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Building an Investarms Gemmer Hawken Kit

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Today we're officially starting our Investarms Gemmer Hawken Kit building series. This series will cover the construction of this muzzleloader kit, the tools needed, and several different processes of wood finishing and metal finishing.

In this video, we're unboxing the kit to get a detailed look at each of the parts before we move onto assembly. I talk about each of the Hawken parts, their purpose and place on the muzzleloader, some of my top tips for muzzleloader kit building, and my recommendations on what to research before starting. In the next part of this series, we will cover some of the tools needed for this project and then we will move onto fitting the parts! If you have any questions about this kit or the techniques I'm using, leave them in the comments below. I will address as many comments as I can in videos associated with this series to give you as much detail as I can about the answer.

I know these kits are 100% accurate, and to my understanding, a flintlock Hawken, let alone a flintlock half stock Hawken hasn't been found, but the kit is still a fun way to get back in the shop and away from the screens and news.
 
Looks just like the Lyman Great Plains rifle kit I finished earlier this year. You're going to have lots of wood to remove to make it look right. By far the hardest part will be shaping the cheekpiece the kit just comes with a big blob of wood sticking out that doesn't even come close to what a Hawken should be.
 
Why "video" instead of photos?
I’ll post some photos as I continue with the build, thanks for asking. I like making videos.
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Looks just like the Lyman Great Plains rifle kit I finished earlier this year. You're going to have lots of wood to remove to make it look right. By far the hardest part will be shaping the cheekpiece the kit just comes with a big blob of wood sticking out that doesn't even come close to what a Hawken should be.

I could be wrong, but Investarms may be making them for Lyman? Theres a relationship there I haven’t worked out yet. Thanks for the tip, I’m happy to see the cheekpiece but it does look like a lot of work haha. Oh well. Should be fun
 
I’ll post some photos as I continue with the build, thanks for asking. I like making videos. View attachment 98350
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I could be wrong, but Investarms may be making them for Lyman? Theres a relationship there I haven’t worked out yet. Thanks for the tip, I’m happy to see the cheekpiece but it does look like a lot of work haha. Oh well. Should be fun
Correct the GPR kit I finished was made by Investarms under the Lyman label.
 
I’ve been working away on this kit, here’s some updates to catch up here

Dry fitting went surprisingly well, I only had to adjust the barrel tang inlet to get it to fit the way I wanted.
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Removed a bit of wood as you can see, but it fits better now.

I’ve been using Bob Woodfill’s ‘The Hawken Rifle 1817-1870’ as a guide for this build. He has a few nice pictures of the Gemmer builds that have helped me a lot.
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Last week I did a marathon of wood shaping. This kit comes with a lot of extra wood, but itallows you to shape the stock as you want. I opted for a major slim down.


I was able to film more over the holiday, and hope to finish up the rifle this month.
 
Investarms was a group that produced for many brands. Pedersoli was involved with
Investarms early on--maybe as an investor or key supplier. It may well have been a
Pedersoli off label for discounted guns. I have several Investarms. Pedersoli parts
will interchange in some instances. These are excellent rifles--very accurate.
 


In this video I share the ENTIRE rusting process for my Investarms Gemmer Hawken Kit from start to finish. This is a simple metal finishing technique that dates back to some of the first muzzleloaders ever built. Cold browning like this is a great, durable way to finish the hardware on your muzzleloader kit.

I'm using some "Wildcat Valley" browning solution, but there are many other options out there like Birchwood Casey, Tried and True, and classic vinegar soaking. I'll be walking you through the de-greasing, application of rusting, and the techniques I used to amplify the color and pitting of the rust on these muzzleloader parts.
 


 

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The kit is now complete and performed well at the range. I’m really pleased with the results
 

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