A flintlock plains rifle

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

In 1983 I built a flintlock companion rifle to go with a percussion Hawken I did for a local friend.  In those days, I installed a Siler flintlock thinking about reliability and access rather than historical correctness and authentic accuracy.  I also made this and its percussion cousin with a 16" length of pull for the client who was 6'9" tall.  I warned him that when it came time to sell, these rifles are going to be hard to move because of the extreme lop and weight..  He laughed and told me that they were simply adult rifles.
Both rifles featured barrels by Hugh Toenjes in .60 calibre, full 1 1/8" parallel (no taper or swamp) and 36" long.  The percussion rifle, I bobbed at 32" when I rebuilt it, making for a nicely balanced big bore hunting rifle.  Shooting it from the bench following the re-build, I found the rifle shot into a ragged hole for five shots from the bench at 50 yards, so I was not disappointed with the accuracy having cut the muzzle off the barrel.
The second rifle, the flintlock, I sold to the same client (bless his soul), and began the process of re-building it.  I cut two inches off the butt stock, remade the patch box with a new lid as the old one had the previous owner's name engraved on it, inlet a new butt plate, and replaced the Siler lock with a Davis Twigg lock that had been re-worked by Bob Roller, and had a new frizzen installed by Larry Zorne.  Once the fitting of new parts was accomplished, I scraped the old finish and stain off the entire stock, and refinished it with tannic acid and Ferric Nitrate solution.  The rifle had never been fired by its first owner, so the browned iron hardware and barrel did not require re-browning.  I did however, have to polish and brown the new butt plate.  I elected to leave the lock bright.  The re-built patchbox also required a little engraving.
Anyway, it's finally done, and I present it here in picture form for your perusal.  I welcome any comments and critique.  I was careful not to introduce the rifle as a Hawken, though when I first made it, it was my intention to produce a flint version of the plains rifle the Hawken boys were famous for.  But to be fair, I have diverged in so many areas from what makes a Hawken rifle, it would be wrong to call it one.  I hope, though, you may see much of the Hawken flavour in the rifle, as that was my intent originally.

[bama]

Top notch work Taylor. I have always admired the quality you put into your work. Great color on the wood, fit and finish as good as it gets. Thanks for sharing.

[TommyG]

Beautiful work Taylor.  A gun that looks great and shoots great as well!!

[HSmithTX]

 Absolutely gorgeous. Color, finish, everything, stunning rifle. 

[smylee grouch]

I'm wondering if any rifle coming out of the Hawken shop were finished as nice as this one. Very nice re-do. 

[stumbling buffalo]

I think Jake & Sam would be scratching their heads and asking... Who is that guy?   

Stunning rifle, Sir!

[Bob Roller]

I saw a J&S half stock at the Hawken Shop in St.Louis over 50 years ago that looked really good and I think its lock had a "fly".
The butt plate and trigger guard I thought were silver but it was an overlay of thin silver.Taylor has  set a standard and the "Bag Grip
Hawken"was proof to me that there is talent in the North country of the first rank. am looking forward to meeting him in Lexington
in a few weeks. just took a look at this lock and it has my conventional mechanism.Lots of them around and none returned so I am
pleased with that.
Bob Roller

[CooleyS]

You always create something to aspire to…thanks for sharing!
-Steve

[dadybear1]

BEAUTIFUL RIFLE  THANKS FOR THE PICS---

[flatsguide]

That is one handsome and elegant rifle. Well done!
Cheers Richard

[Tim Crosby]

 You Do build a Beautiful rifle. Each piece looks like it belongs and complements the other.

   Tim 

[JTR]

Beautiful work as usual, Taylor!
Thanks for posting them for us to admire.
John

[Maven]

Taylor is a true artisan!  That work is beyond beautiful.  The word "elegant" comes to mind!

[dadybear1]

taylor  what are the pipes-g silver or steel???  im building a early hawken w 54 cal 32 in colleraine barrel(twist)  ..  I used early full stock blank(cheek piece like yours) as a transition period piece..  you got me really fired up--thanks

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I made the escutcheons, toe plate, entry pipe and thimbles from sheet brass.  Personally, I don't like the look of German silver, especially when it starts to oxidize.  On this rifle, the blade of the front sight is German Silver, but I prefer to use pure silver if I have it in stock.

Thanks everyone for your kind words.  I appreciate the feed back.

