What is about a Hawken Rifle

[George]

I built this kit from Ozark Mountain Arms in 1983-85. Green mountain barrel 1" x 34", .54 caliber, 1:70 twist, lock by Ron Long, double set trigger by L&R Lock Co.

Spence

 

[.36Rooster]

Honestly, i prefer the looks and elegance of a thin rifle that reaches to my chin. But i enjoy the feel and quick handling and snappiness of a hawken much more. I am a much quicker and reliable shot with a hawken.

 

[GoodRabbitPilgrim]

They're just badass hunting machines!

Note, not me in the pic but is my gun, so blurred it the face.

 

[belld416]

I believe your rifle was probably a scratch built, or at minimum, built using a pre-carve stock inlet for barrel and drilled ramrod hole only.

I don't know of any similar kits that came with a Siler percussion lock like on your rifle.

The trigger guard looks similar to the guard that Sharon Rifle Barrel Co. included with their Trade Rifle.

View attachment 95588
View attachment 95590

But that's the only thing I see that looks like it might have come from Sharon. The lock, triggers, breech, and stock are all different and probably sourced as individual parts from suppliers.

Thanks for the info! The trigger guard does look very much like the Sharon rifle guard. I’ve looked at a Dixie Gun and Track of the Wolf and could not find a trigger guard like mine. Maybe the gentleman just used whatever parts he had available for his project.

 

[52Bore]

OP - maybe it’s the 1st ALL American made Sporting Rifle ?
Looking forward to this event:

 

[52Bore]

And/or most widely known.?

 

[Art Caputo]

I have always had a special attraction for the authentically styled Hawken. I started with a TC back in the 70’s, soon acquiring Santa Fe kit which was a faithful companion for several years. I did eventually move on to the earlier Colonial flintlock styles where I have remained since………But the craving still exists for one of the more authentic Hawken samples shown in this thread!

 

[fpg68j2p]

This one will be placed up for sale here in a week or so

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I have a number of T/C Hawken rifles in various calibers. I used to tell people that there was "T/C and then there was everyone else". I still stand by that statement as far as traditional rifles are concerned. That said, I also have a Browning Mountain Rifle, which is supposedly a "replica" of one of Jim Bridger's Hawken rifles. It isn't really a replica in the strictest sense of the word, but I gather that the critical dimensions are the same. Mine is in .54 caliber and shoots patched round balls much better than I can hold off-hand.

Probably my favorite Hawken, though it was hard to pick a favorite, is a T/C Hawken in .45 caliber that I cobbled together from parts. One of the thimbles is made out of stainless steel which came from a Greyhawk, if memory serves. The barrel serial number has a "K" prefix, so it was likely from a kit gun. The stock, which is finished with linseed oil, is one of those old stocks with all the fiddle-backs in it that any man could want, so of course it broke in half right at the lock work. I pinned it and epoxied it back together myself. You can see the joint and the fitting for the lock is not perfect, but it has given me no trouble.

Most likely if I were to pick a rifle for deer hunting, this would not be it as I have plenty of .50 & .54 caliber rifles available to me. As my usual targets these days tend to be gallon milk jugs filled with water though, this one works just fine with either patched round balls or conical bullets.

As I am getting older, I may start selling off my guns one of these days, but my Frankensteinian Hawken is my least valuable gun, so it will be the last to go before I croak and probably the last gun I will ever fire. If I can take one into the hereafter, guess which one it would be?

 

[The Hawken Shop®]

A $3000.00 rifle and you don't even get the best wood?

Custom, one at a time, hand crafted rifles are very time consuming, hence the price.

 

[The Hawken Shop®]

Do you have a website address for your shop?

www.thehawkenshop.com
Thanks for asking

 

[Bergmann]

There are no documented classic mountain/plains rifles in flint.

I love a a Hawken Flint, I know they never were but in my mind they always are, how’s that for some deep philosophy it scared me.

But what you have to ask yourself is, if a grizzled old mountain man came into the Hawken shop and requested a half stock flinter, would Jake and/or Sam have built him one? Or would they have turned him away? I personally think they would have built the rifle. That none are known can be explained by the probable rarity of such a request, and the possibility the rifle, if built, was lost! If every Hawken rifle Jake or Sam ever built was documented and there were no HS flinters, THEN it could be said they positively never built any.

 

[The Hawken Shop®]

But what you have to ask yourself is, if a grizzled old mountain man came into the Hawken shop and requested a half stock flinter, would Jake and/or Sam have built him one? Or would they have turned him away? I personally think they would have built the rifle. That none are known can be explained by the probable rarity of such a request, and the possibility the rifle, if built, was lost! If every Hawken rifle Jake or Sam ever built was documented and there were no HS flinters, THEN it could be said they positively never built any.

Let me change my wording: None have been found to date.

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

Some Hawken rifles look very close to a SMR, just larger caliber for griz and buff.

GRRW Full Stock Hawken in .50 caliber
View attachment 95571
View attachment 95573

Should be a flinter!! Nice gun!

 

[LME]

Custom, one at a time, hand crafted rifles are very time consuming, hence the price.

I am aware of the cost of custom made items. I use to do custom work. I still will crank up the shop now and then for a friend. I never could get what the actual cost of the labor was. I was fortunate that it is my hobby and do not do it for a living now. It is hard to explain how much exotic woods cost and why I have 40 X hours in a small decorative box. I haven't looked at the cost of a piece of "Birds Eye Maple" lately but it was expensive years ago.

 

[cannonball1]

Scratch Hawken with a Rice BarreI, Davis lock and trigger, etc made for my grandson.

 

[Lfpdlt]

View attachment 95902 Scratch Hawken with a Rice BarreI, Davis lock and trigger, etc made for my grandson.

Kinda wish I was your grandson!

 

[tc45dave]

I love shooting my $300 Investarms Hawken. It doesn't say St. Louis on the Barrel but it's a shooter, not a safe queen.

 

[BigAl52]

It may not be an original but I wasn’t around then to ask Sam build me one. So I asked John Bergmann to do mine and Im real happy with the results. Just sayin

 

[Snakebite]

When I was in the US Army from 1974 to 1977 I started getting interested in muzzleloaders and it seemed the only thing around were T/C Hawkens. Then a guy came into our unit from Alaska and we got to talking, he had two rifles made by Bill Fuller of Coopers Landing who made rifles. They were identical half stocks except one was percussion and one flint. I was getting ready to ETS and come back to Texas, he suggested I wait until I get home and see if anyone was making muzzleloaders. So I did, I went to the local gunshop and they gave me the name of Davy Boultinghouse in Round Rock Texas. So I looked him up. As a young married pup and just starting a new job and my wife in college, there wasn't a lot of cash around but Davy told me it would be about 9 months before he would have the rifle. Here it is. Douglas XX barrel (the barrel was originally 44", he cut off 10" and breached it up for me. I traded some elk hide pants to another friend who made the pistol. The rifle had Ron Long lock and triggers and it has a nice piece of wood. All for $500. That was 1979 prices. I won a lot of shooting contests with that rifle.