My Don Stith/John Bergmann J&S Hawken Arrived Today

Well, at long last since ordering one from John Bergmann last September, my J&S Hawken arrived today. I ordered the components from Don Stith and had him send them to John. It has a .54 cal, 1-56" twist, 36" X 1 1/8" - 1" tapered Rice barrel, RE Davis lock, 14 1/4" inch length of pull, and weighs 10.8 pounds. I can't wait to shoot this rifle.

Very nice :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I need to go down to Troutville and visit Don Stith once I get moved back down to Virginia. Love the look of a good Hawken.

That is absolutely gorgeous BriR. There are going to be a lot of keyboards covered with drool from this thread.

That is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing, I will be saving up for one of those!

If envy is a sin I stand guilty...beautiful Hawken...

John

thats a beautiful rifle

Thanks much, guys. Let me add, too, that although this is a heavy rifle, it balances very nicely. The balance point seems to be just behind the nose cap. I had a GRRW Leman Trade Rifle in .54 cal, and although it was a beautiful rifle, the straight 1 1/8" barrel made it very nose heavy. I just did not like that aspect of the rifle and ended up selling it.

That's one beautiful Hawken...Bergman did an excellent job w/ the Stith parts. I wanted to build this same rifle for a customer but seeing he was a lefty, had to build Stith's S. Hawken. The lefty version comes w/ a 36" bbl that's tapered from 1" to 7/8" and in .54 cal. is quite a bit lighter than the heavier bbl. Outstanding piece of wood....Fred

Here's the original Bridger Hawken that John built for me. He was in the process of building this, unbeknownst to me, when I contacted him and asked if he'd build one from Stith's components, as I really wanted an early J&S Hawken that was more period correct for the fur trade. John is a true gentleman and said no problem, he'd just sell the other Bridger one. It's got a bit shorter stock and the barrel is about an inch shorter, so it weighs about a pound less. It's also a .54 caliber with a 1 1/8" - 1" Bob Hoyt barrel and Davis lock. It's still for sale, too.

Looks like a deer slayer to me!Very nice! :grin: and the wood is something else...Now get shooting! Looking forward to a range report....Dan

Those sure are nice looking rifles.

Really nice rifle!!

Both dem gunz iz nice- I sho likum both- dat's what I is talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very nice!

Fantastic rifle! How was the stock finished?

Fantastic rifle with super wood as well. :thumbsup:
Nice job. :hatsoff:
Dusty :wink:

Track Of the Wolf carries nice Hawkens by John all the time- really great rifles. Check them out, good prices for Custom work, TGP

Puuuurrrrr ~ Tay!!!!

Very Nice! :hatsoff:

Yes, they sure do. That's where I first saw John's work years ago. As I said, I'm pretty sure he has the other one for sale, and you won't get the mark up that TOTW would put on it.

Regarding the stock, I actually asked for a straight grained maple, in keeping with the "authenticity" of the Hawken. Don fixed me up really nice, though, so no complaints here! John finished it in a mixture of oil and something else, possible the stuff sold by TOTW.