Are we talking about original Hawkens or later repros? Confused....
Most 'Authentic' Hawken
- Thread starter CrufflerSteve
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Ted Fellows built for me, to my exact specifications and with all American made components, the nearest copy possible of one of those heavy .54 cal Hawken plains rifles. Back then I didn't specify the treatment of the metal, let alone just the barrel. Turns out he rust browned the barrel. Bob Watts, in Stone Mtn. GA, put that barrel in a drum of oil and left it for days, he told me, "To stabilize". I saw it in that barrel with a few other barrels to boot in there.
It ages well.
Color case hardening will fade fairly quickly over time. Sometimes the only evidence is under the butt plate or lock plate. The same for the brown barrels. We have seen several original Hawkens and recollections from one of the personnel of the original Hawken Shop support the case colors and blued barrels under the barrel when removed from the stock. Many of the book descriptions are observations of the rifles after years of use. It is true, Jake and Sam did not describe the rust inhibiting treatments such as case hardening or bluing on the rifles sold.
As I stated above, I was in the original Hawken Shop in St.Louis, MO, in the early 1980s. I'm a native of St.Louis. I was shown the reproduction parts they had in stock, and I held in my hot hands about six REAL Hawkens he had in his collection that they made the molds for parts from. And as I also stated, I drove up in a very expensive car(borrowed), and they gave me the grand tour because of it. They even commented about the car.
He also showed me a few reproductions that were completely assembled by someone else away from the store. As far as stores go, it was a hole in the wall and dark inside, but very stocked.
Yes, color case hardening, however beautiful fades over time and use. I used to collect LC Smith shotguns and the receiver/lock are color case hardened from the factory. It's very rare to find one in original colors. I had a few beauties and learned to color case harden to augment the ones that were faded.
Kevin
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That sounds reasonably accurate. Rust blueing and color case hardening. I think it was common for the times and Sharps were the same. Rust blueing would certainly turn brown over time.
Kevin
It needs to be locked.
You know that that wasn’t the original Hawken shop, right? It closed in the 1800’s. You mean the reopened Hawken Shop… right?
Search within this site can easily locate it. Topics are well to be researched anywhere.
Of course. Actually, Gemmer owned the original shop after Sam & Jake passed and it was closed in 1915 for good. But Art Ressel has a story there too. His love and ownership of authentic Hawken rifles drove him to open his own shop in St.Louis until the early 1980s. Maybe I walked into the shop at the tail end of its glory days, maybe it always looked like that ....I dunno. But at least history records that he was responsible for about 300 rifles being built with his near-perfect reproduction parts made using authentic Hawken rifles for the molds if needed. And if I remember his claim correctly, he had much original tooling and molds from Gemmer. Can't get any closer than that. It was the people who own the shop now that suffered the fire at the foundry and lost original molds.
I had what I thought was that nice Sharon reproduction about the time I walked into The Hawken Shop. After seeing the locks, triggers and all the kit pieces they were selling, I realized my Sharon was not as close to authentic as I was led to believe.
Kevin
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