I bought a Renegade barrel and it dropped right into my Hawken stock. Now I have a Hawken carbine that will throw Great Plains bullets, and it's going elk hunting with me in November. Everyone I know who owns a Renegade is well pleased with it. I love my Hawken and will never part with it, but if I had it to do all over again and knew what I know now, I might just pick the Renegade.
ETA-- Weighing in on the TC Hawken vs. "real" Hawken... No, TC's product doesn't look a thing like the rifles produced by the Hawken brothers, and Warren Center has stated as much on numerous occasions. (For the record, I found that hook on the trigger guard to be annoying as well, and cut it off). It wasn't intended to be a repro, just a reliable hunting arm. Lyman made a real effort to put an affordable Hawken-like gun on the market, and did a pretty good job of it with the Great Plains Rifle. What's funny is that many of the Italian rifles were patterned after the TC guns instead of authentic period firearms. The were also solid, dependable working guns, if lacking in refinement.
With regard to period use of Hawken rifles, you need to bear in mind that they were high-end firearms and not affordable for most working stiffs. They were kind of the Weatherby of their day; top of the line, not rare, but not thick on the ground because of their price. Plenty of makers were putting out perfectly adequate rifles for far less money.