Tony Hawkins NZ Rebuild

[BillyVan]

I'm new to the forum, but thought I would share a few pictures of a recent project of mine.

As a background, I am in New Zealand, and this rifle appeared on a web auction site here (similar to EBay) but it's legal to, and accepted to trade firearms of the correct category.

Don't want to go into an explanation of the whole gun law system here, but in this example the guy who was selling it on the auction site, had no idea what he was supposed to do.

I did manage to warn him of the possible problems he would face, due to the fact that it was illegal for him to have it, appears he took it out of a rubbish skip at his work, after it was thrown away by his boss????? but he wouldn't listen!

Anyway, long story cut short, I won the auction, I only bid on it because I couldn't bear to see it destroyed ( as I knew would happen if I didn't).
And sure enough, the seller was contacted by the law, soon after the auction closed, advising it had to be handed in to be destroyed if he wasn't selling to an approved buyer!

Luckily I am an approved buyer, so this is what I received.

As you can see, it had been very neglected.

Unfortunately I didn't really get any decent shots of how bad the woodwork was.

I have to take some pictures of where I am up to with the restoration, so I will post those over the next couple of days.

I have all but finished, I have re-blued all the steel work (barrel, lock, hammer etc), and polished all the brass.

Steamed the wood, and linseed oiled it.

Just got a dummy ramrod to build and it's finished.

It has had a couple of rounds through it, but more testing is needed on the sighting.

Updated pictures to come.

 

[50cal.cliff]

Cool, will be waiting for pics and uptdated information! :thumbsup:

 

Good score - now, what calibre is it? I'm guessing .45 or .38 by the twist (1:22) - the second number stamped on the barrel. Originally they came with a TH mould, they are like hen's teeth though, so you'll be doing a bit of experimentation to find the right slug for it.

Has the potential to be very accurate - Tony made fantastic barrels.

Good luck, Steve

 

[BillyVan]

Good score - now, what calibre is it? I'm guessing .45 or .38 by the twist (1:22) - the second number stamped on the barrel. Originally they came with a TH mould, they are like hen's teeth though, so you'll be doing a bit of experimentation to find the right slug for it.

Has the potential to be very accurate - Tony made fantastic barrels.

Good luck, Steve

Oops, yip .45 :redface: I thought I had put that.

And how very correct you are, no moulds with either of the two I have, I did experiment with some of the Lee REAL slugs a couple of weekends ago, and they seemed to go very nice, I have a mould for them at home, so next step is to try my own casting (new experience for me)

Only issue I seem to have at the moment with them is no matter what method of cleaning/oiling after use, the next time I go to use them I'm swiping rust out of the barrel for about 5 or 6 patches, I just cant seem to stop it no matter which way I go :youcrazy:

 

REALs work well in the slower twist rifles, but you may have some trouble stabilising them in the 1:22 as they are a bit short. Although there are two different lengths available...

You might need to explore Greenhills formula to start looking for the "right" length slug. I have a couple of different .45 slug moulds - if you PM me your address I could send you a few.

I had a .58 1:66 that I only shot roundball in, very well once I found the right combo. A mate still an identical gun and only shoots REALs - he can do same hole at 50m with that, and hit our 300m target offhand 4/5.

Steve

 

The Greenhill Formula calculates the twist rates of bullets.
The formula is as follows:

(if bullet velocity is less than 2800 ft/sec)
150 x diameter x diameter
------------------------- = required spin
length of bullet

(if bullet velocity is greater than 2800 ft/sec)
180 x diameter x diameter
------------------------- = required spin
length of bullet

So, this can be rearranged to find the length of projectile for the twist, which for .45", 1:22" is 1.35"

 

[paulvallandigham]

Use Ballistol in the barrel when storing it between shooting sessions. That seems to be the best preservative to keep rust away. Also, clean the barrel or at least rinse it with cold water, instead of hot. Hot was recommended as a way to quickly air dry the barrel. The downside is that the drying also gave the barrel flashrust. If you use cold water, you won't get the flash rust, and you have time before normal rusting takes place to coat the barrel with Ballistol. Ballistol containes mostly mineral oil, plus other additives, which are a proprietary secret. While waiting to take delivery on some ballistol, use mineral oil in the barrel. Always clean the oils out of your barrel by pouring some rubbing alcohol down the barrel, plugging both ends, and then shaking the alcohol back and forth, before pouring it out. Then dry the barrel with a clean, dry patch, and you are ready to head to the range.

If you are shooting a percussion gun, pull the nipple and use a pipe cleaner and alcohol to clean and dry that flash channel, too. A small drop of oil on the threads of your nipple is all that you will need to safely and surely put it back into the breech, so that it will come out easily the next time you clean.

With flintlocks, just take the toothpick you used to plug the vent hole out, and let some of the alcohol pour out that tiny hole into a bucket, or sink. Keep the alcohol off the stock, as it tends to dissolve oil finishes.

 

[Birddog6]

I agree with all that Paul said except the alcohol part. I don't put alcohol in my barrels period. If you clean with alcohol & then head to the range, the barrel can flash rust before ya even get to the range.

IMHO, use the Ballistol as said, but before ya go to the range just swab it dry & go. (no alcohol). The fine remnants of the Ballistol will keep it from flash rusting & won't cause a problem at the range. Been doing it for years this way & never have had a problem.

:thumbsup:

PS: I use Non-aerosol Ballistol in the bores & use the aerosol Ballistol on the lock, inside & out.

 

[BillyVan]

Cool, will be waiting for pics and updated information! :thumbsup:

Wish granted :wink:

Before and after of lock and hammer

Brass before and after

A couple of the barrel

and the whole rifle before, and where it's up to now.

So just the dummy ram rod to build, and then the fun begins to get it to shoot on target. :v

 

[bitehard]

Hi Alex. The Hawkin 1/22 .45 was set up by Tony to work with 65gr of Curtis & Harvey fffg and his 450gr projectile. The C&H is nolonger made and the nearest is Thundershot 3F. Same 65gr. I don't know what you can get in Chch. but if you have trouble getting hold of it contact me and I will point you in the right direction. I lube with either Wonderlube or my own concoction which I think is similar but without the yellow colour. Some folks here also add a card over the pdr. to protect the edges of the base when fired. Pure/soft lead works best for hunting and paper. Tony also colourcase hardened the lock plate and the hammer with a gas torch. If the bore on your rebuild has been damaged by rust don't worry as there are quite a few good barrels out there. still floating and waiting to be shot.

 

[arquebus]

Alex, Sounds like it's basically a .451" bullet gun. You might try to locate a Lyman 457121PH mould. They throw a bullet of about 470gns with pure lead & were designed for the Parker Hale .451 rifles. I used one for a while, with very good success, in my .451 Rigby repro., & it has a 1:22" twist. Was quite capable of 1.5" groups at 100m with 65gns Goex 2Fg with a felt over-powder wad.
The only weak link I can see for you rifle, as it pertains to bullet guns, is that it appears the nipple is mounted on a drum rather than a patent breach. Shouldn't be any problems with the loads we've been talking about, but I'd be careful about going much higher.....bullet guns generate much more pressure than do roundball guns of the same caliber. By the way, I have a almost new NEI mould for a lighter weight .451 bullet for sale if you have a hard time finding anything down there. PM me if you're interested.