hawken sold through Western Arms Corp

[superdeluxe]

I just bought a 54 caliber hawken that was sold through western arms corp in Sante Fe Nm. I have found some information on this rifle and think it was made by Uberti. The gun has what appears to be the original hammer on it but it is plated in nickel. Does anyone know if this is how it would have come from manufacturer or is something that previous owner would have done? I will try to post pics this weekend. Thanks Trent

 

[Robert an saa fan]

Have never seen one with a factory nickeled hammer. Mine & others have seen pictured on this site & elsewhere are color casehardened.

Suggest doing some site searches here for Santa Fe Hawken, Uberti Hawken, etc, so you can compare the hammers to see if yours is original. You will also find good load data.

All the Western Arms Corp. Hawkens I have handled are Uberti made.

Is the rest of the Hawken what you would call standard finish... its possible Western Arms Corp. made some commemoratives with plating, fancy finishing and special markings?

Other members may have more info.

Enjoy that Hawken they are well made. :hatsoff:

 

[Grenadier1758]

They called it a 54 caliber, but you will need to get a much smaller ball of the size of a 0.526.

They were a well made gun.

 

[Dphar]

.526 is a ball size used in 54s. Some people used to shoot them in Douglas barrels but I like .530s or .535s better. But a .526 is only .004" under a "normal" .530.

Dan

 

[MikeChapin]

You've got a great rifle. It really is a .53 so a .520 ball with a .018 patch will fit it well. Mine takes a .515 with a .024 patch and will cloverleaf at 50 yards with 50 grains of FFFg.

I seem to remember they came out with a Jedadiah Smith commerative model. A friend of mine had one but can't remember if the hammer was nickle plated or not. They normally did not come that way.