Anyone own the newer current model of Investarms Bridger Hawken?

[AnotherHawkenGuy]

As the title states. Does anyone here own the current model of Investarms Bridger Hawken that muzzle-loaders.com sells? Curious in regards to recent build quality and such.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I bought mine new in 2021 as a complete rifle, not a kit. It’s an incredible shooter, very accurate. The function of the rifle is flawless, its percussion and has never failed to fire a cap. The trigger is good too. For me the stock was bulky as there was a lot of extra wood. The metal to wood fit was not what I wanted but it isn’t horrible. The barrel had a lot of machining swirl marks under the bluing. Because I enjoy shooting it so much I remodeled it to my liking. I took a lot of wood off the stock, added a toe plate, filed the lock face smooth, draw filed the barrel and other aesthetic things to make it to my liking.

 

[AnotherHawkenGuy]

I bought mine new in 2021 as a complete rifle, not a kit. It’s an incredible shooter, very accurate. The function of the rifle is flawless, its percussion and has never failed to fire a cap. The trigger is good too. For me the stock was bulky as there was a lot of extra wood. The metal to wood fit was not what I wanted but it isn’t horrible. The barrel had a lot of machining swirl marks under the bluing. Because I enjoy shooting it so much I remodeled it to my liking. I took a lot of wood off the stock, added a toe plate, filed the lock face smooth, draw filed the barrel and other aesthetic things to make it to my liking.

Thanks for the reply, I was thinking of getting one in the near future. I had their Gemmer model but it was too heavy for me and was full of sanding marks so I reworked it into a better rifle and sold it to pay some bills.

 

[Ed C.]

I purchased a left hand one, complete, about 2 years ago. Only my Sharps is more accurate out to 100 yards. The hammer to nipple alignment was a little off which I fixed and I had to install a longer set trigger adjustment screw in order to get a near hair trigger on the front trigger for competition. Very happy with this gun at this point.

 

[TDM]

There has been recent, last few months, reports of quality control issues with the kits. I Love Muzzleloading has a YouTube video on this.

 

[AnotherHawkenGuy]

There has been recent, last few months, reports of quality control issues with the kits. I Love Muzzleloading has a YouTube video on this.

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

 

[AnotherHawkenGuy]

Interestingly enough I see DGW also imports the same gun but calls it a Dixie Hawken Rifle.

 

[AnotherHawkenGuy]

 

[longcruise]

It kinda sorta suggested the stock is walnut but looks like it's beech that he kinda sorta got around by calling it walnut stained. Hope he got the barrel key in before it gets shot.

 

[AnotherHawkenGuy]

It kinda sorta suggested the stock is walnut but looks like it's beech that he kinda sorta got around by calling it walnut stained. Hope he got the barrel key in before it gets shot.

Yeah, kinda bad business practice in my book. These were definitely much better when they were real walnut. I’ve noticed in the last 10 years these factory rifle are 35% worse quality wise. Really a bummer.

 

[Frontier's]

Indeed they are beech stocks now.

Last year I built one and it was an awful lot of work right out of the box. Roughest wood and brass I've ever seen on a kit.

In the end, I had a beautiful rifle though. Would I do it again? No. I'd buy another traditions st.louis hawken.

Bridger hawken,

 

[Ed C.]

Interestingly enough I see DGW also imports the same gun but calls it a Dixie Hawken Rifle.

The first Hawken I purchased was a Dixie Hawken. My right hand rifle before I got a LH Gemmer. It ended up being a good gun but did come with a beech stock and the inletting for the lock was full of sawdust and chips. Gun would not even fire. Got that cleaned up and had to adjust all three of the screws on the trigger to get it to work. Initially the set trigger did not work. Basic components are good and it is now a very good shooter but never should have been shipped out in that condition. My first BP rifle and I guess the good that came out of it is I got a crash course in locks and triggers.