Flint to Percussion Hawken Rifle

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gizamo

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Recently, the Red Gods smiled upon me. :)

Added this copy of the Jim Bridger rifle to my collection. Built in 1988 ( same year the original gun was acquired by the Montana Historical Society Museum) it is a near near copy of the original...with an exception. The lock used was a conversion from flintlock to percussion

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Hoping to give it a trial at the range, later today...

Giz
 
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Nice! That rifle is more true to the original Hawken Brothers or JP Gemmer rifles than the short barreled , brass encrusted wall hangers that most companies call "Hawkens". Truth is brass was a rare commodity and the furniture on working rifles was mostly iron or low grade steel.

I have one of the Lyman Great Plains rifles in .54cal and love it.
 
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Beautiful rifle, I'm sure it will shoot as good as it looks.
I have a Hatfield mountain rifle in .54 caliber that has a similar look to your Jim Bridger rifle.
 
Ol Gabe woulda felt right comfortable with that rifle.
Nice clean conversion too.
Very very nice acquisition. I'm bettin' it shoots plumb center.

I think I have a copy of the "gaudiest" Hawken ol Jake ever made and then Mariano "gussied" it up a bit more.

MedinaHawken.jpg

Mariano Medina Hawken.
 
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Years ago I read a story that while the Bridger rifle was on an authorized "road trip" the custodians made an unscheduled stop and fired it.

Being a "sure enough" Hawken it worked just fine.
 
Iggy, would like to see more pictures of your beautiful rifle and the story that travels with it.
Thanks
RJ
 
Check your PM's. Don't want infringe on Giz's thread here.

I had the opportunity to shoot a Hawken at the Ft Bridger Ronnyvoo many years ago. Was quite a thrill.
 
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Very very nice. The metal furniture is really nice and truer to the originals. I have a custom built Hawkin as well. Love Muzzle Loaders and have several in different styles but in Flintlock. Have fun with it.
 
Beauties these are. I have an interest in getting into black powder stuff--but have not done more than dip my toe in the pond. Where is a good and reasonable-priced place to get these from?
 
Iggy said:
Best starting place is a Lyman Great Plains Rifle.. Close as you can come to an "authentic" custom gun without paying a custom price.
Lyman Products Your Primary Source for Reloading Equipment

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Click to expand...

Thank you for that and, would you also know of a good site that sells 1860 Navy Colt 45s? I had one once but it was stolen from our house around 25 years ago. I never had a chance to fire it. I do still have a Napoleon 50 cal cannon--also never been fired.
 
You might take a gander at Cabela's. They have some specials from time to time.

I use to have a cannon that fired 35 mm film cans filled with cement or a 1/2 pound 1 1/4" lead wadcutter. The wadcutter would go thru a pickup at a 100 yards.






Nah, it was a junker!!!
evil_zps20195143.gif
 
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Iggy said:
You might take a gander at Cabela's. They have some specials from time to time.

I use to have a cannon that fired 35 mm film cans filled with cement or a 1/2 pound 1 1/4" lead wadcutter. The wadcutter would go thru a pickup at a 100 yards.






Nah, it was a junker!!!
evil_zps20195143.gif
Click to expand...

Thank you for this as well. We do have an Academy here but they dont have any black powder supplies guns etc--but I heard they were possibly going to maybe late in the year or next year?

My 50 cal cannon needs to clear its throat sometime ;-)) I am hoping someone around here will getting BP supplies before New Years. I want to fire it off when the time comes and when im at my Brother in laws small ranch.

Its one of those things ya know :D
 
Now if you want save a little money, you can go with a Northwest Trade gun. An example of some of the first army surplus stuff. Converted Brown Bess for sale/trade to the Indians and early fur trappers.:)
tradegun.jpg
 
I would second the Lyman Plains rifle... especially in Flint!

For the money they are the bee's knee's...
 
that is a beauty! im betting the percussion will be more practical than flint if you are going to use it much.
what does the rest of that knife look like, handle looks nice:)
 
Many years ago I had to go to Libby, Montana to testfy in a trial. When I finished my testimony, the judge called a recess, and then said, "Mr. Jag, I want to see you in my chambers." When a judge says that, it usually means that you are in big trouble. I wasn't sure what I said to get me into trouble, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend a weekend in a Montana jail. It turned out that the judge was a collector of Western firearms and just wanted to talk about guns with me. Then he told about (Bat Guano, are you listening) the time he shot Jim Bridger's Hawken rifle. He was transporting the rifle from an exhibit back to the museum in Helena. He decided to stop, clean the rifle, and do some shooting with it. Then he cleaned and oiled the rifle and continued on to the museum in Helena. Needless to say when the Museum Curator discovered what had been done, he was not happy.

I had a vague recollection that there was an article in Muzzle Blasts, the magazine of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, about the unauthorized test-firing on Jim Bridger's rifle. As soon as I got home, I found the right issue, and there was a picture of the judge holding the rifle!

The nicest people I know are gun people, and here is a judge that we need on the Supreme Court.
 
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