Uberti Hawken

[Dan Herda]

I recently picked up a first run Uberti Hawken. One thing that I didnt expect was that the muzzle is not crowned at all. Is this common and what kind of problems mite this cause? I envision cutting patches while loading, or am I overthinking it.?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have seen pictures of original Hawken rifles that appeared to not have a crown.  But they may have been filed to taper the entrance to the bore - both lands and grooves - to facilitate loading.  Without some sort of crown, you will not be able to load a tight enough patch/ball to take advantage of rifling.  So, crown it!

[Dphariss]

I recently picked up a first run Uberti Hawken. One thing that I didnt expect was that the muzzle is not crowned at all. Is this common and what kind of problems mite this cause? I envision cutting patches while loading, or am I overthinking it.?

Could you post some photos of the overall rifle?   Its possible the Italians forgot to crown it. Its unlikely it was relieved at the muzzle as many originals were which makes them appear crownless. It should be a good shooter.

Dan

[Dan Herda]

I sent you some pix Dan , feel free to post them if you want.
Thanks
Dan Herda

[Dphariss]

Here are the photos.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Yup.  That needs to be crowned, which serves two purposes:  ease of loading a tight combination, and protection of the bore at the muzzle.

[hammer]

Has that barrel been trimmed back a tad?  The muzzle does look shiny.   That might explain the lack of a crown.

[Hungry Horse]

Hammer, you might be right, the under rib is shinny as well. Maybe a previous owner damaged the original crown. I own one of the numbered limited addition versions of this gun, and it,s crowned, although not to the extent many production guns are.

    Hungry Horse

[Old Ford2]

Hi,
To add my two cents worth!
It really does look as if the barrel was cut and not crowned.
The outer flats are very sharp and as noted there is no crown or rebate, at the end of the barrel.
Even the under rib does not seem completely finished ( could be the photo??)
What is the precise length of the barrel? ( you can check with the factory specs, to verify the length, as it should be.)
Nice looking rifle!
Fred

[Dan Herda]

The picture is decieving, the end has the same exact finish as the rest of the barrell. The length of the barrel is 32 3/8 including the slant breech plug.
It was a joy to shoot. I shot two five shot groups at two different targets,three of the five were touching on both groups,but about an inch high and left four inches @25 yrds benched.

[will5a1]

Might I ask what load you used? I assume it is, like mine, a .53, and you are using .520 or .526 balls. I need to get mine to the range, but something always seems to come up.

[Levy]

I worked with one of these many years ago and it wasn't crowned.  I crowned it and had to bend the hammer a tad to make it hit the nipple more squarely.

James Levy

[Dan Herda]

Will5a1, 70 g FF, .520, .014 patch with bore butter

[hammer]

Ridj Runr, what is your serial number?  I have one of what I believe is the first batch made by Uberti, maple stock, serial 817.  Beautiful rifle.   Marked .54 calibre, actually .53 calibre.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It looks like the old Cherry Corners/Ithaca rifle to me.  I too had one years ago, and it liked a .526" soft lead ball and 020" cotton patch, 80 gr. FFg GOEX.