One thought, my opinion, is that a lot of guys try very hard to get a rifle looking like a Hawken on the outside, but they don't necessarily devote a lot of thought to the barrel. The original Hawkens were renowned for accuracy and "shootability," and their barrels were responsible for that reputation. If it were me, I would decide on the general configuration of the rifle I wanted (J&S versus S. Hawken, full stock versus half stock, etc.), then think about what I would want in a barrel
Notchy makes a good point--or a couple of 'em.
The three sources of kits that have been discussed will likely come with distinctly different barrels. I don't know who The Hawken Shop is buying their barrels from, but they describe them as 1-1/8" to 1" tapered barrel with 1:48 twist. Don Stith has used a number of different barrel manufactures, but likely is providing his kits now with Rice barrels. In .50 and .54 caliber, they will be 1:66 twist. The last time I looked, Track was including Colerain barrels in 1:56 twist or Rice in 1:66 twist.
Herb posted some interesting load experiments in a recent thread,
The Horace Kephart Hawken, where he used his Bridger copy that has a 1:48 twist like the originals. He showed that that barrel with that twist could handle anything from 42 grs of GOEX 2F up to 210 grs of GOEX 2F with reasonable accuracy.
I too would be interested in which kit
Jim Wag is leaning.
Don Stith offers at least six different Hawken kits--a full stock J&S Hawken, a half stock J&S Hawken, a generic half stock S. Hawken, a Kit Carson Hawken, and a couple different configurations of Sam Hawken squirrel rifles. That's a lot to choose from. People make a big deal about the authenticity of Stith's kits, but he, like most producers of kits, has had to make some compromises. Except for the Kit Carson kit, none of the others are copied exactly from an original rifle. In addition, the only J&S breech commercially available is the Griffith Tool Co. breech from The Hawken Shop and it comes in 1" only. For 1-1/8" barrels, Stith provides the Sam Hawken breech that Track uses on their Bridger kit. I do like the trigger guard that Stith provides for his J&S rifles. He is the only one with a correct J&S trigger guard. I guess what I am saying is that Stith's S. Hawken rifles are more correct than his J&S rifles because of the breech snail.
The Hawken Shop kit uses castings that Art Ressel made from a couple of original Hawken rifles in his collection when he owned the company. Technically, I would say their kit is the most authentic. I have a couple of rifles made from The Hawken Shop kits when Art Ressel owned it. One was custom built by Keith Neubauer who was well known in his day for his restoration work and had access to Ressel's originals. It is without a doubt, the best contemporary S. Hawken rifle I've seen. The other kit rifle is good, but it was assembled by an amateur not a professional. The draw back to the current Hawken Shop kit is its price, being a few hundred more than Stith's and Track's kits. Also, I know of a person that received one last year that had a lock that wasn't assembled correctly. I don't know if he got it resolved or not.
As far as Track of the Wolf is concerned, I would only consider their Jim Bridger kit, pictures of which have been posted in this thread. Track's Kit Carson Hawken kit is not authentic. Their Bridger kit is basically the same as the late S. Hawken rifle that GRRW was making from 1977 to when they closed in 1980. It is not an exact copy of the original Bridger Hawken owned by MHS because the contract GRRW had with MHS forbid them from selling an exact copy. The changes are minor dimensional differences in length of barrel, length of forearm, spacing of barrel keys, and the round inside corner of butt plate. That said, Track's Bridger kit is very representative of the rifles Sam was making in the mid-1850's and essentially the same pattern that GRRW was making. The only knock I have for the TOTW Bridger kit is that the standard trigger guard isn't exactly right. It comes with TG-HAWK-L-I . A more correct trigger guard is TG-HAWK-H-I.
Another consideration is weight. Unless you are young and strong, I would stay away from an 1-1/8" straight octagon barrel. Herb says his Bridger copy "with a 33 1/8 inch .54 caliber 1 1/8 inch barrel of one in 48 inch twist weighs 11 1/4 pounds." I have a couple GRRW rifles with 1-1/8" x 36" barrels that weigh 12.5 pounds on my scales. For someone older than 60, like myself, that is too heavy for anything other than bench shooting.
Don Stith offers his full stock J&S Hawken with a 1" to 7/8" taper 36" long barrel. That is a good choice for a rifle intended to be shot off-hand or hunted with. An even lighter choice is his squirrel rifle "options allow you to upgrade to a light Plains rifle." He lists a 15/16" to 7/8" tapered barrel option that would be great in the half stock, two-key light Plains rifle upgrade in .50 or .54 caliber. Sam Hawken actually made such rifles. Just something to consider if you intend to carry a rifle much while hunting.