Jeff, thanks for sharing this build with us. I so much enjoy watching others work. ;)

Best
Les

We have a Rifle!!!
 

I finished up the rifle today! Yay! Can't wait to see how it shoots.

I've spent the last several days cold browning the metal parts that I wanted brown. This is the old "slow rust" process, wherein we apply a rusting agent and let the parts sit overnight. The next day we card off the fuzz and scale with 0000 steel wool, scotchbrite, or even a piece of rough wool, depending on how many applications into it we are. As it gets closer to "done", we use ever finer materials to card it off. Eventually the steel stops reacting to the agent, which means it's a brown as it's ever going to get. The result is a really nice "plum" brown, with a lot of, well, "plum" in the hue.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648858743.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648858743.jpg

Here it is with my other two Hawken replicas. All three are .54 caliber. The upper is a Thompson/Center I built back in 1980, strictly for hunting purposes. In the intervening years, I think I have killed more deer with this rifle than any other I own. It's the only one meant to shoot an elongated bullet, which I felt I "needed" back in those days. I got into all of that at the start of this thread, so I won't bore everyone with it again.

The bottom one is my Lyman, built probably ten years ago. It's a patched round ball only shooter, and a much better representation of a Hawken. It is, however, very light, with its barrel being only 7/8" across the flats (the T/C is a full inch), which severely limits its ability to take a suitable hunting load.

The contrast between these two modern interpretations and the real deal is amazing. The real Hawken is simply a massive rifle, made ever the more apparent now that it is finished and can sit with its siblings. Its tapered octagon barrel starts out at 1 1/8" at the breach end, going down to one inch at the muzzle. As a result, it will accept a proper hunting charge. For comparison, the T/C can take 120 grains of FFg behind the 460 grain Lyman Plains Bullet that I use for hunting. The Lyman can only take 100 grains of FFg behind a 230 grain patched round ball. The new Hawken can take 160 grains of FFg behind that same 230 grain patched round ball. Not sure I'll go that heavy, but it's nice to know I can.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648858743.jpg

This shot shows the different finishes on the barrels. I finished the T/C with a hot browning solution from Birchwood Casey. Probably not a fair comparison, since it spent so many years out in the field in our wet Pacific Northwest. It's pretty much all worn off... The Lyman came with the barrel "blued", although it is actually pitch black. Not correct at all. The plum brown is correct for some Hawkens, but many were actually rust blued as well. I really like the plum brown.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648858743.jpg

Next stop, the rifle range. Should be some time next week.

That is spectacular Jeff. Well done... The Tiger Stripe finish is just perfect!

Wow... Just wow... :eek:

You sir, are my hero. Beautiful work.

Beautiful work! I'm astounded. I've seen some rifles built in my days, but this beats them all. Good luck at the range, and always remember. if it travels farther than Horace Gore's first shot with his .224TTH, you win. I heard it nosed dived right into the dirt. It was a spectacular event, but didn't go so well, so don't invite your friends to the first test rounds.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1914256/224_Texas_Trophy_Hunter

If you would like to see just how well the new Hawken shoots.....this Sunday we have our monthly muzzle loader match at the South Bay Rod and Gun Club. We get there about 8:30 AM or so and the match starts at 9:00 more or less. We use patched round balls, black powder and percussion caps and open sights. We have had folks come down from Riverside, LA, and such and many couples come down Saturday, spen the night then come do the match on Sunday.
John

Beautiful work! I may need a new project...

Question about the ram rod: Do you use the wooden ram rod, or is that just "period decoration"? Several people have told me to leave the wood rod on the rifle and carry a fiberglass rod for strength...

Boy, how I would love to join you guys. I haven't shot a muzzle loader match in probably 20 years. Unfortunately, I'm all the way up near Seattle. That would be one heck of a buggy ride for its first shoot.

I have a one piece steel "range rod" that I use for all of my loading and cleaning at the range and final clean-up at home. It has a muzzle protector, a nice big handle, and is stout enough to be able to take care of any problems, like having loaded "just one more" ball that subsequently won't seat. I only use the ramrod on the rifle when out in the field hunting, if I need to reload.

The ramrod is actually another place where modern replicas deviate from the originals, and not in a good way. All of my modern ramrods are 3/8" diameter, where the ones on originals from .50 caliber and up are 7/16" diameter. Granted, a measly 1/16" probably doesn't sound like much, but remember, cross sectional area goes up with the square of the radius. Originals had substantially stouter ramrods.

Here are a couple of pics of my range rod, the ramrod from the T/C, and the new ramrod. Funny, the kit did not include any ends for the ramrod. I'll be running up to the shop later next week to show them the rifle, so I can pick up a couple ends then.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648936700.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648936700.jpg

Amazing.

Look forward to the range report. Completely unique experience to me.

Looks very nice!! Hope it shoots even better!

Outstanding job, Jeff. Extraordinarily handsome rifle.

It Shoots!!!
 

Well, it shoots... I shot it off the bench at my club range today just to get a feel for it. I only shot out to 50 yards, just trying to get it on paper. I was using what is known as a "half charge", or half the powder that would be used in a hunting load. This is the traditional way to sight in a round ball shooting muzzle loader - shoot to the sights with a half charge at 50 yards, and it will be zeroed at roughly 125 yards with a full charge.

