Shotgun Butt Hawken

[Jay Close]

I hope this note isn't too inappropriate, but as the name has come up I'd like to add an addendum to the Ike Bay story. Ike passed away earlier this year. To the end he was engaged in heritage crafts as an artisan and mentor to many. I think his abiding love was blacksmith work. But I know he'd be tickled to know one of his rifles "made meat". He was a larger than life character with a wide range of passions, a friend and mentor. My world is a bit less whimsical without him.

[Bob Roller]

Wider butt plate with less curve and less drop, or would you just build an English Sporter?

Build whatever turns your crank,do thr best you can with what's available then take it out and test ir..
I do admire the high level of skill it takes to reproduce an historical rifle or pistol like Tom Dawson
who was probably the first I knew that did it but most of us want a rifle or pistol to shoot or hunt with
and don't want to worry about some critic pointing out all the mistakes because it doesn't achieve the
standards of the Grant Rifle or some other famous and never used relic.
Bob Roller

[Herb]

Jay, thanks for telling us about Ike Bay.  I often wondered about him.  Herb

[Bsharp]

So, did anyone ever make a plains rifle with a wider less curved butt plate?

[Clark Badgett]

So, did anyone ever make a plains rifle with a wider less curved butt plate?

Yes. The English.

[mark brier]

Yes, build what you want and be happy. The Hawken rifle is much more English than it is say a Kentucky
Mark Brier

[Bsharp]

Now, do the two Norwegian Ginderengs  look like a English-Dimick?

Distant Cousins?

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=66656.0

[Clark Badgett]

Now, do the two Norwegian Ginderengs  look like a English-Dimick?

Distant Cousins?

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=66656.0

I don't quite get the Dimick connection. The Ginderengs, like most of the firearms from that region, have that Scandinavian look. The lockplates do have a bit of 1850s English martial flare to them.

[Bsharp]

Now, do the two Norwegian Ginderengs  look like a English-Dimick?

Distant Cousins?

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=66656.0

I don't quite get the Dimick connection. The Ginderengs, like most of the firearms from that region, have that Scandinavian look. The lockplates do have a bit of 1850s English martial flare to them.

Doesn't the breech and lock kind of resemble a Dimick?

Look at this one:

https://www.morphyauctions.com/jamesdjulia/item/lot-2481-h-e-dimick-st-louis-plains-rifle-40667/

[Bob Roller]

Pictures posted by Herb and others show Hawken rifles with much less radical curve than others made by Hawken.
Bob Roller

[Clark Badgett]

Now, do the two Norwegian Ginderengs  look like a English-Dimick?

Distant Cousins?

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=66656.0

I don't quite get the Dimick connection. The Ginderengs, like most of the firearms from that region, have that Scandinavian look. The lockplates do have a bit of 1850s English martial flare to them.

Doesn't the breech and lock kind of resemble a Dimick?

Look at this one:

https://www.morphyauctions.com/jamesdjulia/item/lot-2481-h-e-dimick-st-louis-plains-rifle-40667/

That particular Dimick breach doesn't look anything like the Ginderengs.

[Jeff Murray]

If  you want to be period correct, have you considered an 1803 Harper's Ferry.  Large caliber half stock, lighter muzzle weight, flat but plate.

[flehto]

Shown below is a .54 Hawken style rifle that I built a few years ago but w/ a reduced curved Bplate. It has killed a few elk w/ big PRB loads and the recoil is comfortable. Also shoots well off a bench rest. Forgot where I bought this Bplate. Not as flat as a shotgun styled Bplate, but still looks somewhat like a Hawken. The reason I used this Bplate was that I don't like upper arm holds  which are req'd w/ the extremely curved Hawken Bplates.......Fred

[redheart]

If  you want to be period correct, have you considered an 1803 Harper's Ferry.  Large caliber half stock, lighter muzzle weight, flat but plate.

Jeff's correct, The 1803 Harper's Ferry is a really classy rifle, but if it has to be a Hawken, can't you just get one of those lace on, leather covered recoil pads? That way you can put it on when you're hunting and take it off when you get home and put it in the rack so you don't have to be embarrassed.