Regarding the finish on original Hawken rifles, I have only ever seen one original.  Don Stith was very kind and generous to bring one of his to Dixon's Fair in 2007, and I got to handle it.  Without knowing whether it had been worked over since it left the shop, I noticed that the stock had lots of scratches with the grain, and there was no attempt to make a perfectly smooth surface.  Also, the iron hardware had loots of file scratches that showed no effort to remove.  I have noticed in photos of originals, such as the ones pictured in Jim Gordon's volume III, the Hawken shop didn't take the rifles to the level of finish that most modern clients expect.  In my case,, I am not making a living at this, in fact I'm trying desperately to work only for myself, refusing clients commissions.  This rifle was one of those that were in inventory and in order to move it for the owner, I had to re-build it for a mere mortal instead of a giant.  I am pleased that it is done and turned out so well.  One can pour a lot of time into the details, for example:  I spent about a week polishing the lock down to 1200 grit wet/dry.  The hammer required 2 1/2 days alone.  It is tedious work and many quit when they've got to around 400 grit, which yields a nice lock.  This lock has chiselled edges that need to be looked after carefully to not remove the sharp edges.  So again, thanks for looking and making your comments.

[duca]

Wow! Really nice Taylor, very nicely done

Anthony

[Bob Roller]

Wow! Really nice Taylor, very nicely done

Anthony

This level of work seems to be his every day standards and there was one other Canadian,Ted Girodat,now deceased in Kitchener,Ontario that could make fine muzzle loaders,His Alex Henry copy was every bit the equal of Curtis Allison's that was shown here in great detail.
Ted and his lovely wife Donna were hosts to myself and Roger Weir at the International Matches in Kitchener in 1987.Roger was a U.S.Navy Veteran that had a grenade go off in his hand while on a drill to find one of our subs.That was a day spoiler but it led to  job in prosthetics with the VA and when he retired he was in charge of prosthetics for the Eastern USA.He now divides his time between Western New York and Florida and still has a home here in Huntington WV.As an aside,Friendship NY was his origin and on the way to Kitchner we stopped there and spent the night with his brother Donald and after a lumberjack breakfast we literally "shuffled off to Buffalo"where we crossed into Canada.

Bob Roller

[Blacksmoke]

Taylor;  Thanks for the mention of the "big 60" barrels that I was rifling back then.  Its always interesting how the guns we made historically find their way back to our benches sooner or later!? Your restoration of your own work appears impressive!  The ragged hole shot at 50 yds. with one of those hand cut barrels has been upgraded because of my new configuration of rifling. The new distance for such a ragged  hole is 100yds. or better. see attached proof target of the last barrel I rifled before moving to Wyoming. Good to see you are still at the bench. Hugh

[bob in the woods]

Beautifully done, Taylor. A wonderful combination of superb craftsmanship and artistic talent 

[Tony N]

Beautiful work!!

Tony

[Bob Roller]

That's as good as it gets with any big bore gun be it a muzzle loader or single shot breech loader.100 meters  and no optical sights??
The Alex Henry barreled Whitworth I had could do that and a Bill Large barrel on a Springfield that was a breech loader I changed to a muzzle loader would as well.They were both 451's and not a bigger bore.My eyes now would prevent any such shooting now for me but
that's part of advancing decrepitness setting in .
Bob Roller

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Thanks for the nice review Hugh.  This rifle retains its full length 36"x 1 1/8" barrel, and the rifle weighs in at 11.5 pounds.  Its owner is a very successful hunter, always coming home with mule and white tailed deer, elk and moose.  He keeps two big freezers full of game, and it very benevolent ...often arrives on my doorstep with a forty pound bag of meat including smoked trout and salmon.
He intends to shoot this massive rifle from X-sticks, and will be taking it to Alberta this fall, I'm sure, to try his hand at hunting with a solid flintlock plains rifle.
As far as still at the bench, I don't think I have any options...just wired that way I guess.  My greatest satisfaction comes when I am creative, and by God's grace, I have excellent health in my mid 70's.  I have at least a dozen projects ahead of me, that I've been saving for this chapter of my life, so not a moment to lose.
Sometimes people who don't know me ask me what I do.  I tell them I've been given talent by God, so I build guns to glorify Him.  That usually creates a pause in the conversation.

[Blacksmoke]

Taylor: Bless you!! Hugh

[Bob Roller]

Where ELSE could that level of skill come from? NOwhere else.I feel the same way about my lock making ability using common tools.
The fool has said in his heart,"There is no God".
Bob Roller

[Joe Stein]

Beautiful work as always, Taylor.
"Sometimes people who don't know me ask me what I do.  I tell them I've been given talent by God, so I build guns to glorify Him.  That usually creates a pause in the conversation."
I like that philosophy.
Joe Stein