what we call hawken rifles today

My Browning is a .50 cal with iron furniture. I use a bore mop with a lot of Balistol. So far it has worked well. I will be trying out the scraper.
 
I put the breech in a bucket of soapy water. The mop will pull water through the nipple and push it back out with some force. You can turn the mop in the bottom of the breech to help loosen fouling but the flush usually does it.
 
I agree

I’ve been told Ithaca made or marketed a good copy of the Hawkin rifle at one time.
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I agree and just didn't have the bucks when I had a chance to buy one. It's a beauty !!! Have not seen one, for a number of years. :(

Be Safe !!!
 
Have anyone tried a .45 cal bronze brush, wrapped with the bronze wool from a kitchen chore boy to scrub the bore and recess.
 
You got it !!!

Have anyone tried a .45 cal bronze brush, wrapped with the bronze wool from a kitchen chore boy to scrub the bore and recess.
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All the time, but initially use 000 steel wool. ….. ;)

"What one does or does not do, today, effects someone else, tomorrow !!!"

I do my share of restoration work on sidelock and it's a shame what some previous owners, did take care of. To bad the movie; Jeremiah Johnson, omitted the part of how much fun it is to clean them. …… :rolleyes:

Be Safe !!!
 
This isn't quite as practical for rifles lacking the Hawken hook breech and wedge keys.
But my rifle does.
So I remove the barrel assembly

Most hand held showers have a hose that will screw onto male 1/2 in straight pipe
By whatever plumbing miracle you can figure out,you want t attach that hose to a length of approx 3/8 diameter brass tubing..The length of the tubing is at least muzzle to breech plug.
On the end of this contraption where the hose connects,I attach a piece of wire. I used aircraft safety wire.

I slide that all the way into the barrel.

I attach the wire to a ramrod thimble to hold the tube in the bore.

Then I just turn on the hot water.The water jets full pressure into the breech plug and everything flushes out the muzzle. Soon,the water will run clear.

Hopefully,your water will still be running hot.

Use patches to swab and dry your barrel,then oil it

If I'm someplace other then home,I use hawgs method of sticking the breech in the billy pot,and pumping.
 
My neighbor the gunsmith built a "Hawkenish" rifle. It had the right profile, he scaled it off a photograph in a gunzine.
But he used a Dixie barrel and t'warnt no .40 Hawkens I ever heard tell of.
And the stock was off'in a well seasoned cherry board and I never seen a cherry stock out of St Louis.

The little .40 was plenty to kill a deer, not many buffer in the wild in Alabama any more.
In fact, the minimum caliber for muzzleloading deer season was .40, I figure because of the prevalence of Dixie guns and barrels in those days.

Then he discovered that a .38-40 bullet dipped in tallow based lube made a pretty good "picket ball."
 
Have anyone tried a .45 cal bronze brush, wrapped with the bronze wool from a kitchen chore boy to scrub the bore and recess.
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A copper Chore Boy(not plated)is the best thing for removing lead but a patched round ball doesn't lead anyway. I don't see the need for a brush or patches since water and a bore mop make it shiny clean.
 
Have anyone tried a .45 cal bronze brush, wrapped with the bronze wool from a kitchen chore boy to scrub the bore and recess.
Click to expand...

I'll use a bronze brush sized for a 20 ga. shotgun which is slightly oversized but only if really needed to help clean
the more stubborn fouling of substitute powders.
Sometimes I'l wrap the same bronze brush with a cotton patch to add some friction and BP solvent to scrub with.
And have also used a Hoppes Tynex .50 black powder bore brush which is a softer nylon type of brush that aren't as stiff as a bronze brush.
Using something that adds stiffness can help to clean down in the breech plug area better depending on the type of powder fired.
But using one is not always needed.
 
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a hawken during the mtn man era was a VERY VERY rare thing. Mostly a myth. Any rifle common back east, is what they took with them, west. I've only read of one hawken on actual paper work, going west and I THINK that was in 1838.
 
Very True

a hawken during the mtn man era was a VERY VERY rare thing. Mostly a myth. Any rifle common back east, is what they took with them, west. I've only read of one hawken on actual paper work, going west and I THINK that was in 1838.
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Very true and timely reply. Another point is that most folks were not Mountain-Men. I refer to most as Frontiersmen. It's just that the impact and romance has a deep association. …… ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
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