My Don Stith/John Bergmann J&S Hawken Arrived Today

[BriR]

Well, at long last since ordering one from John Bergmann last September, my J&S Hawken arrived today. I ordered the components from Don Stith and had him send them to John. It has a .54 cal, 1-56" twist, 36" X 1 1/8" - 1" tapered Rice barrel, RE Davis lock, 14 1/4" inch length of pull, and weighs 10.8 pounds. I can't wait to shoot this rifle.

 

[Canerod]

Very nice :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I need to go down to Troutville and visit Don Stith once I get moved back down to Virginia. Love the look of a good Hawken.

 

[Semisane]

That is absolutely gorgeous BriR. There are going to be a lot of keyboards covered with drool from this thread.

 

[sunbear209]

That is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing, I will be saving up for one of those!

 

[Snow on the Roof]

If envy is a sin I stand guilty...beautiful Hawken...

John

 

[badpenny]

thats a beautiful rifle

 

[BriR]

Thanks much, guys. Let me add, too, that although this is a heavy rifle, it balances very nicely. The balance point seems to be just behind the nose cap. I had a GRRW Leman Trade Rifle in .54 cal, and although it was a beautiful rifle, the straight 1 1/8" barrel made it very nose heavy. I just did not like that aspect of the rifle and ended up selling it.

 

[Vaino]

That's one beautiful Hawken...Bergman did an excellent job w/ the Stith parts. I wanted to build this same rifle for a customer but seeing he was a lefty, had to build Stith's S. Hawken. The lefty version comes w/ a 36" bbl that's tapered from 1" to 7/8" and in .54 cal. is quite a bit lighter than the heavier bbl. Outstanding piece of wood....Fred

 

[BriR]

Here's the original Bridger Hawken that John built for me. He was in the process of building this, unbeknownst to me, when I contacted him and asked if he'd build one from Stith's components, as I really wanted an early J&S Hawken that was more period correct for the fur trade. John is a true gentleman and said no problem, he'd just sell the other Bridger one. It's got a bit shorter stock and the barrel is about an inch shorter, so it weighs about a pound less. It's also a .54 caliber with a 1 1/8" - 1" Bob Hoyt barrel and Davis lock. It's still for sale, too.

 

[dbutch]

Looks like a deer slayer to me!Very nice! :grin: and the wood is something else...Now get shooting! Looking forward to a range report....Dan

 

[Blackfoot]

SWEET !!!

 

[oldwolf]

Those sure are nice looking rifles.

 

[chance]

Really nice rifle!!

 

[Steve Boyleston]

Both dem gunz iz nice- I sho likum both- dat's what I is talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[agill]

Very nice!

 

[HatchetJaque]

Fantastic rifle! How was the stock finished?

 

[rkmeyer]

Fantastic rifle with super wood as well. :thumbsup:
Nice job. :hatsoff:
Dusty :wink:

 

[Steve Boyleston]

Track Of the Wolf carries nice Hawkens by John all the time- really great rifles. Check them out, good prices for Custom work, TGP

 

[Little Wattsy]

Puuuurrrrr ~ Tay!!!!

Very Nice! :hatsoff:

 

[BriR]

Yes, they sure do. That's where I first saw John's work years ago. As I said, I'm pretty sure he has the other one for sale, and you won't get the mark up that TOTW would put on it.

Regarding the stock, I actually asked for a straight grained maple, in keeping with the "authenticity" of the Hawken. Don fixed me up really nice, though, so no complaints here! John finished it in a mixture of oil and something else, possible the stuff sold by TOTW.