Rifleman1776,
DocBob provided the specifications of the Bridger Commemorative Hawken. The wood case and blanket cover were standard along with a certificate and other paper work. I can only add that the barrels were straight 1-1/8", no taper. I understand the original has a tapered barrel, 1-1/8" to 1". Not sure why GRRW didn't use a taper barrel on the Commemorative as they made them as BrownBear's rifle exemplifies. Their ads and catalogs also advertised tapered barrels. I can only speculate that the straight octagon barrels were more popular in the 1970's and/or they were cheaper to make than the tapered barrels. One other aspect of the Commemorative Hawken I've seen, they were made with plain (no curl) maple stocks like the original.
An interesting tidbit on the GRRW Hawkens, their first Hawkens built in 1973 used a variety of component parts and show an evolution in the pattern that continued up to at least SN 20. Some time after that number, they established a standard pattern that's easily identified because it uses a William Morgan lock, a Douglas barrel (GRRW didn't start making their own barrels until some time in 1974), a breech plug & tang, butt plate, and trigger guard all from Cherry Corners, triggers I've seen on this pattern can be Cherry Corners or Ron Long. This early pattern Hawken also had a handmade, two-piece nosecap. The other small parts were often made in-house such as the rib, wedges, barrel staples, and ramrod pipes. This is what the early pattern looks like:
Even though their ads called this a S. Hawken rifle, it could also pass as a J&S Hawken with the name cast in the lock and the two-piece nosecap.
About 1977, after studying the original Bridger Hawken and other original Hawkens, they changed their halfstock pattern to the classic late period Sam Hawken similar to the original Bridger, Carson, Johnston and others. Here's a pair for example:
BrownBear, thanks for posting the information on your rifle. GRRW quality steadily improved from their first rifles in 1972 'til the end in 1980. Their riflesmiths took a lot of personal pride in their work, and it shows. Some in my collection rival custom rifles of the day. Your rifle is particularly interesting having a left hand stock with right hand lock. I know of one other LH factory made rifle. It is a Leman Trade Rifle and has a LH lock. Could you post or send me some pictures of your rifle? I would like to have copies for my reference.
Rescue Mike, thanks for posting your picture. If I may make a correction, based on what I can see in the picture, your rifle is an example of GRRW's Leman Trade Rifle. These were GRRW's best sellers. Doc White states on his website that just short of 3000 of the Leman Trade Rifles were made.
I've seen halfstock Hawkens with SN's in the low 600's and suspect that 700-800 were made. Their other models were made in much lower numbers.
