500 Yards, STOCK 1:48 Twist TC Renegade .50 Cal

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Another thing that might be a downside is if you glass bed it and want to swap out barrels duct tape maybe a little more convenient
 
I have no experience in bedding a Thompson/Center sidelock muzzleloading rifle.

But, it must be beneficial, at least 50% of the time, because of the following story that I will pass on to everyone here.

There was a thread several years ago over on The American Longrifles forum vis-a-vis how discriminatory some traditional muzzleloading clubs could be. I can distinctly recall a member recounting how one day 2 new shooters showed up at his club to participate in the monthly shoot. I believe that the event occurred back in the late-70's to early-80's.

It turns out that both men were shooting Thompson/Center Hawken rifles, most likely in .50 caliber. Both were teased quite a bit for bringing, and shooting, modern low-quality wanna be Hawken rifles.


Both of the men turned out to be excellent shots, out shooting all of the members of the home club. After the competition was over, it was discovered that both of the men's rifles had been full-length glass bedded for accuracy.

Using the glass bedding as an excuse, the club members then unilaterally decided to disqualify both shooters from that day's competition, took back the prizes that they had won fair & square, and angrily told them to never come back to their club in the future.

Apparently, this type of behavior from home club members towards visiting shooters that cleaned the club member's clocks was not an isolated incident. That thread exposed how petty & nasty human beings can be when they get their bubbles burst by someone outside of their direct sphere of influence.

And, it reminds me that anyone shooting a custom flint, or percussion, longrifle with a 38", or longer, barrel with its much longer sight radius; should have a distinct advantage over someone shooting a Thompson/Center Hawken with its much shorter sight radius.

That the men with the custom longrifles were out shot that day by the visitors with the Thompson/Center Hawkens, just proves the old adage of never underestimating the man with only one rifle. Especially, if he shoots a lot, and stays in practice.
They’re definitely NOT HC/PC… but they are/were good to great quality hunting rifles that introduced many people to black powder. Some folks graduated from TC to more faithful replicas while others gravitated to mor modern muzzleloaders. Some of us never saw a need for more modern nor older styled arms… At any rate TC was in the thick of it. WRT to quality, I’ve always thought they held up well. They have detractors but when Lyman began building the GPR’s they pretty much copied everything TC from the tang to the muzzle. The wood was different, that’s about it. Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.
 

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