TaylorZ1 asked me in a PM for a list of parts I used to build this rifle. This might be of interest to others, so I'll post it for all to see.
(See my post in Gun Building, page 169, April 29, 2012. That is too long to quote here, look it up if you want. Go to Search, type in Custom based Louis Hawken, user Herb, choose Gun Building, hit enter, and there it is, with pictures). It is the bottom rifle in this photo. The Main Highlights:
This rifle is kind of a hybrid Plains rifle and a St. Louis Squirrel rifle, so it is custom all the way, to be smaller and lighter and a bit fancier for a young woman. You can make it in brass furniture if you want. My parts:
1. Barrel was a Green Mountain (I think), 7/8"x36" which I cut to 30 inches with a hacksaw and files.
2. Lock was a Hawken Pistol lock, no longer available. (I had to bend the hammer to hit the nipple).
3. Breech plug was a Hawken Squirrel Rifle 15/16" solid patent breech, no longer available. I filed it down to 14/16" (7/8") to match the barrel.
4. Stock was a blank. I had to use it because of no 7/8" barrel-inletted Hawken precarve available. L&R trigger plate here.
5. Other parts are standard Bridger or Carson parts, the butt plate (#BP-Hawk-JB-I), toeplate, L&R triggers, trigger guard, nose cap, entry pipe, key and escutcheons and sideplate.
HOW I WOULD BUILD ANOTHER LIKE IT WITH AVAILABLE PARTS:
1. Barrel: Track has a 7/8"x42" .50 Green Mountain barrel which could be sawed to 30 inches and then weigh 3.6 pounds. They don't have a 36" barrel.
Muzzleloader Builders Supply has a 7/8"x36" .50 Green Mountain barrel, threaded for 5/8x18 plug, for $150. I'd go for this one. If cut to 30", it would weigh 3.6 pounds.
Track has a 15/16 x 36" GM barrel which if cut to 30 inches would weigh 4.4 pounds. If cut to 28 inches, it would weigh 4.1 pounds, or a half pound more than a 30" 7/8" barrel. Shorter is OK.
Oregon Barrel Company (
www.thegunworks.com) can build you EXACTLY what you want, even could be tapered. I'd go with .50 caliber, that will be lighter than smaller caliber barrels. It can be loaded down to 35 to 50 grains of powder for low recoil, but still good accuracy. I shoot 50 grains in matches.
Rice Barrel Company may have what you want, I didn't check them.
2. Because there is no Hawken Pistol lock available, I would use a Golcher cap lock, "internally identical to our Jim Bridger's Hawken Lock". See Track of Wolf Lock-GG-SR. This is cut for a 1/2" powder drum rather than a snail, but the plate 1/2" hole could be cut larger for the Hawken snail. The same lock is available from MBS with an UNCUT PLATE, where you cut the notch to fit the snail. I do this on all my Hawken builds, cut that notch myself. This is the closest match to the Hawken Squirrel lock. Call Ryan Roberts at Muzzleloader Builders Supply and ask him if this Golcher lock plate can be fitted to a Hawken plug and tang for a 7/8" or 15/16" barrel.
3. Because the Hawken Squirrel rifle Patent Brech is no longer available, you use something else. I'd use Track's Hawken 15/16" Slant Faced Breech & Tang, by L&R, #Plug-LR-15-5, 5/8x18 thread. If you use a 7/8" barrel, the sides of the plug and breech and top of the tang can be filed or ground down. That would be 1/32" per side (.0312). For scale, a dime is .050 thick. You could cut half the length of the tang off for weight savings, and use a wood screw for the tail. I'd leave it full length. You may have to bend the tang to match the stock wrist.
4. Stock- Because there is no 7/8" barrel channel Hawken halfstock available, I cut mine from a blank. Too much work. Call Dick Greensides at Pecatonica Longrifle Supply and ask him if he will custom cut one for you. I've had him do two custom stocks, and I'm very pleased with his work. Here is what I ask for: Hawken halfstock, grade CM-2 (has plenty of figure), cut for 15/16" or 7/8" barrel channel (whichever) and 7/16" rod hole. NO OTHER INLETTING, not lock, triggers, keys, entry pipe or nose cap. Then you make that into a Hawken stock. You cut the buttplate to length of pull. A length of 12.5 to 13 inches works well, I make mine 13.25, like the Bridger and Carson and Liver Eating Johnson Hawkens.
5. Triggers can be Davis (not now in stock), but L&R double set are also very good and available today, straight front trigger, got mine today from MBS, part 25050. I like it better than ones I got before.
6. Trigger guard is Track's TG-Hawk-L-I. The loop must be bent open to fit the trigger plate, easy to do. MBS has the same guard, 14820, with an unthreaded 5/16" post. Track's can be threaded 10x32 or 1/4x28, which I prefer.
7. Nose cap- use MBS 15/16" steel FEC-151, or if 7/8" barrel, FEC-141. Track also has. Cast steel and good. Don't use a stamped steel one such as Pecatonica supplies, too hard to fit.
8. Key is 36-I from Track. Underlug (one) is UL-TC-3. MBS has 7/8 and 15/16" lipped under ribs. Track has too, also flat (not lipped), which I prefer. I rivet ribs on.
9. Track's screw set H-R. Sideplate #SP-HLB. Toe plate is TP-Hawk-2-I. Key escutcheons are IN-Slot-2-I, two needed. Entry pipe #RP-TE-7-I.
10. Sights- Don't use the Bridger or Kit Carson buckhorn sights from Track, they are too low. This results in a low front sight. Don't use an adjustable sight, it is not needed. I'd get sight RS-SK-16, cut the length to about 3/8" (dovetail), cut in the lower sides to form a buckhorn, cut the notch deep enough to sight in for a 50 yard zero and reshape the top to a smooth circle slightly buckhorn. If too wide, narrow it fo a 7/8" barrel. Front Sight- I just got FS-TC-CB-81, silver blade .080 thick and copper base. Cut it lower to sight in, mine are about .210 inch high. Lower the rear sight notch shelf to the zero desired. My rear sight shelf is about .10 higher than the front sight for a 50 yard zero with hunting loads.
11. Stain and finish are whatever you want. I probably used Fiebing's dark brown oil leather dye, don't remember the finish. Carl Walker of the Old Green River Rifle Works likes Track's Original Oil Finish, and so do I, just got another bottle today. The worn-off areas of my Bridger Hawken are finished with OOF only, no stain.
12. Steel can be heat blued (propane torch) except for the barrel. This is easily blued with Brownell's Oxpho blue. If brown is wanted, I use Laurel Mtn Forge Barrel Brown and Degreaser. It can be made blue by immersing in boiling water after browned. Carl Walker likes Track's Tried and True Browning Reagent, and that says a lot.
13. Patchbox- MBS 35918, which is brass, couldn't find steel. Some Hawkens were made with brass furniture, and since this is custom, do what you want.
14. Ramrod- 7/16" Hickory with steel 10x32 caps on each end. You may have to file the cap down to pass through the pipes, or enlarge the pipes. You can enlarge the rod hole so the capped rod goes freely in.
And that's how you make a smaller and lighter rifle. You ought to be done in a couple hundred hours.
