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Hawken rifle again
- Thread starter stevew
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It's not a 36"+ barrel, but 32" is plenty in my book.
Semisane's rifle reminds me of the first, and only, original S. Hawken rifle that I have held in both hands. As a pre-teen, I lusted for a Hawken rifle in the worst way. By 14 I had purchased the Roubidoux blueprints for building a Hawken rifle from scratch. Then, I entered the Army in 1976, and in '77 a fellow soldier let me hold his .52 caliber, S. Hawken rifle.
THAT WAS when I realized I was NOT GOING to build, nor purchase, an accurate copy of a Hawken rifle.
The real things were as plain as mud. His rifle was maple, ZERO curl in the stock. As plain as your ugly aunt. There were still remnants of the original dark stain, and varnish (YES VARNISH) where human hands had not rubbed the finish off down to the original light colored maple.
The FIRST thing that struck me when he handed it to me was how HEAVY it was compared to my longrifle. My .45 caliber × 40" long × 13/16" straight octagon barrelled longrifle probably weighed just shy of 8 pounds.
The .52 caliber Hawken weighed just shy of 12 pounds.
The second thing that struck me was that it was front heavy. That massive barrel was the first American rifle that could handle REALLY BIG powder charges without blowing up. Great if you needed to reach out and touch a hostile Blackfoot brave at 200 yards, but NOT AT ALL APPROPRIATE for hauling around in your arms still hunting. Unless, you were a big, strong individual.
That's when I realized that I was ALWAYS going to love the Hawken rifles for their originally intended purpose. Which was being carried 99.999999% of the time on horseback. Only being carried in the arms of the trapper/mountain man when necessary. Like around camp, or in a firefight with hostiles.
The Hawken rifles are functional works of early to mid-19th Century industrial art, handmade, one at a time. But, a properly executed copy of a percussion Hawken rifle, especially an early one, has plain maple/walnut that is selected for strength, not figure. The barrel, underrib, forward ramrod pipes & escutcheon plates are hot charcoal blued. The screws are fire blued. The balance of the furniture is bone charcoal color case hardened. The front sight is generally a silver blade in a copper base. The underrib is pinned to the barrel with copper rivets. The forward ramrod pipes are soldered to the underrib. The stock was stained dark, especially if it was maple, and then give several coats of darkened varnish that was quite durable. With the exception of the silver blade front sight, EVERYTHING ELSE on the rifle was low key, or dark so as to NOT attract the attention of those wishing to kill the trapper.
A properly executed Hawken rifle is a wonder to behold. But, you better be young, and strong to tote it around hunting, because the last time I looked, most hunters of my acquaintance did not own horses.
THAT WAS when I realized I was NOT GOING to build, nor purchase, an accurate copy of a Hawken rifle.
The real things were as plain as mud. His rifle was maple, ZERO curl in the stock. As plain as your ugly aunt. There were still remnants of the original dark stain, and varnish (YES VARNISH) where human hands had not rubbed the finish off down to the original light colored maple.
The FIRST thing that struck me when he handed it to me was how HEAVY it was compared to my longrifle. My .45 caliber × 40" long × 13/16" straight octagon barrelled longrifle probably weighed just shy of 8 pounds.
The .52 caliber Hawken weighed just shy of 12 pounds.
The second thing that struck me was that it was front heavy. That massive barrel was the first American rifle that could handle REALLY BIG powder charges without blowing up. Great if you needed to reach out and touch a hostile Blackfoot brave at 200 yards, but NOT AT ALL APPROPRIATE for hauling around in your arms still hunting. Unless, you were a big, strong individual.
That's when I realized that I was ALWAYS going to love the Hawken rifles for their originally intended purpose. Which was being carried 99.999999% of the time on horseback. Only being carried in the arms of the trapper/mountain man when necessary. Like around camp, or in a firefight with hostiles.
The Hawken rifles are functional works of early to mid-19th Century industrial art, handmade, one at a time. But, a properly executed copy of a percussion Hawken rifle, especially an early one, has plain maple/walnut that is selected for strength, not figure. The barrel, underrib, forward ramrod pipes & escutcheon plates are hot charcoal blued. The screws are fire blued. The balance of the furniture is bone charcoal color case hardened. The front sight is generally a silver blade in a copper base. The underrib is pinned to the barrel with copper rivets. The forward ramrod pipes are soldered to the underrib. The stock was stained dark, especially if it was maple, and then give several coats of darkened varnish that was quite durable. With the exception of the silver blade front sight, EVERYTHING ELSE on the rifle was low key, or dark so as to NOT attract the attention of those wishing to kill the trapper.
A properly executed Hawken rifle is a wonder to behold. But, you better be young, and strong to tote it around hunting, because the last time I looked, most hunters of my acquaintance did not own horses.
Phil Coffins
69 Cal.
My Hawken only has a 34 1/2” barrel so doesn’t qualify for this thread.
plmeek
40 Cal.
This is the first factory GRRW Hawken I bought. It has a 1⅛ x 36 inch barrel, straight octagon. It fits the description that R. J. provided above in that it weighs 12½ pounds on my scales.
These big heavy Hawken rifles were popular at the rendezvous back in the 1970s. So much so that some began to poke fun at them like in this cartoon from the old Buckskin Report.
Of course, not all original Hawken rifles had that large a diameter barrel and are that heavy. And a lot of nice contemporary Hawken rifles have been built with smaller diameter barrels that are just as authentic.
This is another GRRW Hawken that has a 1 x 36 inch barrel. It weights just under 10 pounds.
These big heavy Hawken rifles were popular at the rendezvous back in the 1970s. So much so that some began to poke fun at them like in this cartoon from the old Buckskin Report.
Of course, not all original Hawken rifles had that large a diameter barrel and are that heavy. And a lot of nice contemporary Hawken rifles have been built with smaller diameter barrels that are just as authentic.
This is another GRRW Hawken that has a 1 x 36 inch barrel. It weights just under 10 pounds.
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plmeek
40 Cal.
That's a nice rifle Dale. I like the color and the curl. With the size of your barrel, I'd say you or your wife have your bathroom scales set "light". ha ha.
This is one of my prettiest wood rifles. It's a GRRW full stock Hawken. It has a 1" x 36¼" barrel, .50 caliber, and weighs just under 10 pounds on my scales. It's light enough that I could still shoot it offhand, though I'm in my late 60s. It's heavier than I like for a hunting rifle, though.
For hunting I take one of my Leman Indian Rifles, or more recently, a Henry Scroll Guard trade rifle replica that has been cut down from its original 42" or 44" barrel to just 32¼" and weighs a svelte 7 pounds.
This is one of my prettiest wood rifles. It's a GRRW full stock Hawken. It has a 1" x 36¼" barrel, .50 caliber, and weighs just under 10 pounds on my scales. It's light enough that I could still shoot it offhand, though I'm in my late 60s. It's heavier than I like for a hunting rifle, though.
For hunting I take one of my Leman Indian Rifles, or more recently, a Henry Scroll Guard trade rifle replica that has been cut down from its original 42" or 44" barrel to just 32¼" and weighs a svelte 7 pounds.
