@Ryanlpuckett ,
You have taken on an interesting project. In the first post, I believe you indicated you wanted to make your rifle "as accurate to the original as possible." There was an article about doing exactly that with the Investarms Gemmer Hawken in the September 2022 issue of
Muzzle Blasts magazine, written and illustrated by Hawken authority and master builder, Bob Woodfill. The text was written in pretty general terms, but the photos give a good idea of what he was trying to do. Mr. Woodfill's goal was "
...to see if one of the entry level Hawken kits could be assembled to resemble an authentic Hawken rifle..."
He recommended several things, most involving straightforward modifications of the stock. First, the kit rifle has a convex "fish belly" profile in the toe line, extending from the toe of the buttplate to the rear of the trigger guard. That had to be straightened out. One other feature of these rifles is that the barrel key escutcheons are inletted too deep. Many people shave the wood down to be flush with them, but Mr. Woodfill believed this would make the forend too thin. On his build, he filled the mortises with epoxy to elevate the inlays to the level of the wood. Next, the cheek piece needed re-shaping, and the mouldings around the lock and on the side opposite the lock had to be carved down to make them narrower and better defined. This is an area where many builders give insufficient attention. You have to study some originals to see what they did. This is the lock area of a Lyman Great Plains Rifle (essentially the same as an Investarms Gemmer):
Compare that to the moulding around the lock of an original J&S Hawken:
This is the Investarms Gemmer Hawken that Mr. Woodfill assembled and finished:
The devil really is in the details.
I don't know what kind of wood they used in the Investarms Gemmer. I thought it was walnut, but if it is, it is the palest walnut I've seen. Mr. Woodfill used Homer Dangler's dark brown stain and TruOil to give it more of a walnut color.
Mr. Woodfill rust blued the barrel of his rifle, which is authentic to the originals. On the originals, the hardware or mountings (lockplate, hammer, buttplate, toe plate, triggerguard, trigger plate, triggers, and nosecap) were color case-hardened. Mr. Woodfill "tinted" these parts in his kit to simulate the color case finish, but he didn't say exactly how he did it.
The rifle Mr. Woodfill assembled and finished still differed from an original Hawken in some details, but he got about as close as you can get with that particular kit.
As for the name, I believe Investarms simply used "Gemmer" for marketing. As noted in posts above, J.P. Gemmer did work for the Hawken shop in St. Louis, and eventually took it over, continuing to build rifles in the Hawken style. However, the Investarms Gemmer is not an exact replica of his rifles. It's just a name. However, with some carving and careful finish, you kit rifle can be improved considerably.
You mentioned a patchbox. If you are willing to tackle some inlay, you might consider installing a patchbox yourself. The Hawken Shop sells an exact replica of an original Hawken patchbox, and you can't do any better than that. Here is a link:
Hawken Shop Patchbox
There is an authentic Hawken adjustable rear sight known to exist, but I don't know of any originals with a ladder peep sight. In my opinion, it would be out of place, but this is your rifle and you should build it the way you want.
There were some fancy Hawken rifles made to order, but most were very plain. Their beauty is in the lines and the workmanship. If you are determined to add some color, maybe German silver wedge plates and a poured pewter nosecap, but I would be wary of dressing the rifle up with inlays... A lot can go wrong.
I would recommend studying clear images of original rifles. You can find tons of them online with a simple Google search. Look at the overall outline and geometry, and how the carving is done. Detail carving on the wood of your kit rifle will not cost anything but time, and will probably be the single, best thing you can do to "authenticate" this kit.
Good luck with it! Please keep us informed of your progress.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
Good luck with your project!
