1980's Built Hawken Rifle

[jolly bill]

Looks to me like a Ron Long mainspring.

I see what appears to me to be black powder fouling in the hammer's cup and throat, and on the inside of the bolster.  This concerns me.  From my experience, if a shooter can't be bothered to clean the outside where you can see fouling, how can the bore be any better.  I hope I'm wrong.

Mr. Sapergia,

I hope you’re wrong too.

I’ve known the man that built this rifle for about 20 years.  He’s probably one of the most meticulous persons that I know.  I am not a muzzle loader builder or shooter.  I own this one because I’m helping the man who built it and because of his age, health and other circumstances, he has to down size.  I do not own any instruments to check the bore but from what I can see from the muzzle, it looks fine which doesn’t mean the remainder of the bore is fine also.

So in this case, I think you’re wrong.

As I said, I’m not a black powder shooter and I can’t see anything objectionable in the nipple area.  See some close up pictures below.  Or am I looking in the wrong place?

Most respectfully.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I hope you are right and I'm all wet.  In these last two images though, I see what looks like fouling next to the nipple seat.  I am only expressing what I have experienced in my own shop, and that is that if a rifle comes in with fouling on the outside, the bore is always in tough shape, especially at the breech end.  Run a tight patch on a button jag down the bore with some oil on it so it doesn't get jammed, and see how smooth the bore is.  Use a cleaning rod - not the ramrod.  If it is buggered, your jag will get tight and you will have difficulty withdrawing a ramrod and jag.  So a cleaning rod is the ticket.  Good luck, and keep us in the loops please.

[jolly bill]

I hope you are right and I'm all wet.  In these last two images though, I see what looks like fouling next to the nipple seat.  I am only expressing what I have experienced in my own shop, and that is that if a rifle comes in with fouling on the outside, the bore is always in tough shape, especially at the breech end.  Run a tight patch on a button jag down the bore with some oil on it so it doesn't get jammed, and see how smooth the bore is.  Use a cleaning rod - not the ramrod.  If it is buggered, your jag will get tight and you will have difficulty withdrawing a ramrod and jag.  So a cleaning rod is the ticket.  Good luck, and keep us in the loops please.

I'm a double barrel shotgun guy and don't have a large variety of brushes, especially in the .50 cal range.  So I used a .410 phospher bronze brush with several wraps of patches lightly oiled and ran that down the bore.  To me it seemed smooth going down and coming back.  There were very light brown stains on the patch.

I was talking on the phone with a muzzle loader enthusiast and he said there are bore lights that you drop down the barrel with the light on and that is a decent method to inspect the bore.  I don't have one of those.

I'm heading out early tomorrow/Thursday for a side by side shoot in PA and won't be back til late Saturday so the Hawken will have to wait til I get back.

I'm goin' shootin'!

[jolly bill]

Looks to me like a Ron Long mainspring.

I see what appears to me to be black powder fouling in the hammer's cup and throat, and on the inside of the bolster.  This concerns me.  From my experience, if a shooter can't be bothered to clean the outside where you can see fouling, how can the bore be any better.  I hope I'm wrong.

As per my note above, I was at a double barrel shotgun shoot these past few days in PA and talked with a guy who shoots those guns loaded from the other end, ie, a muzzle loader and he had one of those dandy drop in the muzzle bore lights.

And it turns out the bore looks fine which of course is good news.

Just passing the word and if I had a camera, I would have taken a picture.  I don't have a cell phone that takes pictures.  (It still has a dial on it. Just kiddin'.  About the dial, not the cell phone.)

Thanks, Jolly

Picture of the bore.