Bridger Hawken photos

[Herb]

The Montana Historical Museum at Helena now has several excellent photos of the Bridger Hawken.  Go to https://mhs.mt.gov/Museum, in the search box enter Bridger rifle.  Choose the subject "Hawken rifle owned by Jim Bridger Digital Vault".  When the images come up, click on one to see it enlarged.  I don't know how to copy those images to my computer, so I took digital camera photos of my computer screen images.  If anyone knows how to move the Digital Vault images directly to here, and if they are sharper that way, please do so.

[dogbest]

Thanks for the photos.

[msellers]

When I enlarged the photos it gace me the option of requesting photos.  I didn't click on the link, but guessing they want to sell copies of them.
Mike

[Dave Marsh]

If you right click on your mouse it will give you the option to save a copy to your computer.  Works great.

Dave

[JTR]

Saved to my computer, then posted here, for comparison.
Click on the image for a larger size.

[Herb]

Thanks, Strong Bear and JTR.  One doesn't have to be smart if you have smart friends.  The way I got the buttstock half of the rifle is I enlarged  the full length photo on my screen and photographed it.

[Gunnermike]

Saved to my computer, then posted here, for comparison.

I found these same photos some months ago. With this close up photo of the Bridger Hawken with the barrel horizontal and for the first time I realized how much the lock plate is cocked down at the tail.  I know I hadn't notice before how much the lock is tilted because photos of the lock area usually look like this:

In this view the lock is shown about level and the barrel & wrist are tilted down - this is a common view of a rifle but it distorts the position of the lock to the barrel and the wrist area.  Thanks for posting these photos Herb (Hawken Master) & JTR.   Mike

[Herb]

Thanks, Mike.  The black and white photo was taken by Greg Roberts, production manager of the Green River Rifle Works in November, 1975 when they had the Bridger rifle in their shop.  I handled it there in 1978, we even took the lock out of the stock.  Greg took a roll of 35mm film, the pictures are dirty and have coffee spilled on them, but I photographed all 24 of them.  Maybe a smarter friend can help me clean them up in Photoshop, or Paint or some such.  Bob is bringing me a new modern computer in about a week, will work on it then.  This one was taken by my friend Dave Boender.

This is Carl Walker, gunsmith from GRRW, holding Greg's photos.  I copied each one with a digital camera.

Greg made a detailed tracing of the Bridger rifle, with measurements and comments.  I made a copy of this for myself.

This is probably the photo you showed, but cropped for enlargement.


It is tricky scaling photos.  The Bridger lock is 5.0 inches long (I measured it at Helena museum), and the trigger guard is 5.6 inches long.  But when I scale it off the color photos, I can only make it about 5.4 inches.  It scales about the 5.6 inches  on the B&W photos.  I also get the buttplate about 4.25" in ;the color photos, but I measured it at 4.5".  And the real length of pull on the Bridger Hawken is 13.25", not the 13.5" shown with Montana's photos.  I gave the museum curator, Mr. Reimer, all my measurements, including the barrel length, width across the flats at breech and muzzle, and the correct length of pull when I handled, measured and photographed the Bridger at the museum in September, 2012.

[Longknife]

Herb, I am curious about that lower tank screw. Do you think it is a replacement? Is the hole under it countersunk?...Thanks, Ed

[Herb]

Yes, that is a replacement bolt.  Sam didn't build that way.  I didn't unscrew that tang bolt, but it is a lock bolt.  I have the same trouble, trying to find one like that to fit the late Hawken sideplate for the Bridger Hawken copy I am finishing up. Seems all I can find are tapered head or domed head tang bolts.

[Herb]

What I meant about that lock bolt is I can't find one on my bench.  They are available from Track of The Wolf and other places, I just have to order some.

Here are photos of the Bridger rifle from Jim Gordon's book "Great Gunmakers for the Early West, Volume III".  I have his permission to copy these photos.  I know of no good photos of the Bridger Hawken except those from the museum.  Even the ones I took there are not this good.  Here is another view of the lock.

zzzz