New Hawken Build

[OldMtnMan]

In the near future i'm going to have this gun built for me. Your thoughts good or bad? I'm going to pick the Colerain .58 barrel. Good choice?


https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/GunKit.aspx/623/1/KIT-KIT-CARSON-HAWKEN-LEFT-HAND

[Daryl]

Pete - should be just fine, however, much depends on the powder charges you will be using, whether or not the hooked butt plate is going to be hard on the body. The heavier the better if using heavier charges for say, elk or moose.

1" seems to me to be quite small for anything larger than a .54.  what will it weigh?   I did not see a weight suggested, but 36" of barrel should help that out a bit.

[Mike Brooks]

I think I'd make it right handed. It will have better resale value than a left handed gun, and they both handle the same.

[OldMtnMan]

Maybe Mike, but i'm blind in my right eye and learned to shoot left handed. This is a gun i've wanted since 1980. Not this one specifically, but an authentic Hawken. I have no plans of ever selling it and i'm going to will it to a friend when I check out.

[OldMtnMan]

Here's the barrel weights Daryl. Would Colerain make a barrel that wasn't safe?

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/GunKit.aspx/623/1/KIT-KIT-CARSON-HAWKEN-LEFT-HAND/List

[OldMtnMan]

I sent an email to Colerain and asked him if the barrel has a max charge. We'll see if it's enough for what I want.

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... John Bergman is still building rifles here in Tennessee..... Just get him to duplicate this one .......

[Scota4570]

I will use a Track Hawken parts set in the future.

I like Track, they are easy to work with if something unexpected comes up.

That said, let the builder source what ever parts he wants to use.  Tell him what you want the end product to be  and let him do it his way.  IF you give him a box of stuff, it may not be what he wants to use.  Speaking as a builder, making due with parts you don't like is very frustrating.   

[OldMtnMan]

The builder has looked at the kit and seems ok with the parts supplied, but he can add or delete as he pleases.


I also heard back from Scott at Colerain and said the barrel is what he uses for hunting and uses 100gr. That's what I had in mind to use. I'm a still hunter, so my shots are always pretty close. I also won't take anything but a double lung shot, or I pass on the shot. A 100gr of Swiss and a 270gr ball should work fine at my distance.

[Joe S.]

Thinking Daryl's talking weight of barrel helping tame the recoil when shooting heavy loads.Should be plenty of barrel wall with a 1" barrel in .58 Cal.

[Daryl]

Thinking Daryl's talking weight of barrel helping tame the recoil when shooting heavy loads.Should be plenty of barrel wall with a 1" barrel in .58 Cal.

Spot-on, Joe S., but 100gr. is a light charge and doesn't even kick (much) in my little 1863 Enfield, but then, it has a real butt plate, not a hook with points. 

[OldMtnMan]

Hook is what holds up the heavy barrel if you know where to put it. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Daryl:  my go to load in my .62 cal Hawken is 127 gr. with 350 gr. ball...don't even feel the recoil.  But my rifle weighs 11 1/2 pounds.

[Herb]

I built this parts set in .54 caliber a year and a half ago.  See Gun Building, Herb's Post 145 (my page 6 of posts) January 04, 2016 "I Built a Left-Handed T.O.W. Kit Carson Hawken over the Weekend".  Just click on my name here and a box will come up that says "show posts".  Click on that and my stuff comes up.  That stock is cut with a 14 1/2" length of pull, which is ridiculous.  I built this rifle for Bob, who is 6' 2" tall with a 36 or 38" sleeve length, and we had to cut the stock to 13.5 " pull for him, if I remember correctly.  He wanted the barrel left at 36".  There is a photo of the cut off stock on my post 47, January 08, 2017 "Re: another Hawken done- a Kit Carson".  I made a .58 flint halfstock as my elk hunting rifle and killed a mule deer with it.  Think I used 100 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F.  I have shot my Hawkens many hundreds of times with loads of 50 to 140 grains of powder and never been bothered by the Hawken butt plates.

