full stock Hawken

[Duane Harshaw]

I would like to use a Don Stith full stock Hawken parts set for my first rifle build.what do you guys think?

[redheart]

 As far as I've heard there's nothing superior to it.

[Bob Roller]

I have made locks and triggers for Don Stith on an irregular basis for years and
know for a fact he doesn't sell any junk.

Bob Roller

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Top shelf all the way.  Don's great to deal with, and his product is by for the best.
As Bob says, this one has a set of his double set triggers.  The lock is L & R's Ashmore lock.

[Robby]

This is a question I asked on another forum:

I have been reading about how hard it is to build a Hawken 'correctly', here and on another forum for years. The mechanics of proper fitting and inletting is a given with any gun, but with these guns, it seems to always breakdown to architecture, architecture, architecture, with the experts always weighing in with, "there are so many variations". I am not trying to be a smart a$$ and am truly mystified!!!!! It has always looked like a pretty straight forward gun to me, and if they're are so many variations it seems like subtle differences could be found to back up any subtleties found in a modern reproduction.
I don't get it, maybe I'll have to make one to find out .
Still wondering!
Robby

[iloco]

That is a fine looking rifle.  I like the early style cheek piece.
 I am having John Burgmann build me one which I hope to get this summer.  I will have the early style cheek piece on mine with the early style trigger guard.  It will have a patchbox.   Mine will be 50 caliber percussion.  It will also be a full stock.
Had I known Don before talking with John I would have bought his kit and had it sent to John.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Robby, you've made a very astute observation.  It is true that there are many variations in Hawken rifles.  A look through Jim Gordon's 3rd Volume shows that.  But there are some nuances that are important if you want to get it 'right'.  So how can you get it 'wrong'?  Many of the component pieces of hardware offered for sale are wrong to start with.  Triggers is a case in point.  There are issues with all of them, if you are truly trying to emulate an original, or even a generic Hawken.
Studying these superbly designed rifles is a pleasurable pastime.

[Mtn Meek]

Robby, I agree with Taylor on the components.  My pet peeve is trigger guards.  The more commonly available commercial trigger guard doesn't have the correct scroll for either a J&S Hawken or an S Hawken rifle.  Art Ressel used to and Don Stith currently produce a correct trigger guard for an S Hawken.  Stith produces two different guards that are both correct for a J&S Hawken.  TOTW did offer for a while one of Stith's J&S guards, but it is not listed in their current catalog or online.  TOTW does still offer a correct (as far as the scroll is concerned) S Hawken guard (TG-Hawk-H-I).  I don't know if this is a copy of Ressel's or Stith's.

On the issue of architecture and to build on Taylor's comments, common mistakes are too much wood left on the lock panels, slab-sided forearm, miss-shaped wrist, and wrong treatment or transition of comb into the wrist.  These issues do not just apply to Hawken rifles.  The same can be said of the different schools of longrifles, and especially to specific builders in respective schools. 

There have been a number of good plans or blue prints for Hawken rifles published over the years and would be highly recommended if one planned on building a rifle from a blank stock.  The issue of architecture arises when one attempts to build a Hawken rifle with a pre-carve stock.  IMO, the common pre-carves from the biggest suppliers for both half stock and full stock rifles do not have high enough combs.  Examples are shown below:





Compare the combs above to these.



Here are some other visuals in an attempt to illustrate the points I'm trying to make.  Notice how wide the lock panel is on this rifle, the lack of roundness in the forearm, and the shape and transition of comb into the wrist.



Compare the above to this original S Hawken rifle.  Check out the differences in the rear scroll on the trigger guards.


There are other "nuances that are important", depending on which period or specific original one is trying to replicate, but hopefully, you get the idea.

Taylor's work pictured above is an excellent example of what one can do with Don Stith's full stock parts set.  For another interpretation, check out this link.
http://www.hawkenrifles.com/fullperc.html