Hawken build

[Hawg]

First off I did not build it. Fella name of Mike Lange built it. It's not perfect but it's pretty dang good. A lot better than anything I could have done. First you get a grade five curly maple plank and draw a stock on it.



Start cutting off anything that doesn't look like a Hawken.




Draw in details.



Start fitting parts.



Fitting parts and smoothing out details





It has the correct tang and slanted breech.





Barrel keys are pinned.



Full buckhorn rear sight.









The trigger guard, butt plate, toe plate, ramrod thimbles, barrel keys, escutcheons and lock plate were all hand made. The lock has chambers internals. The nose cap is Ted Cash. The barrel is a NOS Douglas for an early CVA mountain rifle. It started out as a 33 inch with drum ignition. The breech was cut by two inches and threaded for the snail so its kind of short for a Hawken at 31 inches. It doesn't have a ramrod entry pipe which is also correct for a lot of Hawken rifles. The rifle was built with blueprints from an original but it does have differences for sake of cost. I wanted a Green Mountain barrel but he supplied this one and did the work for a lot less and I figured I could swap it out later on but it just shoots too dang good. The double set triggers are from an antique English rifle and are super sweet. The trigger bar had to be extended tho. I don't know what he used to brown it but it isn't smooth. I smoothed it up some but it's still not smooth. I've been planning on redoing it but I've had it about 10 years and haven't done it yet. Have I bored you to tears yet?

[Captainkirk]

Not one little bit! That is super-sweet!

[Hawg]

It's a .54 with a 1:66 twist and shoots better than it looks. Oh and the stock was finished with tung oil. The pics really don't do it justice.

[Bishop Creek]

That is a true beauty Hawg! What a nice piece. Beautiful, beautiful rifle. I tried to build a Hawken years ago, remember those Thompson Center almost finished kits? I discovered that I have poor wood working skills even though I majored in wood and metal shop in high school. 

[Hawg]

Thanks Kirk and Bishop. I tried to build a CVA colonial pistol kit back in the 70's. That was a disaster too and now I have a Richards Microfit stock that just needs smoothing up and I can't even do that. 

[mazo kid]

Nice gun, and it shoots too!

[Captainkirk]

Thanks Kirk and Bishop. I tried to build a CVA colonial pistol kit back in the 70's. That was a disaster too and now I have a Richards Microfit stock that just needs smoothing up and I can't even do that. 

No shame in that, Hawg. Some people "got it" when it comes to woodwork, others not so much.
I'm too much of a perfectionist. I'd probably drive myself nuts.

[Hawg]

Nice gun, and it shoots too!

Thanks Mazo. Yeah she shoots fer sure. The last deer I killed with it was the last time I went hunting about three years ago. I kind of figured it would be my last hunt of the season didn't know it would be my last hunt period. Anyway there was a doe about 50 yards out but she wasn't giving me a shot. She kept her butt towards me and browsing further and further away. She would look back every now and then tho. Normally I won't take a head shot because too much can go wrong but I aimed at where her head would be when she looked back and nailed her right behind the ear at 65 yards with it.

[Captainkirk]

Nice gun, and it shoots too!

Thanks Mazo. Yeah she shoots fer sure. The last deer I killed with it was the last time I went hunting about three years ago. I kind of figured it would be my last hunt of the season didn't know it would be my last hunt period. Anyway there was a doe about 50 yards out but she wasn't giving me a shot. She kept her butt towards me and browsing further and further away. She would look back every now and then tho. Normally I won't take a head shot because too much can go wrong but I aimed at where her head would be when she looked back and nailed her right behind the ear at 65 yards with it.

Why your last hunt?

[Hawg]

I had a triple bypass almost four years ago and I still have two small vessels blocked they cant fix. I can't walk very far and really can't be very active at all. To be able to hunt I have to be able to drive in. Where I hunt is too rough to get my pickup in and I had to sell my Jeep and 4 wheeler to pay bills after the surgery along with some other stuff I didn't want to sell.

[DoubleDeuce1]

Very nice looking rifle. 

[Electric Miner]

Very cool!

[gemihur]

Fabulous workmanship!

[mazo kid]

Hawg, I had always heard that the Hawken was a difficult rifle to build. I have built percussion and flintlock rifles and pistols from scratch, also a Trapdoor Sporter in a pre-carved stock. I started a Hawken several (many) years ago, still unfinished. And started a Trapdoor Gemmer a while ago. Yep, they are not your run-of-the-mill rifles!

[Hawg]

It's not perfect and most Hawken builds aren't. A true Hawken has a wide breech with a tapered barrel altho there are a few known with straight barrels but if memory serves they're closer to an inch and a quarter down the entire length. The guy that built it had never built one from blue prints before and he did an amazing job in my opinion. He carved the stock from a straight grade five curly maple blank. He had to guess at the castoff but he got it perfect for me. He made most of the metalwork including the lock plate and installed Chambers internals.  The triggers came off an antique English rifle but he had to lengthen the bar. It has the correct slanted breech plug and the cheek piece contour is correct. The only stock furniture he didn't make was the nose cap, it's a Ted Cash. The barrel was a NOS Douglas USA made for a CVA Mountain rifle. He cut the drum breech off and threaded it for the slanted snail which made the barrel 31 inches which is too short for a Hawken. It was the only think I skimped on figuring I could replace it later but it shoots too good as it is. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.