[Mauser06]

If you really wanted an authentic Hawken replicated you can probably do better.  But at the same time you could do worse. With that parts kit the builder can get it pretty close with extra work.


If you want a true authentic Hawken replicated, I'd seek a builder that knows the ins and outs of Hawken rifles and commission them to build me one...(there are a few on this very site)

If you aren't picky, then any capable builder can probably finish that parts kits and turn out a rifle that is similar to a Hawken.  Just depends what you want and how much you want to spend.  I'd imagine it's easier for a builder to replicate a Hawken by not starting with a parts kit and precarved semi-inletted stock.


Just my penny towards the conversation.   Good luck! 

[Mike Brooks]

If you really wanted an authentic Hawken replicated you can probably do better.  But at the same time you could do worse. With that parts kit the builder can get it pretty close with extra work.


If you want a true authentic Hawken replicated, I'd seek a builder that knows the ins and outs of Hawken rifles and commission them to build me one...(there are a few on this very site)

If you aren't picky, then any capable builder can probably finish that parts kits and turn out a rifle that is similar to a Hawken.  Just depends what you want and how much you want to spend.  I'd imagine it's easier for a builder to replicate a Hawken by not starting with a parts kit and precarved semi-inletted stock.


Just my penny towards the conversation.   Good luck!

I don't think authenticity makes much difference if you're going to build a left handed version.

[Joe S.]

Whats with the left-handed impaired hate

[Mike Brooks]

Whats with the left-handed impaired hate

Sounds pure hateful doesn't it.... I'm right handed and can shoot left handed guns with no problem. I know everybody says" I'll be keeping this gun fore ever" but, that never is the case. At the very least your widow is going to get stuck peddling a hard to sell left handed Hawken that just won't bring what a right handed gun will. But, do what ever you like, it's your reality.

[Joe S.]

Perhaps he would want to get buried with it.Might be only right handed loaners in the rack on the happy hunting grounds

[OldMtnMan]

I'm single. I really don't care what happens to the gun when i'm gone, but I do plan to leave it to a friend.

I'm friends with Buck Conner who was involved with Green River guns and is still with the new GR guns being made now. He recommended the kit to me.

I would have preferred the Bridger version with the 33 1/2" barrel, but I like the idea of a LH version. The way I understand it. Hawken would have made about anything a customer wanted. Who would bet their life on the fact Hawken never made a LH gun?

Either way that's what I want. I'm tired of shooting RH guns. I'm not going to build it to satisfy the next owner.

[OldMtnMan]

Herb..........Actually, a 14 1/2" LOP is what I use on all my guns. That's good news to hear that's what that kit uses. Any shorter and my thumb is against my nose.

I'll check out your build later. I've got to take the pooch for a run now.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Stock crawler?

[Mike Brooks]

I'm single. I really don't care what happens to the gun when i'm gone, but I do plan to leave it to a friend.

I'm friends with Buck Conner who was involved with Green River guns and is still with the new GR guns being made now. He recommended the kit to me.

I would have preferred the Bridger version with the 33 1/2" barrel, but I like the idea of a LH version. The way I understand it. Hawken would have made about anything a customer wanted. Who would bet their life on the fact Hawken never made a LH gun?

Either way that's what I want. I'm tired of shooting RH guns. I'm not going to build it to satisfy the next owner.

Yep, I understand. If you're going to go through all the trouble to build it do it the way you want.

[rich pierce]

Go for it. I'd personally favor a .54 if I expected any longer range shots. It takes a hefty load to flatten the trajectory on a .58. Maybe not a problem on larger game.

[OldMtnMan]

Stock crawler?

Maybe, but i've never found a long sleeve shirt that had sleeves long enough. Probably a combination of a crawling and arms like a gorilla. I just know a shorter LOP never feels good to me.