A Fantasy Hawken

[rfd]

A half-stock J&S Hawken flint rifle? No such thing ... maybe. No one knows for sure.

Tom Watson, Sr. built this originally as a .50 1:66 for me, with a Rice 1"x36" radius groove barrel, but I changed my fickle mind and shipped the barrel off to Bobby Hoyt for a makeover as a .54 1:60 w/radius grooves. Barrel is left in-the-white, as I prefer. Chambers-SIler late Ketland lock, Pecatonica figured maple stock, steel furniture, L&R double set triggers. Came to me in-the-white and I stained the wood with 2 coats of LMF American Walnut, CYA'd to seal the barrel channel and lock mortise, three coats of warmed TOTW Original Oil finish (linseed oil w/driers), and finished off with multiple coats of warmed Tru-Oil varnish. Tapered 7/16" hickory ramrod. All in all, not too shabby a rifle that's 9lbs 5ozs total weight. Will cone the muzzle today and shoot 'er in tomorrow. Still not sure if this rifle is "the one" for me. Maybe, gotta see.

[54bore]

That is a SUPER NICE lookin rifle rfd!! Do you regret having the barrel re bored?

[rfd]

nope, shudda ordered it as a .54 from the get-go, what was i thinking? rats.

images kinda suck, will take better ones outdoors today.

[johnson1942]

just a hint about your wonderfully finished stock. buy some HUTS plastic polish and use a soft 100 percent cotton flannel cloth with plenty of HUTS in it and rub that stock out and it will glow even more and the grain will be even more displayed. an oil finish is a form of plastic finish and HUTS is the best.

[Bowhunter73]

That is one beautiful rifle you have there, makes me want to get a flintlock again.

[rfd]

after a week or so, and the varnish cures harder, it'll get a johnson's carnuba car wax rub down.

[Beagle333]

Wow. That look really awesome! Beautiful, and my favorite caliber too!!

[LAGS]

Very nice rifle.
Makes me want to jump back on my M L projects.

[taco650]

Very nice! Why do you like the barrels unfinished?

[Nueces]

rfd, please describe your tooling and methods for coning yer muzzle.

[rfd]

some images in the strong light of day ...

[rfd]

aesthetically i just like to leave the metal as is and patina all on its own.

i use a brass coning tool from ed hamburg ...

[54bore]

Awesome pics rfd! That is a nice rifle!

[Nueces]

Thanks, rfd, I looked up that tool and can fire up the Myford and make one.

Later: I let the Myford take it's rest and ordered two tools from the maker.

[old woody]

Very nice work !

[flint45]

Nice rifle yea let the metal do its thing.

[mazo kid]

I made my own coning tool after borrowing one from a friend. I made different diameter brass pilots for different size bores. Oh, a very nice job in building that rifle!

[rfd]

ed's coner just uses a patched jag as the pilot. it works really well. rather than use a tap handle i use a v/s drill and through a number of different grit abrasives to further polish the cone's taper.

[bigted]

That is a dandy. Except for the flintlock and natural white , your rifle bears more then a passing resemblance to my J. Browning mountain rifle. I also have the single set trigger which I am warming up to.

My rifle is currently 50 cal and I desire to punch it out to 54 as well. You have features that I like and may borrow a couple from your build.

When I bought the Browning it had been mistreated and needed a main spring as well as barrel wedges so I gave her some love and modified a spring to work as well as buying two wedges from TOW and now I need to do some finish work on the metal and wood.

Thanks for sharing your rifle ... She is a keeper and an inspiration for me.

By the by ... So is there no evidence of a Flint JS Hawkins?

[rfd]

also non-period correct is that the barrel wedges are set in from the right side, whereas the js hawkens were set in from the left. just my personal preference. besides, there is absolutely no historical media reference, let alone a physical artifact, that the brothers ever made a half stock flintlock. full stock flinters, yes indeed. it would seem at least a bit logical that at least a few half stock flinters were produced, prior to adopting the cap lock. does it all really matter? not to me.