Springfield Hawken

Hi everyone. Newbie here but I've been reading all I can here at the forum. Lots of good info. Thanks!

I was looking to buy a muzzleloader to extend my deer hunting this year. I didn't want an inline, I wanted something more traditional looking. I happened to ask one of the guys I work with if he knew anyone wanting to sell something suitable. He replied that he had a Hawken kicking around that he had no use for because he uses an inline. I told him I'd buy it and he said "I don't want anything for it. Take it, it's yours". So today he handed it over to me.

I took it to where my brother works. He's one of them buckskinning rendezvousing types. He's into building up his own flinters from parts he scrounges but he does do percussion stuff too. He just about wet his pants when I told him how it got to be mine. Says he'll teach me how to use it and has everything to get me going to. For years, I've fought off his muzzleloading advances because all I shoot and own is "that cartridge stuff".

My brother says it was more likely kit built. The barrel is in the white, actually it was left to brown naturally by the looks of it. He also said that there's a lot of wood that can be taken down too.
The bore has some very light rust. The nipple is plugged up.
I'm going to take it down tonight and start cleaning.
Anyway, here it is.


A previous owner got a little artsy. I kinda like it and will leave it.



I have no idea who the manufacturer is but from what I've read in past threads here, it could be a CVA?

Thanks!
Jon

Welcome to the forum :thumbsup:

That gun was put out by Traditions. It is perfect for patched round ball. I have the same gun lying over here in the corner awaiting a replacement barrel.

You sure cannot beat the price you got it for!

Nice score :thumbsup:

I've used one of those for deer hunting during Michigan's muzzle loading season for years. Almost identical to yours - same beechwood stock (minus the deerhead decoration). I see someone has replaced your ramrod with a decent aftermarket one - good for you. Mine has a typical Ardessa-made lock (appear that yours does too) and a very good quality barrel.It was a Christmas gift from my wife, so both rifles were gifts. Good luck with that new-to-you rifle; you are in for a world of fun.

sneezy

Nice find. Looks like my two St Louis Hawken's with out a patchbox. I just shot in a shoot week ago sun with my 50 barrel. I have 54&50 barrels for each. I hadven't shot in a match since 94, been 20yrs since I had shot there and got 2nd with a 36 TC Seneca, got 3rd with the 50. Was a woods walk, even dryball on 4th target, imagine that,ball puller was wrong(54) ended up shooting it out,nipple wrench didn't wont to the nipple I had in,and to top it off left my one capper at home, one of my group lent me caps to finish. Here I thought I was all pepared. Old age a gripe. Still had a lot of fun and a pkg of steaks. Dilly

Hey, that is a nice looking rifle. I never heard before about "browning naturally", only about chemical browning. That is a neat idea, did they do that method a long time ago before all the chemical finishes became common?

If you read in the Fox Fire book,I think no 6, Hacker Martin used to put barrels outside in wet weather and even used urine on then to rust them. I have one I am just letting it rust by it self. Dilly

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new rifle!

As you know, your gun was made in Spain. The company which made it is Ardessa and over the years they have made guns for Traditions, CVA and a number of lesser known importers (like Springfield).

They are basic inexpensive guns but most owners find the barrels are quite good.

The 1-66 twist rate will be great for shooting patched roundballs and when all is said and done, these are the least expensive things to shoot anyway.
Our members have found that a patched .490 or .495 roundball will easily take a deer out to 100 yards so you shouldn't have a problem with hunting as long as you get it sighted in.
By the way, a lot of people have found that if you sight it in for 70 yards you won't have to make any major sight corrections for any range from 25 to 100 yards.
For a powder load of around 80 grains of black powder your muzzle velocity will be around 1700 FPS and if sighted for 70 yards it will be hitting about 1/2 inch high at 25 yards, 1 inch high at 50 yards and 4 inches low at 100 yards.

I'm sure your brother can fill you in on the equipment you will need. Who knows, maybe he will even give you some of it to repay you for that baseball glove of yours he sold back in the 8th grade!

Post often and let us know how things are working out with your gun and don't forget, we are here to answer any question you might have.

PS, you might even try to get your brother to visit us. We are always looking for folks who know about building and shooting muzzleloaders not to mention re-enacting.
zonie

if you want to try the urine way of browning,just prop it up against the tree in my back yard and I'll take care of it promptly,,, :rotf: :youcrazy: :rotf:

Well I have always heard, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" but, I think Lucky Stiff might be more appropriate! :grin:
Now I can't say for sure cause every gun has it's sweet spot,but I'd start off with about 55-65gr. of GEOX 2f, a .490 ball and somewhere around .18 patch. Then you can work up from there. I am shooting a .50 cal Traditions, St. Louis Hawken with great results. Take a look at a post by me under General Muzzleloading, thread is Extreme Dryball Problem PartII. I just shot it today and posted the results, which I am very pleased with the results. :grin:

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.
I was unaware that I had a different ramrod than what originally came with the rifle. Cool.
I may stain the wood, I haven't decided yet.
I pulled the barrel off for the heck of it last night. I noticed the wedge was loose but my brother told me not to worry about it. When I got the barrel off I noticed a piece of spring steel mounted on one of the cross bolts. It was facing down into an inletted hole (mortise?) in the stock. Something tells me that it should be facing upwards to add some tension between the barrel and stock so the wedge is tight? Right?
I can't wait to fire this thing.

Thanks for all the good info, Zonie. You know my brother, huh? :hmm: Actually, he peeved me when I found out he was in the process of Bubba'ing our dad's Japanese Arisaka he brought home from the Pacific. I got it from him before he wrecked it :shocked2:

Since I got this rifle, I've been hankering to try a Traditions Kentucky Rifle "kit" to get my feet wet and then after that to try a more complicated parts kit.
I find all guns addicting but I've never been interested in BP until now.

Thanks again, everyone.

I believe the flattened spring you found is supposed to be going down into the stock to provide some spring pressure on the ramrod. This keeps it from falling out (when everything is working like it should).

As for the loose barrel wedge, if you bend it just a little bit (1/32" or so) it will tighten up the barrel when it is inserted with the bow down (to provide downward pressure).
That will also keep it from falling out and getting lost.

Don't worry about accidentally installing it upside down. When it's properly bent it will be very firmly in place when it is installed correctly and it will be loose as a goose when installed upside down.

Zonie said:

I believe the flattened spring you found is supposed to be going down into the stock to provide some spring pressure on the ramrod. This keeps it from falling out (when everything is working like it should).

As for the loose barrel wedge, if you bend it just a little bit (1/32" or so) it will tighten up the barrel when it is inserted with the bow down (to provide downward pressure).
That will also keep it from falling out and getting lost.

Don't worry about accidentally installing it upside down. When it's properly bent it will be very firmly in place when it is installed correctly and it will be loose as a goose when installed upside down.

Click to expand...

Again, thanks Zonie. I guess the spring being used to hold the ramrod makes more sense than what I thought it was for. I still have a lot to learn. I'll check the wedge to see if I have it in wrong.
Also thanks to everyone for the load data too. My brother says he has different sized .50 balls. We'll see what shoots best.