1895man
I have one, mine was in the first shipment to the U.S.
From what I have read here, they are a close fairly close copy of an original Hawken.
The metal to wood fit is excellent. The flame colors on the trigger guard, tang, butt plate, toe plate and lock/hammer are very nice, the best that I have seen on a production rifle. The rust brown color on the barrel is excellent.
The finish on the wood (walnut) is excellent, my only thought is that the wood should have had more figure in it for the cost of the rifle. I do have to crawl up the stock some, as it has more drop than I am used to. Each person is built differently; some will find the stock a perfect fit.
I was recently told, you don't hold a Hawken against your shoulder like a modern rifle. It fits at the transition to the arm such that the toe of the buttplate actually is under the arm pit, and the rifle points across the body, not perpendicular to the body. I have yet to try how to properly hold a Hawken rifler, but will try the recommendation this week.
I really do like the front silver sight, it really stands out.
Accuracy, I have only shot it once so far so I cannot really go into what the gun is going to be capable of. At 50 yards, off the bench 5 shots touched with 70 grains and .015 teflon and .530 ball. I shot it in offhand match that day and did okay with it.
The rifling is cut very deep. I did find some patches that were cut, but I was not surprised with the deep rifling and it being a new rifle.
I paid about $750 for mine in walnut; I bought mine from Flintlocks Etc. I see that Cabelas has them at $1,100 and it has the maple stock. It seems when I bought mine maple was $250 or so higher than walnut, Flintlocks Etc. has a 10% off sale at this time.
My only regret with buying the rifle is not spending the extra money to get the maple stock, but then again I am frugal with my money.
RDE