Any number of people can build a "good" Hawken rifle. What makes the difference between a well built Hawken and an authentic, well built, Hawken, is attention to detail. The barrel should be tapered as were most Hawken "Rocky Mountain" rifles. The lock panels should flare from the rear to the front which is a trick to perform with a tapered barrel. The breech plug, tang, lock, and trigger bar, will be case hardened and the furniture and barrel should probably be rust blued (easy). On the very late rifle of Kit Carson, everything was case hardened. None of the comercially available breech plugs are really authentic, but they can be made better by at least rounding off that square shoulder at the front of the bolster. Don Stith makes the best parts sets around. If you buy a rifle from a private builder you can easily spend upwards of $1,500.00 (and for good reason) and still not get a really authentic rifle, though the craftsmanship will be very good. If I were you and wanted a "good" Hawken halfstock, I would buy a Pedersoli for a lot less money or build a Stith parts set. If money were not an object, I would buy a Stith set and have any accomplished builder put it together.
Roger B.
