This left Hawken halfstock rifle is stocked in walnut and trimmed in iron furniture. The walnut stock is finished dark and the iron furniture is fire blued. Assembled around a .54 caliber tapered octagon barrel, this plains rifle will be ideal for large game hunting, or silhouette match use. Trigger reach is 14", to fit a 6" or taller shooter. This halfstock plains rifle weighs 10.9 pounds. Recoil should be modest, thanks to the weight of the rifle.
The .54 caliber 36" rifle barrel measures 1-1/8" at the breech and tapers to 1" at the muzzle. The bore is cut rifled with six lands and grooves with a slow twist for patched round ball. The first 1" of the muzzle has had the rifling relieved, or coned, using a lathe. This resembles Thompson Center's QLA system, and allows the shooter to thumb start a patched round ball without the use of a short starter. The bore is mirror bright and has been well maintained. The barrel is fitted with a nickel silver blade front sight set in a copper based dovetailed behind the muzzle. A buckhorn rear sight is dovetailed 11" ahead of the breech. The barrel is signed Parry between the breech and rear sight. The barrel, breech plug and long tang are finished to a heavily textured brown patina
The walnut stock is finished to a dark brown with satin sheen. The stock has a few small handling marks from use. The lock, buttplate, toeplate, and trigger guard are fire blued and neatly inlet. The long tang of the slanted hooked breech strengthens the wrist. The hooked breech allows the barrel to be dismounted for cleaning without wetting the stock. Two keys retain the barrel, surrounded by fire blued escutcheon plates. Remove the keys with a small brass or hardwood drift, and withdraw the ramrod, before lifting the barrel from its mortise. A steel 1/4-28 nipple for #11 cap, is fitted to the hooked snail breech.
The iron toeplate protects the toe, ending in the traditional beaver tail finial. The trigger bar, anchored to the long tang with two tang bolts, supports and re-enforces the wrist. Hawken rifles quickly became famous for reliability in the Rocky Mountains. The forend is fitted with pewter forend cap, and browned iron ramrod entry pipe. The 7/16" diameter hickory ramrod is fitted with an iron tip at front, threaded 8-32 to accept your cleaning jag or patch worm. The single lock bolt, and tear drop escutcheon around it, are classic features of a halfstock Hawken plains rifle, from the 1835 - 1845 era.
Ron Long, of Denver, recreated this T. Gibbons Hawken percussion lock, for the Green River Rifle Works of Roosevelt, Utah. Skillfully assembled and tuned by R. E. Davis, this is the correct Hawken lock for this fur trade era percussion rifle. the well tempered parts include a strong mainspring, stirrup link, and a fly detent to allow set triggers. R.E. Davis double lever double set triggers fire set or unset, for target match shooting, or cold weather hunting with gloved fingers. Turn the set screw, between the two triggers, inboard, until the rear trigger is disabled. After hunting, return the screw to its normal position, and adjust it to make your set trigger as strong or as feather light as you prefer, within the limits of safe use.
The nearly 11 pound weight will make this rifle very steady when aimed offhand. Rest shooting is ideal, since the heavy weight absorbs recoil. The 100 yard and 130 yard Buffalo X-Sticks Match targets are not far away for this big .54 caliber round ball. Order it for a ten day visual inspection. You will be delighted. Else if it does not fit you, return it in unfired condition for same-day refund. Postage is your only risk, when you order any one-of-a-kind gun from Track, whether new, used, or antique.
