Hawken fans

[dan parrett]

Okay, after two moderately successful attempts at building Pecatonica Hawken kits, I'm having a pro build an S. Hawken rifle from Don Stith's kit. I've realized that I'm going to build a few more in my lifetime and figured that having a professionally built one on hand would save me a lot of grief in the future.

It's going to be a 54 caliber with a tapered barrel ( 1 1/8" to 1") and I'm looking for input on barrel length for balance and aesthetics. Since I've only handled the two I've built with straight one inch barrels, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan

[rsells]

I have found that I like 34 inch barrels as far as feel.  I have used a couple at 32 1/2 and they balanced out great, but I think I still like the 34 inch best.  The barrels I am discussing are 1 1/8 at the breech and taper out to just a bit over 1 inch at the muzzle.  They were 36 inch tapered from 1 1/8 to 1 inch before I cut them back to 34 inches.  The last one I completed had a tapered 36 inch barrel in .50 cal.  It felt good to hold, but I could feel the added weight due to the last two inches on the muzzle.  Don's  kits are the top of the line and he has always been helpful to me even though I was using my own stock pattern.  I have purchased butt plates and trigger guards from him in the past to be correct on the rifle I was building.  Good luck with the new rifle.  Hawken rifles tend to get in your blood and are hard to get away from once they get a toe hold.
                                                                                        Roger Sells

[stoneke]

Picture is a .54 cal S. Hawken slant breach that I built some 30 yrs ago. The "kit" was marketed through Jim Westberg's shop in Minnesota. The barrel is a 33 " tapered H&H, 1 1/8" to 15/16" that balances perfectly. The rifle is not at all too heavy to carry in the field and is a great shooter. Hawken rifles are beauty is their simplicity, although a challenge to build correctly. I am sure that you will enjoy yours when it is done.

[RobertS]

Not having ever built a hawken, what's the challenge?  On the surface, they don't appear to be as intimidating as most others, to me, but I'll admit that I'm naive.  I do like the looks of them, and I can see the difference in the authentic ones, and the factory knockoffs.  I would like to build one sometime, and I think the squirrel rifle on Don Stith's site is particularly cool.  Still, what's the hard part?

[stoneke]

Two challenges during my build efforts. 1. Inletting the long tang with no gaps in the wood- to- metal fit. 2. Cutting the lock plate relief for the bolster and (with a hooked breach) having the correct radius to allow for a free pivoting removal of the barrel. Just time consuming issues - that's all.

[doulos]

Dan
I have that Stith rifle in .58 cal.  My barrel is 34.  The gun weighs 11 lbs. I suspect your .54 will be heavier. The tapered barrel does help the off hand hold though.
Don did some of the metal work and Roy and Tom Stroh did the assembly.  Go to Roys web site to see it

[rsells]

I agree with Stoneke, the Hawken is much harder to build correctly than it looks.  To me, all the hard work is in the tang, breech, lock, and mortis areas.  The tang,  breech, and lock combination are hard to inlet and get the right relationships with no gaps.  Then you have to be able to remove the barrel without the tang moving slightly forward during the process resulting in gaps.   Tight inleting is a must as well as the tang / hooked breech fit.  Also, getting the correct width of the front mortis cross section verses the back mortis cross section is a bit tedious.  However, a well built Hawken is an accurate neat rifle well worth the effort.  I continually switch back and forth between Hawken, Southern Mountain rifles, and Virginia rifles.  I am hooked on all three, must be that I like Iron Mounted Rifles!!!  The drawing of the S. Hawken rifle available from "The Hawken Shop" is a good reference to use when building a Hawken.
                                                                                Roger Sells

[dan parrett]

Thanks for the info. I agree, the Hawken rifles are a pain to get just right. I'm hoping that by having one correctly made, I'll do better on my future builds. I'm leaning towards a 34" barrel length.

Dan

[flehto]

A couple of years ago I "built" a lefty Stith S.Hawken w/ a 36", .54 cal. bbl that tapered from a 1" breech to 7/8" at the muzzle. The weight and balance are excellent and it's too bad Don doesn't offer that bbl in his right handed Hawkens. The customer uses this rifle for elk and it carries easily on all day hunts. Along w/ the authentic stock design, the 37" bbl including the hooked breech really contributes to the overall aura of a Hawken. Had to taper the under rib to match the tapered bbl flat and his "kits" require bbl breeching and the buttplate curve was made a little more comfortable. Built a Pecatonica Hawken a few years ago an it too is pretty Hawkenish looking except for the butt plate but the weight and balance aren't as good as the Stith w/ the smaller tapered bbl. Would love to make Stith's S&J Hawken but w/ the smaller tapered bbl......Fred

[Curtis]

Hawkens also require some drilling and tapping operations that are not common on full stock rifles....

[ironwolf]

  And what drilling and tapping might that be?  The rib attaches with 5-40 screws, no biggy.  I'm working on a Stith deluxe squirell gun and haven't noticed much difference from a straight up longrifle.  Except for the cap ignition that is.  Also the little gun is not a hooked breech.  Don says his original is not hooked.

  KW

[rich pierce]

The challenges in building a Hawken have been pretty well covered but I think there are special challenges with a precarve or a kit approach.  I built 2 in the late 70's/early 80's.  One was a halfstock from a blank.  That went well as I had fewer problems getting the long tang and long double set trigger bars to work together and give the wrist I wanted.  And it was easier to get the buttplate right from a blank.  On the precarve fullstock which was roughly profiled and had a barrel inlet and the ramrod groove done and ramrod hole drilled, I had no end of problems that pretty much put me off precarve stocks forever.

Moving the barrel back or down even a touch ruins the relationship to the lock and lock panels, the angle of the wrist, which messes up how the long tang and long trigger bar fit the wrist profile, etc.  Then you have the challenge of inletting a hard unbendable steel buttplate to perfectly match up with a narrow pre-shaped comb.  Nightmare. The precarve doesn't save work, it creates work.