLOCKY Square Front Sight, I am NOT a Good Regular Open sight shooter, Regular Open sights are Blurry to me (Hence why ALL of my rifles are setup with Peep sights) I set the Target up at 40 yards, or close there abouts (No idea where this thing would hit?) My First shot (Cold bore) was just off the Target to the Right. I swabbed the bore good, Reloaded, and Shot the last 4, Not bad for a Rifle that was in the Shape this thing was, No doubt in my mind This target would have been MUCH better with a Peep sight on this Gun.
This is an Older Renegade, Short Rear sight, Tall hammer Spur
RiFle to Target
Bullets, Lyman Plains 395 Grains, .54 Cal 1/8” Wool Felt OP Wads
And my Target, The 3 shot Group Above the Bull was my .308, Getting all the mileage i can from Targets