I have one. First, it's not a "Hawken" model, it's a Mountain model. It looks like a Hawken but there are a lot of differences so to avoid those who would be screaming "It's not a Hawken!", it's called a Mountain rifle. Second, yes the barrel is made in Spain and the rifling is cutting the pillow ticking I'm using for patching. It doesn't seem to affect the accuracy but right now I'm only shooting at 8 inch steel plates at 25 and 50 yards, just "playing" around while waiting for the rifling to get worn down enough to stop cutting the patches. Third, the rear sight is a shallow V notch rather than a good square cut so I intend to modify that soon, I prefer a square or rectangle rear sight than a V but that's just me. Fourth, there's only one key holding the barrel to the forearm as opposed to two on most other rifles. It doesn't seem to cause any problems yet so no big deal. Some people might have problems if they keep losing keys but if I were really worried about it, I'd get another key and keep it handy just in case.
Overall, I like the rifle, my only regret is I didn't get it in flint. I've purchased another rifle, a flintlock, and I got flintitest real bad :rotf: With my A&H, I got good wood to metal fit and when I want to play mountainman, it's the rifle I intend to carry. I like the browning as opposed to the blueing on a Lyman (which I have also had as well). I don't think you would be disappointed with an Austin & Halleck. Go for it.
