The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The North Corral > Black Powder and Cowboy Action Shooting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old February 13, 2012, 01:12 PM   #1
Beagle333
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 7, 2012
Location: Auburn, AL.
Posts: 2,332
Sidelock information I could use

I have been reading about sidelocks and gathering what I can about the many types out there, mostly about the production percussion models. It seems that the Great Plains Rifle is the solid choice as the top recommended. The CVA line looks like the way to get into it without committing a load of funds. But all over the middle is the Thompson Center line of rifles.

So, what is the real difference between Cherokee, Seneca, Hawken, Renegade, Cougar, etc? And I see a lot of barrels and stock/lock units sold separately. Are they interchangeable? It would seem nice to have a Renegade (for example) with a .54 rifled barrel and a .56 smoothbore barrel too.

And... what is the deal with the Senecas? The .45 Seneca seems to be the highest priced of them all.
Beagle333 is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 01:45 PM   #2
Doc Hoy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 24, 2008
Location: Naples, Fl
Posts: 5,440
Beagle...

...I have not done sidelocks for a long time but had experience with Lyman, Thompson Center, CVA and a little bit with Pedersoli.

CVA was at the bottom of the pile. They made compromises which I thought were not appropriate.

Thompson Center was better but overpriced.

Lyman was best of the three. Better wood in the kit. Better cast parts (All of the stuff I had was kit.)

I had a Petersoli Kentucky in flintlock which was better than all of the others but it was not a kit so I had little direct experience with the actual parts of the rifle.

I want to emphasize that I sold my last sidelock about four years ago and I had not picked it up in about ten years. So my experience is old.

I am no a long arm shooter but I would not mind having the Kentucky back.
__________________
Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.
Doc Hoy is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 02:15 PM   #3
Pahoo
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 16, 2006
Location: IOWA
Posts: 8,783
Talking strictly Thompson Center.

Quote:
Cherokee, Seneca, Hawken, Renegade, Cougar, etc?
Basically and I do mean basically;

The Seneca, is a fancier Cherokee.
The Hawken model is a fancier Renegade.
The cougar is a fancier Hawken.

All the above have octagon barrels that crossed between some of these models. You won't find a .54 barrel on a Seneca or Cherokee. in addition to these, there are special models of the Hawkens. The only one in production, is the Hawken model.

Now then,, in my book, the top of the line are the Pedersolis and for now, leave it at that. ....

Be Safe !!!
__________________
'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing.
Pahoo is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 03:17 PM   #4
Doc Hoy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 24, 2008
Location: Naples, Fl
Posts: 5,440
Pahoo

As I said, my experience is very dated and limited as well. But I am happy to learn that my powers of observation have not faded.

I liked that Pedersoli above all of the others too.
__________________
Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.
Doc Hoy is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 03:27 PM   #5
Pahoo
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 16, 2006
Location: IOWA
Posts: 8,783
Good call !!!

Quote:
But I am happy to learn that my powers of observation have not faded.
That is the "Sailor" coming out !!!

Be Safe !!!
__________________
'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing.
Pahoo is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 06:27 PM   #6
mykeal
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 8, 2006
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 2,772
Another view, using Docs' as a starting point:
Quote:
CVA was at the bottom of the pile. They made compromises which I thought were not appropriate.
Appropriate or not, they could still shoot well; for the price a good way to start out. Some 'startup' guns are so bad they just chase people away from black powder. Not CVA, at least not the ones I had; they just made me want more.

Quote:
Thompson Center was better but overpriced.
Yep. Especially the overpriced part.

Quote:
Lyman was best of the three. Better wood in the kit. Better cast parts (All of the stuff I had was kit.)
Yep. Not perfect, but pretty damn good, and better than the other two.

Quote:
I had a Petersoli Kentucky in flintlock which was better than all of the others but it was not a kit so I had little direct experience with the actual parts of the rifle.
Very good, even excellent guns, high price, higher than T/C.

Seneca:
Barrel: 27” octagonal, 1:30 (32) & 1:48 (36 & 45)
Trigger: double set
Caliber: 32, 36 & 45
Stock: American Walnut
Status: discontinued 1987
Ignition: percussion

Cherokee:
Barrel: 24” octagonal, 1:30 (32) & 1:48 (36 & 45)
Trigger: double set
Caliber: 32, 36 & 45
Stock: American Walnut
Status: discontinued 1994
Ignition: percussion

Hawken:
Barrel: 28” octagonal, 1:48, except 1:66 on 50 cal deep button rifling
Trigger: double set
Caliber: 40, 45, 50 & 54
Stock: American Walnut
Status: 40, 45 & 54 discontinued, 50 in production, many special editions
Ignition: flint & percussion

Renegade:
Barrel: 26” octagonal, 1:38 (50), 1:48 (50 & 54), 1: 66 (50 deep button rifling), smoothbore (56)
Trigger: double set
Caliber: 50, 54 & 56
Stock: American Walnut
Status: discontinued
Ignition: flintlock & percussion

Big Boar:
Barrel: 26” octagonal, 1:48
Trigger: single
Caliber: 58
Stock: American Walnut
Status: discontinued
Ignition: percussion

Cougar:
Special edition Hawken, satin finish barrel, stainless furniture, highly figured wood

45 cal Seneca is expensive because it's rare. But if you think that's expensive, try to find a 36 cal Seneca.

Last edited by mykeal; February 13, 2012 at 07:43 PM.
mykeal is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 06:38 PM   #7
Pigslayer
Junior Member
 
Join Date: February 12, 2012
Location: Just south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Posts: 5
Flintlock Forever

I love flintlock. Firing time: 1/100 sec. My favorite lock is A Siler by Jim Chambers. Barrel? Getz Swamped if you can get one.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Issac Haimes 004 (Small).JPG (55.9 KB, 15 views)
File Type: jpg Issac Haimes 008 (Small).JPG (49.9 KB, 11 views)
File Type: jpg Reloading & Muzzleloaders 001 (Small).JPG (29.2 KB, 11 views)
__________________
"It's not always being fast or even accurate that counts. It' being willing." - John Wayne . . . "The Shootist"
Pigslayer is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 07:41 PM   #8
Hawg
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 8, 2007
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 16,175
The CVA's have drum breeches, some folks have ignition problems with them. I would get a GPR if possible but a good used Investarms Hawken wouldn't be a bad first gun. I used one for over 30 years.
Hawg is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 09:37 PM   #9
B.L.E.
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 20, 2008
Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX
Posts: 2,603
In addition to the above, TC also had a New Englander model, which had a round barrel and a single trigger and a shotgun style stock. This was available in .50 cal, .54 cal, and 12 gauge.

Another sidelock was the TC Patriot pistol available in .45 and .36 caliber.
B.L.E. is offline  
Old February 13, 2012, 11:13 PM   #10
Beagle333
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 7, 2012
Location: Auburn, AL.
Posts: 2,332
Thanks to everybody for the information. This was exactly what I needed.
Beagle333 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:25 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.04498 seconds with 11 queries