Is This An Original S. Hawken Rifle?

[thom2]

I bought this rifle back in 1988 for a commercial my company was producing for Hawken Smokeless Tobacco.

I dug it out last year and wanted to see if it would shoot. I found that by pulling the main trigger it fired and would group inside 3" with 100gr of Black powder FFG and patch & ball. When using the set trigger the hammer would only fall to a half c0cked position.

A gunsmith that deals only with black powder rifles told me the nib was worn. I can't remove the hammer. The bolt won't budge. I've tried soaking it & heat-Nothing.

First I'd like to find out if it came out of the original St. Louis S. Hawken shop as a barrel & lock and was assembled with a stock later or a VERY GOOD Reproduction.


If you want to see inside the lock & more detail follow this link to Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomtwo...7625385750573/

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[Semisane]

Thom, if it were an original Hawken in that condition it would be worth a small fortune.

Sorry, but it looks like a reproduction to me (although the lock internals are intriguing). I don't know the manufacturer, but that looks like modern lettering on the barrel. Someone here will likely know who marketed that model. It's a fine looking gun.

An original will look something like this.

[jloop]

Nope dont look real. but it is a very nice lolokin gun none the less

[MountainDevil54]

just looking at the S hawken st louis on the barrel, i feel its a fake. Looks waaaay to modern. Beautiful rifle though! I'll pm you my christmas wish list!

[sabotloader]

thom2

Both CVA (the original Connecticut Valley Arms) and Traditions have offered a copies of the St. Louis Hawken.

If you a do a quick internet search you can find the information on the newer St. Louis Hawkens.

I would believe that the one yu are showing was made by one of these two companies.

[MountainDevil54]

no way that was made by cva or traditions.

When i first saw it, it reminded me a lot of the jonathan browning mountain rifle but obviously, that would have been stamped on it.

Could be an A&H knock off or some other company knock off, they had some santa fe hawken's made years years ago " before i was born i think lol"

The italian brand rifles like to use that big stamping so maybe even something along the lines of lyman or pedersoli.

Who ever it was made by, they did a good job.

Now go scrub the little rust out of the barrel!

[thom2]

I sent photos to "Track Of The Wolf" and "Dixie Gun Works".
They had no clue who made the rifle.

[MountainDevil54]

have you taken the barrel off and checked for numbers or markings?

[thom2]

MountainDevil54

There is a number 4" ahead of the nipple (which I replaced) under the forearm. ---- N 1629

[Rootsy]

Just by looking at the bore & the machining of the rifling you can tell it is a modern, mass produced barrel. Not to mention the fact that the lettering on the barrel is done with a machine.