My Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Rifle

[Boomerang]

Mtn. Meek,
Thanks for all this information. Very interesting. :thumbsup:

 

[Snakebite]

I see that Kit was a fellow traveling man.

Yes he was, as you probably know there were many traveling men who were founding fathers and adventurers.

I was going to ask about your first shot - "Did you hit anything??" :grin: :grin:

I bet you did, I'd bet its as good a shooter as it is good looking.

Enjoy, my Brother

Snakebite

 

[Snakebite]

Don't you know, them Hawkin guns weren't nuthin but fence posts with barels on'em.

Seems like I heard that a time or two. Funny, the Hawken rifle I have which was made by a guy named Davy Boultinghouse back in 1978 is very graceful and balanced. And still a shooter.

 

[Jaegermeister]

It hit right where I was aiming. Killed that water filled plastic cat litter jug dead as a door nail at about 30 yards. I’m used to shooting my .62 Jaeger flintlock so this baby felt like a cartridge rifle (however my Jaeger has what I consider excellent lock time).
I need to make time for a trip to my favorite shooting range. Good paper targets and a shooting bench. So little time....

 

[MattinIdaho]

Beautiful rifle thank you for sharing!

 

[Elkeater]

Is there a distinction between a Hawken Plains and a Hawken Mountain rifle?

 

[azmntman]

I doubt the Hawkens bros named em either one. A marketing gimick I believe Like "Mountian Stalker". "CVA Cougar", etc.

History buffs?

 

[PapawPat]

Beautiful rifle. I not only like the rifle but also your cast-iron-pot water feature. I have the same pot and may try something like that.

 

[plmeek]

I doubt the Hawkens bros named em either one. A marketing gimick I believe Like "Mountian Stalker". "CVA Cougar", etc.

History buffs?

Sam Hawken called his rifles "Rocky Mountain" rifles in an advertisement placed in the Denver Rocky Mountain News in January 25, 1860. In an 1882 interview published in the Missouri Democrat, he again called them "Rocky Mountain" rifles.

Advertisements that William S. Hawken and Tristam Campbell, first successors to the Hawken business, ran in the Missouri Republican in 1855 and 1856 mentions "Mountain and California rifles made to order". We don't know what a Hawken "California" rifle looked like, though.

It appears the term Hawken "Mountain" rifle was used in the day.

Charles Hanson, Jr. points out in The Hawken Rifle: Its Place In History that other rifles of the period were sometimes called "Rocky Mountain Rifles". The earliest use he found of the term was an 1837 invoice from P. Chouteau Jr. & Co to Sarpy & Fraeb. He believes, based on the invoice price, that these were J. J. Henry trade rifles intended for the mountain trade.

The use of the term "Mountain" rifle prior to 1860 makes sense to me. The Rocky Mountains were the objective or goal for the trappers and traders. The Great Plains were just something that had to be crossed to reach the objective. The plains were known at the time as the Great American Desert. People weren't planning on staying there. If they weren't headed for the mountains as such, they saw the mountains as intermediate objective on their way to California or Oregon. There was no need for the term "Plains" rifle.

On the other hand, the term "Plains" rifle does appear to be a 20th century invention coined by collectors. Hanson in his 1960 book The Plains Rifle put it this way:

No endorsement of the term "Plains Rifle" is intended; the name was used because it is popular with collectors today and because it is a good all-inclusive type-name. In fur trade days, a first class trapper's rifle was a Hawken, and it was generally referred to as a "Mountain Rifle." The field of this book has been broadened to include all rifles which might have been made with the Plainsman in mind.

 

[Jaegermeister]

Thanks for the information. I learn something new every day.

 

[meanmike8665]

Thank you. I always enjoy your post’s.

Michael

 

[azmntman]

:metoo:

 

[coloradoclyde]

That's a Prettysoli rifle..... :thumbsup:

 

[Jaegermeister]

Ha ha ha! Now that’s funny.

 

[BigAl52]

Great response Mtn Meek and I couldnt agree more with the motion you put a second on. I dont post here much either because of how one gets treated when he or she does. Al

 

[BigAl52]

Jagermeister
I once seriously looked at buying one of those and I shoot at the same place MTN Meek does. One of the last times we were there, there was another shooter there who had one of the Rocky MTN Hawkens by Pedersoli. His as well was a very nice looking rifle just like yours is. Right now in the maple version of that rifle I dont think theres a better looking factory made Hawken available. I ended up buying a couple of GRRW Hawkens instead and another one built by John Bergmann. MTN Meek is a great person to go shooting with and I never come away without gaining more knowledge about the Hawken rifle. Im not sure I love it as much as Meek does but I have always loved the Hawkens. Al

 

[Jaegermeister]

I’ve also had a great interest in the Hawken style heavy mountain rifles. As a youngster I absorbed my grandpa’s interest in the fur trade era and men like Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and their contemporaries.
I’m a history nut and I like to have firearms that represent the different eras of our country. I prefer to shoot my flintlock but this Pedersoli RMR fits it’s niche perfectly.

 

[FishDFly]

Like I said earlier, mine was in the first container into the U.S., wish I could have had the maple stock, but it was not available.

Only things that the rifle should come with is a padded rifle case and a Radio Flyer wagon to haul it around on, thing is heavy for old folks.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

+1

Flint is the only way to go for tradition and pure skill needed to shoot them, the cap guns aren't nearly as fun or interesting for the vast majority.

 

[Elkeater]

Down boy, down.