My first rifle build, Flint Hawken

[gonzomann]

Below are some photos of my first attempt at building a rifle, my interpretation of a halfstock flilnter Hawken. The barrel is a .54 Green Mountain, cut to 33". All the metal furniture as well as the barrel are browned, the screw heads and barrel keys are fire blued, the triggers cold blued. I made (almost) every mistake in the book, learned a lot by trying to fix them as I went along. I welcome any constructive criticisms to help with my next build, a .40 caliber early Lancaster flint rifle.

Thanks for looking,
Curtis

 

[Mike Brooks]

Nice looking gun!

 

[rafterob]

I would say very nice overall. That is what a first build is for, make some mistakes and learn how to fix them. Start practicing some carving for that next project.

 

[Snow on the Roof]

and you even put the lock on the correct side...I like it!


John

 

[Razor62]

Beautiful rifle! Nice work. Was that a "kit" gun or did you hand pick those parts?
I'm no expert but I don't see any mistakes. Very, very nice!!!

 

[longcruise]

Way nicer than my fourth and fifth guns!

Only thing that seems a bit off is the comb. Looks a little more southern mountain than Hawken or plains rifle.

Don't take that as criticism cause I'm not really qualified in that dept.

 

[agill]

Beautiful rifle! :thumbsup:

 

[lockjaw]

...man that is a nice looking gun...:hatsoff:

 

[gonzomann]

Marmotslayer,

No offense taken, that's one of those mistakes I mentioned, probably due to getting the buttplate installed at a bit of an angle, which in turn affected the comb.

And to the the rest of you guys, thanks for the compliments but you're probably being too nice! :grin:

Razor62 - They were picked parts... I horse traded a friend for the stock and ordered most of the rest from Tip Curtis, the patchbox I got from MBS, I ended up buying a different toeplate at the CLA show than what I originally got from Tip.

 

[longcruise]

That's how I make mistakes too. Working on a half stock now with Horrible wood. Chippy and brittle. Gets uglier every time a tool touches it! :shocked2: :haha:

 

[zampilot]

"I made (almost) every mistake in the book"

To me that means the finished gun has the "used hard and then cleaned up" look, as my first does! Good job, nice gun, it'll do fine on the prairies and mountains.

 

[smo]

That's about the most backwards built Hawken i've ever seen. You put all the stuff on the wrong side........or is that trick photogaphy? Just funnin ya :thumbsup: Great looking rifle :hatsoff:

 

[ohio ramrod]

Nice work except for the lock and patch box being on the "wrong" side :hmm: :hmm:

 

[bigbuckdn]

I am in my first build and already the mistakes and fixes are happening so i feel you on that I think you did a good job hope mine comes out as good

 

[Little Wattsy]

Thats a purty nice looking gun fer a left hander!

 

[rr11]

Very well done. I wish my next build will turn out as well. :bow:

 

[runnin lead]

I think the photofinisher got the negitives in backwards

 

[Ken Morrison]

Dittos on the correct placement of the lock. Looks good.

 

[mpriester]

very nice. i like the way you have all the screw heads going the same direction. thats to me shows a lot of pride in what you built.its the little things that make the difference. very nice

 

[Birddog6]

That is a nice looking rifle. You should be most proud of it. Good Job !! :thumbsup: