My First Hawken Kit

[john s mosby]

This is my first attempt at building a rife from a kit.
A guy I know had this TC Renagade 54 cal. kit and decided he didn't like all the work involved after sanding the stock for an hour so he gave it to me. It had been in his basement for years. It was missing a few parts but being free I sure couldn't complain. It turned out okay for my first try at a kit rifle. It's not near as nice as the rifles I see here on the site but.......
It's more of a hunters rifle and not being a hunter I may end up selling it so I can go buy another kit. It was a good learning experience.

 

[Zonie]

"I may end up selling it so I can go buy another kit."

Ah Ha! Kinda reminds me of fishing for Catfish.
Ya toss the bait out there and then sit for a while and just about the time you think that nothing is going to happen, your pole starts to bend! You grab it and pull and it doubles over on itself.....

Your rifle came out looking just fine.
Among the rifles I have is a TC .54 "Hawken" I built from a kit and for target shooting it is one of my most accurate guns.

Although it's a .54, I refer to it as my Gopher Gun. Why? Because if a gopher sticks his head out of his hole, that gun will remove it before the gopher can blink.

Before you sell it, run at least 50 shots thru it. I think you'll be plesently suprised.

Oh, the catfish story? I have seen so many people who built a Factory Kit gun who shortly afterwards couldn't wait to start building another gun! Hee hee. Your hooked and don't know it yet.

 

[john s mosby]

Zonie

I think you're right about the hooked part. I spend several weeks of evenings and weekends working on that gun and now that it's done I can't wait to start on another one.

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

John,

Looks as good as a factory gun from the photos - you done good pardner :thumbsup:

 

[nvbirdman]

My First Hawken Kit








Ain't gonna be your last.

 

[Zonie]

Zonie

I think you're right about the hooked part. I spend several weeks of evenings and weekends working on that gun and now that it's done I can't wait to start on another one.

A big Welcome to you from a fellow builder!!

One of the things about this hobby we builders might not have mentiond to you.

If you take my suggestion and run some balls thru your new gun, you might change your mind about selling it.


Except for those builders among us, that intentionally set out to build a gun for someone else, most of us almost never sell what we make.

In the course of fitting the parts, sanding, staining, oiling, rubbing.... the new gun becomes a part of us, and we, a part of the gun.
Oh, I'm not going to say I haven't sold some of the guns I've made, but there has always been a good reason (like really really wanting a special gun). After selling the gun, there is always a feeling of remorse though.

Do some serious thinking about exactly what you want to build, because after it's done, you will probably have it for years to come.

 

[Randal Zartman]

T/C Renegade, .54 cal :hmm: There is something I don't have yet! Like Zonie said, shoot it before you sell it. Besides the more you shoot it, the more time I have to save up the money to buy if you change your mind. As far as building another one, I guess it is time to call Paul Allison back. Might I suggest starting from a chunk of curly maple rather than a kit. Nothing wrong with a kit, but I am so glad my teacher made me start from scratch. You learn so much more. Good luck.
Zman

 

[brushbuster]

I completely aggree with zonie on this one.
My first kit was a CVA hawken and I actuallt shot the barrel out on it.JUst like the rest of us who like to work with our hands,after the cussin,aggervation,and wanting to chunk it out the door a few times, the end result is always the same... WOW! aint she purty!!!!
like zonie said ..your hooked enjoy it :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :m2c:

 

[john s mosby]

Thanks guys for your kind words on my first project. The only thing I had trouble with was keeping the lines sharp around the lock and on the other side from the lock. I should have sanded everything else first and then sanded the lock area last using a sanding block to keep the lines sharp.
I think I want to do one more kit rifle and one kit pistol before I try one from stratch. By then I'll have the money to buy the really good parts I'll need.
Paul Allison is going to put a new lock on my other Hawken in the next fews weeks when he has time. I found the new lock up at Dixon's. So I'll talk to him then about helping me building one from the ground up.
Actually I'm already pretty attached to this rifle.

 

[vradin]

In the course of fitting the parts, sanding, staining, oiling, rubbing.... the new gun becomes a part of us, and we, a part of the gun.

I built my first (and so far only) ML from the CVA plainshunter kit I got at a discount in an archery shop. Can't recall how many hours it took but it's got a few hundred hand-rubbed coats of beeswax, and whenever I have shop time not occupied by "something else" I break out the beeswax mix, put on some music, sit in the shop, and add a few more coats. Relaxing, meditative, and since I'm not shooting it right now, got to have an excuse for having it out.

/vic