Breaking in a new Hawken
 

My brother and I were able to get out on the range today and despite the 32* weather, he did extremely good!


We took a total of 6 shots to break the barrel in with the break in patch lube, went inside to warm up and reload.


This time I decided to push it up to a hunting load of 90gr 2fg goex, .020" patch and hand cast .530" round ball.

So much for 1:48 twist barrels not being accurate with round balls!

We were shooting 50 yards and she needed a lot of sight adjustment.


In the end, the 90gr load was super accurate and a great elk load for September should he draw a tag. If not, a good deer load for sure.




Now that I know shes a shooter, its time to clean her up, strip it down and start the wood work. A lot of wood to remove off the wrist and the butt plate area of the stock.

Let us see a pic when you get it done MD... I always admired your finish work on stocks. What particular stain (brand) are you gonna use on this one?

BPS

Oh I believe this will be a mixture of the birchwood casey walnut and dixies antique gun stain. I will use the walnut stain over the antique to cut back the reddish brown color. It really highlights the wood when you go over one stain with a darker color.

Do you use a "filler" type stain? I tried min-wax (I believe a gel type) type stain on a .22 rifle stock one time and was repulsed with the outcome. Ended up stripping it and have yet to re-finish it with another stain.

BPS

no filler. Once its stained, I lightly buff with with 0000 steel wool to make the wood smooth once more and then follow up with 2 coats of hand rubbed linseed oil that I allow to soak in for 24 hours. Wipe the stock down HARD with a rag and then I start applying thin coats of Truoil.

Correct me if I'm wrong... but you probably wipe the stock down with a "tack" cloth or something similar after hitting it with steel wool and prior to applying the linseed oil? I have a couple of my older Renny's that I've considered going over the stock again. I'm not gonna stain them, they're already Walnut. I just wanna remove the old T/C finish along with some scuffs and scratches and give them a nice oil rubbed look.

BPS

Yes thats correct, after the steel wool, It gets wiped down and actually taken outside to the air compressor and all the little channels blown out clean.

Have you ever wrapped a stock that you were in no hurry for in linseed oil soaked cloth and just put it away? Maybe just soaking the cloth at intervals to maintain that oil soak? Seems I read somewhere that old time rifle builders would do that with a chunk of maple or walnut so that the wood was impregnated with the oil prior to their shaping it.

BPS

Sure enough ought to fill a tag. ;) What's that break in patch lube? Never have heard of the likes.

another new lube I am testing out that I recently made. Its to polish any imperfections out of the bore like scratches, burrs, from a new barrel or to freshen up a well used barrel that may have suffered from some lighter pitting here and there.

A picture of the bore new,


After we took those 12 shots today,

So it's a lighter version of fire lapping?

Yes and much more gentle on the rifling. You can use your regular shooting loads with it as well.

I actually did a little cleaning on my 58 yesterday with it, 18 shots total with charges ranging from 20gr 2fg so I could get deep down in the breech section, and all the way up to 80 to get a little more pressure behind that patch.

In this new 54 we'll probably take at least 25 more shots to get that muzzle cleaned up good.

Its looking great and we were both tickled at how well she shot for being a new unfinished rifle.

I actually put some epoxy on the inside of the lock to bed it to the barrel so theres no gaps for the percussion cap fouling to shoot into. Once I test that out, I'll most likely do that to my 58 Hawken as well.

This .58 barrel on my rifle has a couple thousand shots through it and in the past, has gotten a little rusty. Towards the breech there felt like a ring in the barrel from where the ball sits on the powder. I thought it was possibly "throat" erosion but after running 18 shots through it with the break in lube, the rings I was feeling have shrunk greatly. I'm not sure what to make of it though.

Halfway point on my 58 barrel before,


After


Each picture is taken from the same section of the barrel. I mark the cord on my camera with masking tape and label what caliber and what spot I am looking at.

That stuff does quite well. ;)

That bore looks much better. I may have to order some of that lube just as a bore polish.
As for finishing a stock I've been staining my with a color of my choosing then after it dries thoroughly I applied (sprayed) a few coats of clear satin polyurethane.
The last stock I finished I used Tru-oil and put on about 10 coats buffing each with steel wool after drying.