Seeking help

Seeking help. Antique Hawkins rifle I picked up. It hits the edge of the hammer and not the center as you can see. And that has broken it.

What should be done. Wonder if I should look for a new hammer. Got it super cheap and I’d like to get it shooting

The drum has not been installed straight. I would want to check those threads into the barrel. Worst case cut a little of the barrel off at the breach and install a new drum. Hammer would be up to you, its just cosmetic...leave it, possibly try to weld it or otherwise you could replace it.

It appears as if the drum is over rotated and needs to be turned counterclockwise to put the nipple in the center of the hammer recess.

This could be a more complicated process. Perhaps the drum could be removed and replaced with a new nipple seat being drilled to get the nipple in alignment with the hammer.

Have you used a borescope to see what the condition of the bore at the breech looks like? How much pitting is there at the breech? What do the lands and grooves look like?

If the breech is heavily pitted, the best recourse is cut the breech back to where there is minimal pitting. Then a new breech plug is threaded into the barrel and a new drum and nipple are installed.

Agreed, the drum is rotated in to far. A new drum after a complete inspection of all the other issues is what’s needed. No simple one step fix.
And that is not a Hawken.

Grenadier1758 said:

It appears as if the drum is over rotated and needs to be turned counterclockwise to put the nipple in the center of the hammer recess.

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The drum is out of square with the bore/barrel.

Yes, the drum is over rotated and installed out of square with the barrel.

And @Phil Coffins is correct, that rifle is not a Hawken.

Mark the alignment. Remove drum if the angle cut on the end matches over rotation shim washer drum to correct alignment.

As already mentioned, the drum is not perpendicular to the barrel. If the barrel is worthy of shooting, then a new bolster should be fitted. The hammer could just be cleaned up with a file and hopefully the face is flat enough to detonate caps.

"And that is not a Hawken."

The OP didn't say it was a Hawken, he said it was a Hawkins Sadie's Brother Bill.

But @TheTyler7011 didn't provide any pictures to show us what his rifle really is. Even the Hawken brothers back in Maryland had issues spelling Hawken or Hawkin.

I don’t spell good neither.

That's the wonkiest drum installation I've ever beheld; makes me nervous just to look at it.

Besides being rotated in too far, the drum looks cross-threaded.

It would be a nice wall hanger and that's all. Get yourself a GOOD use rifle to shoot and leave this one alone. It has far too many issues to shoot safely.

Yes, it looks kind of "shot", no pun intended. Guys have given good advice. I bet the bore is 'shot', too. Good luck one way or another!

rafterob said:

As already mentioned, the drum is not perpendicular to the barrel. If the barrel is worthy of shooting, then a new bolster should be fitted. The hammer could just be cleaned up with a file and hopefully the face is flat enough to detonate caps.

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The drum may be bent and not necessarily installed crooked. Possibility with the ham handed effort that over rotated the drum. Will required plenty of detailed effort to make shootable again.

I would recommend that the rifle be taken to a competent gunsmith who is familiar with muzzleloaders. I would agree, the drum is over-rotated and is either bent or was installed out of square. The nipple is badly rusted, and the drum is almost as bad.

If you look at the top view, please note how close the drum is to the end of the barrel. How many threads do you think are on that breech plug? Not many.

For what it’s worth, I would also like to point out that this rifle has a back-action lock. There is no support for the drum from a lock plate.

Old-timers had a very different view of safety. This rifle has some issues that need to be addressed before it is fired.

Rehabilitation is not out of the question, though.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Notchy Bob said:

If you look at the top view, please note how close the drum is to the end of the barrel. How many threads do you think are on that breech plug? Not many.

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Could also be some kind chambered breech? Could be imagining it, or maybe lighting/shadows, but is there the faint line across the barrel where I have an arrow pointing? Could only tell with an actual inspection.

Careless removal of the drum could possibly do even more damage to the barrel. If everything else checks out OK then the barrel could be rethreaded for a larger drum and if that's not possible a plug could be screwed into the new threads and then drilled and tapped to take a new drum. In either of these previous scenes a new drum could be fabricated if needed, not a difficult job. The work previously mentioned work should be left to a qualified gunsmith or a machinist.

Tie that to a tire with a loooong string and hide behind a truck to shoot it the first time. I have not the skills to move fwd on that so if I had it I would drink alot one night and make up a fantastic story behind it and hang it on the wall. (I was told lying about old guns is not a chargeable sin if no monies are involved).