Traditions Prairie Hawken??

Anyone on here have experience with a Traditions Prairie Hawken sidelock? I have a friend of a friend who is looking to sell one in .50 cal. and through my friend found out I shoot muzzleloaders and wanted to know if I was interested. I'm not at all familiar with Traditions muzzleloaders, just T/C sidelocks and reproduction Civil War military percussion rifles.
Are they quality, well made, shoot well? Not many online reviews. I don't want to waste time driving 3 hours to look at it unless it would be worth my time to do so. Sounds like he wants to get rid of it and go back to smokeless powder shooting.

I'm not directly familiar with the Prairie Hawken, but looking online it appears to be a nice looking rifle although I'm not a personal fan of the slight fish belly stock that Traditions uses. I have several Traditions in other models and they are decent guns. The patent breach design can sometimes be finicky about ignition, but that is more of an issue with flintlocks.

For me, it would come down to what I wanted in the next gun or how good the deal is. If the price was right, I'd jump on it. If it is close to retail price, then it would have to be something I really wanted.

I agree, I'm not really in the market for it, although I've been seriously contemplating a .50 cal. Lyman Great Plains Rifle in percussion for a while now, and this seemed to be along those lines. I think the GPR has a really good reputation, and just wanted to see if I might be overlooking a good deal if the Traditions was comparable in quality. I think the price was going to be less than $400 for the used Traditions, but I don't think that is set in stone. Sounds like the rifle hasn't been fired much at all, maybe one deer season and a little target practice.

Just need to be careful that the barrel wasn't left uncleaned. For historical purposes the breech/snail/nipple is closer to a Hawken on the GPR while the Traditions uses the drum/nipple design. If the price was right, that wouldn't be a big issue for me.

It looks like a GPR and a Traditions Hawken got together and had a kid.... :haha:

That of course is the deciding factor. I'm really more interested in a 1 in 60" twist than the Traditions 1 in 48" because I'm only interested in shooting PRBs at this stage of my life. I'm done with conicals. But then again, my Renegade shoots PRBs as accurate as heck, so the 1 in 48" isn't a deal breaker. I'm more interested in the quality of the Traditions overall ”” if it's well made. I don't think I've ever handled a Traditions over the years, that I can remember, at least.

The Lyman GPR is made in Italy. The Traditions guns are made in Spain.

Most of the Traditions guns are the same guns that were imported by CVA except over the years Ardesa has improved the locks and triggers. The barrels were always very accurate with the right ball/powder loads.
Based on the pictures Traditions shows of the Prairie Hawken, it seems to have a walnut stock.

This would be (IMO) a vast improvement over the usual Traditions rifles which have a wooden stock made out of beech.

I see the Prairie Hawken is available as a kit.
If the rifle in question was made from a kit it could range from excellent to pure manure depending on the talent of the person who built it.

I wouldn't be afraid of a 1 in 48 twist. I have several rifles with that twist and they shoot round balls quit well with 50 to 90 grains of powder. Still a 1 in 60 or slower will give good accuracy but often the best will be in the upper powder range. That is great for hunting, but not so much fun for paper punching.

Tell him you aren't really in the market for it but make a cheap offer and see if he will cut a deal.

I wonder if this is the old two-keyed Ardesa ravamped? Traditions offered a patchboxed one around 1990 and I have seen the same gun with a plain butt.

I would not pay $400.00 for a used traditions prairie hawkin. Thats just me though :idunno: MAYBE $250.00 tops

azmntman said:

I would not pay $400.00 for a used traditions prairie hawkin. MAYBE $250.00 tops

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I totally agree! If ya do a little looking around you could pick up a pretty descent used GPR at the $400 range or less.

I also concur with the $250 range as well, and that is if it's in the condition that you've been told!

Just my two cents.

Respectfully, Cowboy

Nope, I agree with both of you. Anyway, I REALLY have wanted a GPR for a long time and that's what I'm looking to get by spring. Anyway, I think my friend may actually buy the Prairie Hawken for himself, so that's OK. I just hadn't heard much about the Traditions and like to keep informed. Nobody I know has one and I didn't want to pass up on a good opportunity. You can never have too much information in muzzleloading.

For the record the Traditions Prairie Hawken has a beech stock. The only walnut stocked rifle they offer is the Pennsylvania.

Not knocking traditions guns, I have several and they preform great. But I like my Corolla alot too, I wouldnt have paid $38,000.00 for it though :hmm: