My Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Rifle

[Smokey Plainsman]

Talk to me like a dog again and see what happens.

 

[Elkeater]

I know you are not a dog. Calm down, sit back and think about it.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Talk to me like a dog again and see what happens.

op:

 

[Griz44Mag]

+1

Flint is the only way to go for tradition and pure skill needed to shoot them, the cap guns aren't nearly as fun or interesting for the vast majority.

It's the keyhole syndrome. Some just lack adequate eye spacing to see in stereo....

 

[coloradoclyde]

+1

Flint is the only way to go for tradition and pure skill needed to shoot them, the cap guns aren't nearly as fun or interesting for the vast majority.

It's the keyhole syndrome. Some just lack adequate eye spacing to see in stereo....

:haha: ....I think his comment was meant to be a joke.....

 

[SDSmlf]

+1

Flint is the only way to go for tradition and pure skill needed to shoot them, the cap guns aren't nearly as fun or interesting for the vast majority.

You do realize this is the ”˜Percussion’ sub-board?

Also curious about a previous post on this thread -

Still much better looking than a GPR but also at twice the price and from all reports not necessarily a better shooter.

"from all reports not necessarily a better shooter"

Can you provide a source of your reports?

Curious if you found the sources to back up your claim Richard requested you to provide? It would be the courteous thing to do. And I would also be very interested in seeing them. Always interested in learning from experts.

 

[burlesontom]

Great looking rifle. Only two things have kept me from buying one. The price and the weight of them. The price would be easy. I would just sell some of my off the rack BP rifles and buy just the one. And it looks like a close Hawken copy to my eyes.

I just bought a 50 cal TC Renegade and made a post about it over on TheHighRoad forum and was pretty harshly told that it is NOT a Hawken copy. The thing was I never called it a Hawken copy and really just referred to it as a Renegade. The same thing TC calls it. Oh well. The guy that made the stir is a real purist and feels he needs to show his Hawken and general BP knowledge.

I like the Renegade because its short and while not light weight does only weigh 8.25 pounds.

I have about reached the point where I would like a more authentic rifle of the Hawken/Mountain Rifle variety. This would fill the bill.

I have had the luck to handle an old real half stock rifle from the 1800s. If it was a Hawken I couldn't tell but don't think it was. It was just a worn out old gun that was best as what it was being used for. A wall hanger. And I promise you that sucker weighed 13 pounds and maybe more. The barrel looked like it was one and an eighth inches across the flats.

 

[Jaegermeister]

That sounds like an awesome original rifle. My Pedersoli Hawken is definitely a range toy and I appreciate it for what it is. I’m on THR as Jimster by the way.

 

[NorthFork]

I'm not sure why you think it's a range toy. It's a very very close replica to the various real original plains rifles. As close as one can get in a production rifle. Would be fantastic for big game hunting. I would love to have one myself.

 

[Jaegermeister]

I totally agree with you. I meant that I bought it strictly to look at and shoot it occasionally at the gun range. I have no doubt that a real mountain man would put it to very good use.
I don’t hunt anymore but I’m sure it’s a good game getter.

 

[burlesontom]

I’m on THR as Jimster by the way.

I remember seeing the name. I post as "ratshooter" on most of the other forums I am on. I have grown tired of the name and considered changing it.

 

[Alaskan Woodsman]

That is a beautiful rifle and this is an amazing thread. I can't wait for the book(s) that Mr. Meek appears to be working on. Lots of research he has done.... Interesting stuff.

I need to review some of what I've read on Hawken rifles, JJ Henry rifles too and the weights of such. I'll never own a horse in my country. It makes no sense to me and their cost of feed, limited seasonal use etc. I've been on them here, but they are spendy and not a low wage option in this country. Given that heavy rifles probably weren't a problem for the horseman.

Interesting too, I've handled a couple John Bergman Hawken guns and they are so nice. His rifles I've seen are heavy and probably for the reason that that is how they were. In the hands of an expert they are very deadly and and very accurate.

To see a BP expert using a Bergman Hawken, check out Randy Newberg (?) videos on Youtube (I think) and see a very canny hunter (also my friend) take Sitka black tailed deer and antelope with a Bergman rifle.

Having said all that, this friend also suggested to me that the Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Rifle was about as close as one might come to the real thing in a production rifle.

A Hawken gun still shines.

I look forward to reading more about them in the future.

