Hawken Kits, Kibler, etc.

[springfield art]

There's been much on this site lately indicating great interest in Hawken rifles, kits, etc. Don't forget there's a business advertising in the ML magazines, The Hawken Shop, for parts, etc. I do think in general, the Kiblers are so popular because the wood is more extensively machined, due to his CNC science. Some of the kits I've seen over the years seem to require a lot of woodworking, which all of us are not "into", so to speak. Me included!

 

[reddogge]

The Hawken Shop kit will produce a very historically accurate Hawken rifle. It is not cheap and does require a fair amount of wood and metal working skill. The last I checked it was about $1,600 for the kit but it will produce a dead nuts copy of a real Hawken rifle.

 

[wiscoaster]

Kibler's made known he's going to make a Hawken kit.

 

[Eric Krewson]

There are kits and there are kits; CVA type kits can be slapped together and shot, Kibler's are fairly easy to put together but Colonial and SMR take some skills to fit the parts, the Woodsrunner and fowler are much more advanced for the final fit and much easier to build. The kits like Track and Pecatonica are not for beginners unless one has a good working knowledge of wood and metal work and shaping.

I bought two kits at a bargain that the builders were stumped by and couldn't complete, one was a TOW Hannes kit, one was a Kibler SMR. The Kibler was easy, the pre-carve on the Haines kit was severely flawed and took my years of gun building experience to complete.

I tried to talk a friend and nonbuilder through a Kibler SMR kit build, having done one I had pictures of every step, he was still stumped and goofed up every step.

The Hawken Shop kit would be like a TOW kit, not for rank beginners.