I went back and put a deposit on a .54 T/C Renegade this morning. It is in nice condition with a great looking black walnut stock. They were asking $195.00 and since I wasn't paying cash I felt sheepish about asking for a price reduction. I plan on getting a .58 caliber Green Mountain round ball barrel for it. I need to make up some hickory ramrods for my T/Cs, I don't like the plastic ones they have right now.

The next shop I stopped at had a Renegade in .50 caliber that was almost new looking, but they were asking $300.00.

I'll probably use these plastic ramrods as range rods.

Does anyone have a .62 caliber smoothbore GM 1" barrel, and if so how do you like it? <!--POLLS--><!--FILES--><!--SIGNATURE-->

You did well and will be pleased. I would have asked for a discount. This is the slow time for gun shops. All the best...
Gil

Why switch barrels??? I have a Renegade that I have owned for over 30 years now. 54 caliber is a nice size. It RB it has a look of punch even for larger game but shoots a bit flatter than a 58 RB. With a slug, if you cannot stop it quickly with it a stiff load, your are not going to do much better with a 58. The 54 Renegade is a VERY serious gun with proper loads. with a 120 grain powder loads it does not even break a sweat. It will go higher if you can hang on too it as recoil gets wicked with slugs and heavy loads. If I ever rebarreled mine, it would be with a 32 to 34 inch barrel in 54 cal with a 1/70 twist. This would give you another 150 to 200 FPS with RB's and then I would have the stock 1/48 for use with slugs. Mine shoots RB's best with 535 balls and a .015 patch. It is a bit hard to start sometimes but it shoots really well. This is not to say a 58 is bad but a 54 will shoot flatter while still hitting hard and every little bit helps.

I have a .54 caliber GM barrel in my T/C Hawken. I don't care for conical projectiles, or tough to load guns.

I can sell my factory barrel for nearly enough to buy the GM barrel.

Once I get my ball and patched started, it goes down bore pretty easy even after repeated range shooting with Pyrodex. (Black powder is a different matter) Your just need a good bullet starter.

Here she is. Oddly enough the first good muzzleloader I owned was a .54 Renegade that I got in the mid 1970s. I ordered a .58 caliber GM roundball barrel for it from Midway yesterday. I'm thinking about the Hawken Shop triggerguard too.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d34/Woodsman1956/Marlin/000_01511.jpg

Wow! My .58 caliber Green Mountain barrel came today. It looks like you could drive a bus down the bore. That am one big hole. I was afraid it would be heavy, but the balance is real nice.

Wow! My .58 caliber Green Mountain barrel came today. It looks like you could drive a bus down the bore. That am one big hole. I was afraid it would be heavy, but the balance is real nice.

The .040 bigger bore in 1 inch barrel takes some heft out of it and makes it balance a bit nicer than it would with a 54 in that length and a 50 would be worse yet in that regard.

Here's the new barrel & hickory wiping stick.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d34/Woodsman1956/Marlin/000_19271.jpg

Ohhhhhhh...real purdy pictures. I like 'em! I have the Renegade, too, only in flint - 50cal 1:48 barrel and 54cal 1:66 roundball barrel) :)

Speaking of the Renegade; I understand the T/C one time made a shotgun barrel to fit the stock. Anyone else ever heard of this? If so, what might you know? :)

msj

It was a 56 cal smooth bore. Green Mountain still makes them.

Yes, so I have recently learned. I now know GM has the .62 smoothbore replacement barrel (something like a 20ga), but it's a caplock. I will surely call them so see if it can be had in flint as well. A 20ga does the deed for squirrel hunting well enough.

msj

Yes, so I have recently learned. I now know GM has the .62 smoothbore replacement barrel (something like a 20ga), but it's a caplock. I will surely call them so see if it can be had in flint as well. A 20ga does the deed for squirrel hunting well enough.

msj

With a .62 caliber barrel even in a smooth bore with a tightly patched 320 grain round ball it would be a awesome game stopper (even big bear) under 75 yards if it shoots good groups. It would kill well beyond that range but accuracy and trajectory would become a big issue.

To my utter amazement today, I snagged a .62 caliber smoothbore - in flint - from Green Mountain for $100.00! Of course, it's going to cost me an extra $50 to have it converted from a caplock to a flintlock and then re-blued. Nonetheless, I am quite surprised, and quite pleased, to have made such a find. I was assuming I'd have to shell out at least $300, or perhaps more, for a new barrel. Truly, I am one happy camper right now.

msj

I think TC made the smoothbore for the one state that required a ML to be flintlock and smoothbore for hunting. They also made special wads for shooting shot.

It was a 56 cal SB and it could use 28 ga wads.