Shot my Hawken

[Buckskins&BlackPowder]

Traditions St.Louis Hawken ( Kit Gun I did years ago ) .54cal 1:48 twist, 70gr 3fg Gearhart-Owen, .020" patches, .530" round balls @ 50 yards.

 

[brownbear932008]

I have been thinking awfully hard on building a Hawkens also and taking a step back in time. Hunted with one while in high school and really enjoyed shooting it. Great grouping!

 

[CPAjeff]

Good shooting!

 

[kansasdad]

That must feel so satisfying. Nice work and nice shooting

 

[David658]

Dead deer right there.

David
NM

 

[7mm-08]

Can we get a close up of what you did to the fore end? Looks neat.

 

[Redman]

I have the same gun but 50 cal. that is over 30 years old. I use Hornaday Great Plains bullets and 100gr FF black powder. Thing is dead nuts on 100yds and always reliable.

 

[mdcrossbow]

Great load for practice. Still powerful enough to drop big game. I like the extra touch to the forearm. Patina looking good also.

 

[David658]

You might find you can pump up the load a little, but with the shallow rifling and fast twist, you will hit a point where your accuracy goes away. I always figger that if folks can kill a critter with a pointy stick, if it's in range the PRB can do its job. Good shooting!

 

[EKYHunter]

Beautiful rifle and excellent shooting!

 

[Buckskins&BlackPowder]

 

[7mm-08]

I’ll assume those are the brass tacks I’ve always heard about?

 

[7mm-08]

I like it. I see a build in my future. Did you burn that stock any, or is that just what the finish brought out? What did you rub it with?
Somewhere I have a ramrod I burned tiger stripes into.

 

[Buckskins&BlackPowder]

these are not the usual tacks you hear about. I do not like the usual tacks, so i went with 100% brass powder horn nails. I think crazy crow or dixie gun works has/had them.

No burning. I used a lot of birchwood casey walnut stain, then rubbed it back in areas where, wear, would naturally gather with an oil finished stock. Stock was finished with truoil.

An easier way to faux stripe a stock. Minwax stain pen.

 

[7mm-08]

Every now and then I make a pipe. I will stain it black, then sand it all down. Then go over it again with a lighter color before it gets waxed. It makes the grain pop.


Stained black



Sanded


Stained orange/tan



Waxed





I wonder how that would work on a full stock.

 

[Pagosa]

A question for you, how do you adjust the set trigger on a Traditions Hawkins? Beautiful rifle. Thanks

 

[Buckskins&BlackPowder]

a couple tiny screws at the bottom of the trigger plate. Remove the trigger guard and you have full access.

 

[buffybr]

Great job on your Hawken rifle, and good shooting. I like the dark wood.

I made a .54 Hawken from a Green River kit back in the early '70s when I still lived in Colorado and they required .50 or greater caliber for elk. I then moved to Montana before I could hunt elk with it.

I did use it here in 2004 on a Buffalo with, I think 100 grains of FF BP and a 435 grain Maxi hunter bullet. One shot yielded 500+ pounds of great burger meat.

 

[Pagosa]

a couple tiny screws at the bottom of the trigger plate. Remove the trigger guard and you have full access.

Thank you, I didn’t have the manual

 

[Bushfire]

Nice shooting