Frontier Trapper 92's St. Louis Hawken kit rifle.

[Steve Wagner]

I just received delivery of the above mentioned rifle completed by Frontier Trapper 92. I know this is not considered a "high end" unit, but WOW ! All the workmanship that went into finishing it is the real deal. Wood, metal and all. I really like my Woodsman for function and accuracy, but this finish puts it to shame down to the last detail. 2 part bluing process that looks great and old somehow. Great wood. Nearly perfect fitting. [I doubt perfect is possible with these kits.] Darkened brass. Bedded tang with the barrel dropping in clean and firm. No slop. Upgraded, adjustable metal sights. [My Woodsman did come with nice, adjustable, metal sights.] Custom hardwood ramrod with pinned jag/loader and female receiver at the other end that is way nicer than the bungie cord that came with mine. All parts and wood finished everywhere, not just where visible. The price will have me feeling guilty if it shoots half as good as it looks. I watched it sit for a few days and couldn't resist after a couple of members said it was a good deal and the seller is legit. They were correct. Very pleasing transaction. I picked it up as an 'extra' for friends to use. It may turn out not to be an 'extra'. Check out his pictures and work at his ad on page 5 [as of now] of the classifieds. "Never fired St. Louis Hawken". SW

 

[Steve Wagner]

Field report: Shoots well with Hornady PA Conicals and PRBs with .015 patch. I struggled a bit with the sights. They are acceptably made, but are more of a straight, vertical notch pistol style sight than the v-notch style that I do better with. The adjustments were quite a bit different as well so it took a bit to get on the bull. If I had to guess, I would say the conicals were doing 3-4 inches at 100 yards and I only shot the PRBs at 50 and they were doing 2-3 inches. I can only guess what the groups would be as I was making sight adjustments on the fly since I am running out of time before hunting starts. I only worked with 70 grains of t-7 so more can be played with. For now, it is in a 4 or 5 inch bull at 100 and good to go for my purposes. On my last shot, the double set trigger quit working. I took it apart when I got home and the little, stainless forearm spring/wire keeper for the front trigger had come out of its slot. I'm hoping Necci will show up to tell me what that part is called. Anyway, I opened up my Woodsman to compare and the problem was caused by too much space in the stock cut out that keeps this wire in place. One side is kept by the tang screw, the other by the wood. I glued a shim in the area to close it up a bit, replaced the wire in its slot, and back in business. Nice Rifle. No misfires at all. Eventually I will change out the sights, but they are definitely adequate for hunting as is. SW

 

[D.Summers]

Pictures! I'm not sure I've seen one of those!

 

[Steve Wagner]

Sorry D. I am still technically challenged, but the pictures can be seen at his original ad that I mentioned up top. The rifle is as nice, or nicer than the pics. His pics are better than I could do anyway. BTW, the sights were an upgrade over what it came with. Just not sure I will get used to them.
SW

 

[necchi]

here's the listing;
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...hawken-350-free-shipping.169315/#post-2435694

 

[Steve Wagner]

here's the listing;
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...hawken-350-free-shipping.169315/#post-2435694

Thanks necchi. And what is that wire spring from the trigger body to the front trigger called ? I was hoping you would show up to clarify my ignoramus descriptions. As a reward I will let you know that I straightened it out, thinking I had bent it somehow until I smartened up and looked at my Woodsman's trigger group. Brilliant ! [Day late and a dollar short] That allowed me to learn how to bend it back to original. It also took me a bit to realize that outside of the stock and without the tang screw along side this wire spring, it would eventually pop out of the trigger, one side or the other, again. This, in turn, led to the shim inside the stock epiphany. That cutout area was not increased by the builder either. I could clearly see the milling and the same cutout was at least 1/16" narrower on my Woodsman. When I was in the local sporting goods store today, they had a St. Louis Hawken Kit and out of curiosity I checked the stock. It too was noticeably narrower in that area. I bought my Woodsman this year and the seller said his kit was round 12 years old. Apparently, Traditions figured out that this could be a problem. SW