Hawken Shop Hawken Kit update

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Assembly is complete, with no leftover parts. Now the work starts. It is like building a boat, you finish the hull, and everyone thinks you are almost done.

Now shape and sand/scrape the stock and polish the metal, followed by stain and finish the stock and brown the metal.

Enjoy Spring! I'll be busy for a while.

Frosty
Ha! You are no where near finished with costs when the hull is finished either, I've built several sailboats. There is an old saying with sailboat builders.. "They call them 'she' because the rigging costs more than the hull." Have fun with your build. Dale
 
Ok, report as promised. As a hint, I am sitting here with a celebratory chilly beer and some jerky. Both are well received.

I followed a traditional muzzleloader method, 25 yds, then 50 yds, using the recommended min/max load and patch thickness from Rice. I only completed the 25 yd segment while trying to keep everything on my shooting bench (wind) and chatting with club members. All except for the last shot. I'll mess more with powder charge and patch thickness later this season, right now Turkey hunting is calling me.

60gr of FF was ok, 70gr started to tighten, same for 80gr, but 90gr produced 4 shots in one ragged hole. There was a marked difference in the report as the load increased, with 90gr very crisp snap. Between chasing items blown from the bench and chatting, it was nearly time to leave. At the 100 yd berm I saw a large target of the shoot n see variety. Through my binoculars there were numerous small diameter shots visible, I'm shooting .540"!

I changed stations, one shot from my rest, and a smile! Vertical position very close to my aiming point, Horizontal an estimated 6" right.

I'll purchase some targets on more suitable paper for the next session. Much better photos than the computer paper ones I used today.

Cheers!

Frosty
 
Very nice, thank you for posting this info. I’m heading to the Hawken Classic next week, and The Hawken Shop will be there as a vendor. I’ve never seen one of their rifles or kits in person so I’m looking forward to it.
I may have missed it in your post, but what grade of wood is in your rifle?
 
25yd target, 90gr FF, .012" patch with Moosemilk. 5 shots, center hold, rested from bench. The low left with ink slash I called, it was me. 25yds doesn't tell much, 50yd and 100yd will tell the story. It certainly is comfortable to shoot
 

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She's not just a pretty face.

Went to the range to shoot at 50yds, but there was someone there, so I moved on. The two station 300yd was open, with a backer at 100yd so why not. I shot three times at a letter sized target and saw I was quite low, so I attached a new target to a clean piece of cardboard and fired 3 shots. All shots from the bench, center hold, Merit adjustable iris on my glasses and the Hawken iron sights. I looked through my binoculars before shooting the third shot, which made that last shot much more difficult. That is a quarter in the group to show size. Looks like the Rice barrel, 1-48 will work just fine.

Now to adjust the sights.

Frosty
 

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Well, you can re-use the target! Very nice grouping there. A slight adjustment of the sights and you'll be doing just fine.

I recently acquired - and built - an old TC "Hawken" kit. Nowhere near as nice as the kit you've worked so well on, but mine is what it is. Have not shot mine yet, no range around here to use. But I did install a small tang aperture sight, and at the top rear of the front sight, I drilled a hole in the end facing me, right at the top, and silver soldered a wee bit of fine silver wire. Your eye is readily able to center the "post", and keep the little silver flash right in there, should do the job for me.

Congrats on a really nice build - well done!
 
Well, the project is completed, ~40 days and 40 nights. Sharp tools, patience, support from Greg and plenty of time in the worry chair. Today is range day, also the first day of Turkey season, so I had to finish! It has been fun.

The barrel, lock and furniture are browned with TOW 's Tried & True Brown, TOW's Aqua Fortis and Tru-Oil on the stock.

A range report will follow.

Frosty
I built a Hawken Shop Hawken many years back. Someone wanted it, and made an offer I couldn't refuse.
 
You should be very happy. Are you completely done with it? I may have missed the photo but could you post a picture of it when it is completely done. Also what is the completed weight? I'm thinking of getting one. Thank you very much.
 
Hi Frankie,

Yes, aside from sight and load adjustment. Photos attached; I'll weigh it later today. As my friend Conrad would say, "It is all there".
 

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Thank you, Sir! If you are going to the Hawken Classic, Greg, of The Hawken Shop will be there with kits. It was a fun project, around 40 days to complete, yes there is handwork, but all doable.

Frosty
 
You should be very happy. Are you completely done with it? I may have missed the photo but could you post a picture of it when it is completely done. Also what is the completed weight? I'm thinking of getting one. Thank you very much.
As I said, it is all there. 10lb 8oz
 
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