Hawken Rifles

[musketman]

quote:Originally posted by sharps4590:
I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of the product or who makes it but there is a "wipe on" something that takes off blueing.Is it salt water?

Just kidding...

I think that it might be "Birchwood Casey Blue & Rust Remover"...
http://www.shootnhunt.com/birchwood_casey_blue_&_rust_remover.html

 

[Donny]

I ain't no expert, but I have noted a lot of halfstock Hawkens had 39 in. bbl. And some were 1 1/8" across the flats. All original guns I have seen have long heavy barrels, like 1" bl for .36 cal., etc, Read somewhere St. Louis sold iron bars in 8 ft. length, the Hawkens rifled ther own bbl, and made pistols, so 8' bar would make 2 39' rifle and 2 9' pistol bbls, (approximately). Also the St. Louis shot tower dropped .53 cal. ball, that is why many were rifled about that cal.
However, the Hawken in the Davis museum in Ok is about .43 cal.,&(39 " bbl), I think there were a lot more in that range of cal. went to the mtns. than many people think. And that gun has a lot of wear on the wrist and under the forearm where it rested on the saddle. Like the Harpers Ferry rifle, reexaminatioin is in order,it seems a lot of folks now believe there were few Hawkens in the fur trade days, most came along later and were used during the Trail Days(Oregon, Morman, etc). made in the 1840's and 1850's on ..Generalizations, of course. Don

 

[Zonie]

quote:Originally posted by sharps4590:
I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of the product or who makes it but there is a "wipe on" something that takes off blueing. Birchwood Casey perhaps? Be a lot easier than steel wool!

Vic I am not going to try it on my guns but I bet if you applied some "Naval Jelly" on it the blueing will vanish.
Naval Jelly is an acid that eats rust and blueing, like browning is just a special form of rust.

 

[Goeb1133]

I agree with Donny, probably more Hawkens were carried west after the decline of the fur trade and the rendevous years(1825-40) than during. Goeb