Hawken Disaster

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Remember this rifle?  Its owner lost it and three other fine guns in a fire that destroyed his mobile home last Saturday. 

[draken]

Sickening...................abslutely sickening    

[docone]

That is heartbreaking.
I am so sorry.

[TMerkley]

Very disheartening to hear about!  Will insurance pay for replacement etc..?

[Bob Roller]

 This is a nightmare but at least you know what happened to
your property which is small consolation but better than a
loss to a low life thief.

Bob Roller

[Mike Brooks]

I always did like my Hawken well done.....
The loss of the guns would be devastating, but the loss of your home would be worse.

[heelerau]

A sad loss.  Do I remember reading on another thread about one of the ALR members rebuilding a Hawken rifle that had been through a house fire, and it came up really well and was still fine to shoot.  Hopefully your rifles can be salvaged.

Cheers and good luck

Gordon

[LehighBrad]

I'm sorry for your loss. I know the feeling personally. March 6th 2006 my parents home burnt down. My brother and Dad and I were able to save a few family pictures and my Dads Japanese officers sword and Arisaka M99 rifle which he carried home with him from the South Pacific. My father's collection of his hunting liscenses he had mounted on a nice framed poster board from 1936 until the late 80's was lost.:-( Wish I had that. The first few liscenses were the metal stamped plates to boot!! My brother and I long since had moved out on our own at the time of the fire so our flintlocks were safe. I share your loss all the same.

[rich pierce]

I bet his rifles were his pride and joy.  What a shame, and reminds me that the things of this world are temporary indeed.

[Artificer]

A sad thing indeed, but I do hope all the people and pets got out ok?

We were a rescue/foster home for a deaf Dalmatian.  Once we got the dog back to being able to eat and socialized, a VERY nice young Lady in WV offered to adopt her and what was great was she had had deaf Dalmatians before.  So we drove there on a Thursday and the dog and lady hit it off and we knew she had a good home.  The Lady and her fiance had purchased an almost new mobile home and they moved in that weekend.  On Monday, we got a frantic call from her that we might have to take the dog back because the Lady was worried she might be traumatized. 

There had been a BAD fire in the newer moblle home and the dog had actually saved them by dragging them off the bed after they had succumbed to smoke inhalation while they slept.  The dog got them both awake so they escaped in tact while the mobile home burnt to the ground.  Needless to say the Lady was immensely grateful the dog had saved them, but thought she may have been too traumatized to stay with them.  We asked her if she was eating well and showed any signs of trauma and the Lady said she did not and was cuddling against her while she was talking on the phone.  We told her the DOG was fine and if anything, the Lady and her Fiance would be more likely to be traumatized than the Dog. 

I consider it was a miracle by the Grace of God that dog was owner surrendered in South Carolina to the pound, rescured/fostered by us in VA and then JUST when she was needed the most, the Lady contacted us to adopt her in WV. 

My apology for going off topic.
Gus

[doulos]

I remember that rifle. It was about the nicest full stock Hawken Ive ever seen. Its  a shame.
I hope everyone got out safely. Material things can be replaced. People cant.

[T*O*F]

Looks like a good candidate to bury in the garden for 6 months and then claim it was dug from an old Metis campsite.

[Daryl]

The owner was at Rendezvous at the time of the fire.  Restoration of the Hawken is being planned - Ed Rayle barrel.

[Acer Saccharum]

Owwwwch. 

I'm so glad no one was hurt.

[Bob Roller]

 Was the lock one of my remade L&R Ashmore's?
The screws look like my work om the outside.

Bob Roller

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

No one was hurt tho' two trailers were destroyed.  He carried no insurance.  BC Rendezvous took up an on-site collection and raised $2000 in cash for him.  I offered to rebuild the rifle for free...he lost everything.  So far, I've used a soft wire wheel to remove the grime, and the metal is all in good shape.  I was able to save the bore too.  So there's some light at the end of the tunnel.  I'll post a few pics as I progress.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Bob, it's an L & R Ashmore alright, but not one of yours.  The triggers, though, are.

[Al Lapp]

My deepest sympathy!! But when things like this happen you need friends more than material things.   Al

[smylee grouch]

Taylor, will the lock and trigger internals need rehardening/tempering?    Smylee

[smart dog]

Hi Taylor,
I am sorry.  I can imagine how awful it must feel to see your work destroyed like that.  In a way we never really give up our work.  They will always be our babies.  I hope the restoration happens as planned.

dave

[Curtis]

Taylor, you are obviously a good friend to have in hard times.  I am sure you rebuilding the rifle will help ease your friend's pain of loss.

Pics of the rebuild will be most interesting to see.

Curtis.

[TMerkley]

Was the barrel an original or of newer make?  If it was of newer make, it may need some reheat treating, but since the stock (charcoal) is basically in tact, indicating that the fire may not have been hot enough to take the temper out of the barrel .  If that is the case, then heat treating of the barrel may not be necessary.   Just a thought.

[Jim Kibler]

I'm not aware of any modern made barrels that were produced in a hardened and tempered condition.  Even if they were, an anneal or stress relief treatment should not adversly affect their performance.  So, "losing temper" isn't a concern.

[Daryl]

If I might help some, the lock internals, ie's main spring and temper were not unjured. Only the feather spring was hurt. The lock springs work perfectly, being protected by the wood.  The bluing on the underside of the barrel is intact. The tang is fire-blued slightly mottled and looks very nice - to me.
Thanks for the comment about the barrel, Jim. I was more concerned until I saw the underside of the barrel. When Taylor scrubbed off the scale from the surface rust on the topside of the barrel, it's bluing came off as well.

Personally, I would leave the barrel as-is on the re-build, however a full restoration would indeed be an increidble transformation.

[Daryl]

I was over at Taylor's today - the lock turned out what I'd call absolutely beautiful in it's colours. Hopefuly, Taylor will take a picture when he's finished playing with his sharpening business and gets down to important thing.

edited
Taylor's pictures are fairly high resolution. If you are running a PC- hold the "Ctrl" button down and scroll the centre button of the mouse or sligh the "=+" button to enlarge the pictures. You will be amazed at the difference, - if he ever gets around to publishing that picture, that is - HA!