So, today, it was 70 grains of Swiss 1.5Fg black powder with a .535" diameter round ball and a .015" thick patch lubed with Wonder Lube. With rifles meant for the patched round ball, we have a number of options on ball diameter, patch thickness, patch material, and lube. .54's usually use .530" or .535" diameter round balls. Patches typically run .010", .015", .018", .020", and .022" thick, and are made from cotton, pillow ticking, Irish linen, denim, and other natural fibers (we can't use modern synthetics, they melt).

Choice of ball diameter and patch thickness will obviously have a great deal of influence on how tight of a fit they are going down the bore. Match competitors like really tight combinations, hunters like them a bit easier to load down a fouled bore. Rifling depth plays a part in patch selection, with deeper rifling requiring thicker patches. This is something we play with until we find a combination our rifle likes, and one we don't mind loading. Too tight, or requiring wiping between every shot, just gets old. We look for a place where both of us are happy, rifle and rifleman.

I'm happy to say that this randomly chosen combination (on hand because I use it in the other two rifles) shot quite well, and was easy to load. 26 rounds fired without ever wiping the bore, with the last ball going down as easy as the first one. I like that. The lube I'm using, a grease known as "Wonder Lube", helps a great deal in this, by keeping the fouling soft.

It started out over a foot low, which it should, so that we can file down the front sight to bring the point of impact up (who says fixed sights aren't adjustable?). I fired several three shot groups, filing the front sight down .020" at first, then .010" as I got closer in between shooting those groups, slowly bringing the point of impact up. Here are the last two groups. The lower, three shot group was the second to last fired, after which I filed about .010" more off the front sight. The five shot group was the last one of the day, hitting at the elevation I want at 50 Yards (I was using a 6:00 hold, fudging into the black just a wee little bit). I fired five on the final group "just to be sure" and, well, because I was having so much fun. This is about as good as my uncorrected 62 year old eyeballs can do with open sights these days, so I'm pretty darn happy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649112941.jpg

Next up, I'll be trying a full hunting charge of 140 grains at 100 yards. It should impact about 3" high, putting it right on at about 125-130 yards, and about 4"-5" low at 150 yards, then about two feet low at 200. So, in practical terms, we wind up with about a 150 yard "point blank" range for deer and elk hunting. I didn't want to go out to 100 yards today, since we are experiencing some pretty high, gusty winds. I'll wait for a calmer day for that. For now, though, I'm pretty darn happy.

Didn't you say you were using a half-charge, and wanting it to be on target at 50 years, so that it would be on target again at 125 with a full charge? Ummm....why are those holes so far away from the center of this target?

Nice group though, at 50 years with geezer eyesight. ;)

Good question. Like I said, I was using a "6:00 hold, fudging into the black just a wee bit". The hold I was using is similar to #1 below, so the point of impact is actually right on top of the front sight post. To impact the center of the target, I would use the hold shown as #2 below.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649116607.jpg

The bull is just an aiming point when zeroing for hunting. With a match rifle or handgun, shooting the same diameter bull all of the time, we would sight it to hit center with a 6:00 hold. We don't want that with a hunting arm - we want it to hit right on top of the front post.

That helps, but much of it is still lost on me. I am a simple man. I understand "Sight Image 2" have have always sighted rifles to hit what is at the top of the front sight.

Glad you are pleased. Sure is a beautiful rifle, for your modest collection.

Just personal preference. I see "sight image 1" much better than I see "sight image 2". Since we both want it to hit on the top of the front sight, that just means mine will hit in the bottom of the black. Like I said, it's just an aiming point.

See? If you dumb it down far enough, even Superman can understand. :)

Really nice rifle, Jeff. And a good hobby for you. It engages your body and mind. Your tactile skills and use of tools and materials and craftsman strategies and methods. And then there is the seemingly endless study of ballistics and the even more complex "how you get there" variables across several different elements. Bores, riflings, projectiles, propellant....

This is good for you. And good for Mrs. Higgins. ;)

Jeff, Why not start producing completed rifles from the kit? I'd bet you couldn't make enough of them.

And I really like how there's some extra color around the hand grip area. It helps it look "used".
- Was this intentional?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648858743.jpg

There is, indeed, a ready market for "professional builders" who are finishing rifles like these for folks who do not possess the skills necessary to do so for themselves. They command a fair amount of money as well. I'm afraid, however, that I lack the fortitude or nerves to build one of these for someone else. Maybe if I had a few more under my belt the jitters would subside...

That's the excuse I'm using to justify shopping for my "next one", anyway. I'm pretty sure I know what I want. I've mentioned it earlier, the Jim Kibler "Southern Mountain Rifle" in .36 caliber, a "squirrel rifle". That does represent a hole in my modest battery, with my muzzle loaders all being big game calibers - .50, .54, and .72. I "need" a small bore.

Before I commit, however, I'm going to bask in the glow of having successfully completed this one. Once that wears off, I'll see where I stand, and if I'm eager to do all of this again. If I am, I'll order up the kit. If I'm successful with that one, and build some confidence, who knows - maybe I'll take on one for a friend or something. Several have already asked...

As far as the grip area, that was just luck of the draw on the placement of the figure in the wood. I do agree, I rather like the affect, making it appear somewhat used. I would imagine that with time it will continue to get darker in that area, enhancing the affect.