 

[plmeek]

Alaskan Glen,

I don't have any books in the works, but I do have a webpage on Green River Rifle Works guns and their competition in the 1970's and into 1980's. You might want to check it out if you haven't seen it before.

http://grrw.org/the-heyday-of-the-hawken/

For people that are used to carrying a 6 or 7 lb bolt action with synthetic stock, a Hawken replica is a bit heavy. The late S. Hawken pattern rifle that GRRW was making after 1976 with the 1-1/8" straight octagon barrel weighs 12 to 12.5 lbs, depending on barrel length.

The 1" diameter barrel Hawken rifles that GRRW made prior to 1977, and some of their competitors like Ozark Mountain Arms, will weigh in the neighborhood of 10 lbs. That's about the same weight of an original JJ Henry Lancaster pattern trade rifle.

A lot of traditional muzzleloader shooters get used to shooting Kentucky style longrifles with "A" weight barrels that aren't much heavier than the bolt actions mentioned earlier.

It's nice that we have a wide range of options depending on tastes and weight preferences.

Speaking of Bergmann rifles, I have a Hawken squirrel rifle in .40 caliber that Bergmann made. He built it from Don Stith's parts set. It's a really nice gun and very pleasant to shoot.

I highly recommend Bergmann for custom rifles.

For production rifles, the Pedersoli Hawken rifle is the best thing (most authentic) available. Lyman's Great Plains Rifle is probably next.

Phil Meek

 

[Alaskan Woodsman]

Mr. Meeks;

Thank you, for the link, and response. Much appreciated.

Best Regards, Glen Holt

 

[bigted]

My goodness, that picture of Carson's last rifle is very cool. Thanks for showing it.

Having owned a couple Jonathon Browning's rifles and enduring slight criticism concerning the period correctness lacking in them, i am pleased to see a striking resemblance between the original and the Browning. Maybe more of a resemblance then i had ever imagined.

Thanks again for posting that particular photo. Makes me smile.

 

[aussie pete]

I'm glad I stumbled onto this older thread. I enjoyed reading it. I too have the same rifle - Rocky Mountain Hawken by Pedersoli, Maple stock, slow twist for round ball, 54 cal. A blued barrel in Australia was a special order a couple of years back, so I did that, preferring the blue to the plumb brown standard offer. I plan on taking it out for a hunt after the Christmas season, so I hope to entertain in the future with some targets and a field report. Oh, and of course, a few pics for extra entertainment. We'll see what develops ...

Pete

 

[david58]

+1

Flint is the only way to go for tradition and pure skill needed to shoot them, the cap guns aren't nearly as fun or interesting for the vast majority.

Do we have a feel for how many of the half stocked Hawken rifles were flint?

 

[david58]

Do we have a feel for how many of the half stocked Hawken rifles were flint?

This is my only photo of originals. My other photos of Derringers and Lehmans were all percussion in half-stock.

 

[david58]

My goodness, that picture of Carson's last rifle is very cool. Thanks for showing it.

Having owned a couple Jonathon Browning's rifles and enduring slight criticism concerning the period correctness lacking in them, i am pleased to see a striking resemblance between the original and the Browning. Maybe more of a resemblance then i had ever imagined.

Thanks again for posting that particular photo. Makes me smile.

Lots of folks criticize. I built a full stock gun once, copying the Modena rifle in Baird's book, and which I got to lay my eyes on. I was downgraded at a gunbuilder's faire because "it should have been a flinter." Guess the "judge" never saw the rifle. I admit it ****** me off at the time.

That Rocky Mt Pedersoli is a fine rifle. I was on the trail of one, but stumbled across a Santa Fe Hawken, one of the "Jed Smith Commemorative" rifles. Price was better for me, so that's what I ended up with. Not a perfect representation of any Mountain/Plains rifle I have found, except for the Santa Fe Hawken, but who cares? Some repros are heavy-wristed, some blue, or brown, or in the white. As the playwrite said - "Everybody's a critic."

Brownings are nice rifles, as are the Pedersolis. Still might find myself with one or both.

David
NM

 

[Uncle Miltie]

Does the gun have a patent breech?

Being Italian that's almost a given.

The original Hawkens used plainer maple and had browned iron, no case hardening. Also those sights are much more elaborate than those found on the originals.

Still much better looking than a GPR but also at twice the price and from all reports not necessarily a better shooter.

A friend bought one: they are worth every penny.