Why are the "Hawken" style Rifles more popular

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deerslayer303

New member
I just got to wondering and figured I would pose the question. Why are the Hawken pattern reproductions more popular with shooters and hunters, than say the Military style repros. Is it the price? Are the Hawken style Rifles more accurate or lighter? Most everyone I see or read about hunts with either a Hawken style or an inline. I don't think I've seen or heard tell of anyone hunting with say a repro Springfield. What do you guys think?
 
Plains (Hawken) style is shorter, sportier, has set trigger for better accuracy (usually), and has a bit longer effective range than a typical military issue style rifled musket. Plus, Jeremiah Johnson had one.
 
Mostly the romance. !!!

Plus, Jeremiah Johnson had one.
Click to expand...
I think that is part of it as many shooters are caught up in the BuckSkinner romance and history. The Hawken style typically is a half-stock, SideLock. but there are many variations. Now then, the Hawken brothers also made full-stock rifles. I have hunted with my one MML but mostly with my SideLocks. In reality, most of the M/L's that settled the frontier, came from Europe and a good number were SXS-Shotguns. Might add that from what I have read, the Hawken brothers, never made a "Hawken". The did however make the Great-Plains rifle. Ya just can't beat the simple classic lines and taking large game with one, "really floats my stick". There is a ton of great history out there on the web. Ya just have to go lookin fer et.. .... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Hawken Rifles were made popular in 19th and early 20th century literature covering the expansion into the west, the fur trappers. This followed in Cinema of the 20th century.

That the Hawken brothers set up shop in St. Louis during a period when the majority of travel to and from the Rocky Mountain West passed by their door was no small accident. They equipped hundreds, thousands, of explorers and settlers heading westward and established a reputation for building reliability, accuracy and stopping power.

It also didn't hurt that folks like Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger (among other famous notables popularized in contemporary pulp dime store novels), carried the Hawken Rifle, not only in the fictionalized accounts that were all the rage in the east, but also in real life.
 
Interesting replies, thanks guys. I too love the looks and feel of my Hawken styled rifles, and they were the first style I purchased too. Although a nice repro Springfield is in my future.
 
The Hawken was the best of the late percussion rifles with excellent accuracy and hitting power.
 
deerslayer303 - Although this is a basic Hawkin rifle it is still a damn good lookin' rifle!

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(I'm not a big fan of double-set triggers, that's why I got this one)
Accurate? Not bad - I was hitting water jugs at 100 yards (some off-hand and some using a rest)
 
Hawken

pretty much based on the reputation of the original.
Most people became more aware of them from the movie
Jeremiah Johnson.
It really took off from that,
 
Medium size rifle. Shorter wood stock, less material. Cheaper to make that faux long-rifles. Also less fancy fixings on them. No need to relief carve, no need to do wire inlay, no decorative inlays or engraved parts.
 
Hey,
There's nuthin' wrong with using the right military rifle for hunting. I've killed two deer with a Zouave rifled musket and an elk with a Musketoon. They are just fine for hunting if you get the shorter barreled versions of the military rifles. If I could attach a photo I'd show proof on the elk. Also they have a shotgun style butt plate that is easier on the shoulder with heavy loads than the crescent butts.
 
For me it was double set adjustable trigger and for mine 140 grain loads. What game animal will survive a round ball behind 140 grains of powder?
 
They were featured in the movie Jerimiah Johnson, which I'm sure inspired a lot of people to take up BP shooting and hunting as a hobby
 
mostly do to Hollywood and the hand full of movies they produced in the 70’s
Factually the hawkens didn’t produce comparatively , that many rifles .
However do to the movies , suddenly anything that was a ½ stock , got called a hawkens . People bought them up as most didnt know better.
 
I think that it is the cost of the rifles in big box stores: a Pedersoli Hawken runs around $400 to $500 at Cabela's. An 1861 Springfield by the same maker costs neraly twice that to buy ..... and costs much more to feed, yet won't kill whitetails nor paper any deader than the Hawkens.

The Hawkens are cheaper to buy, cheaper to feed, easier to carry, won't kick the hell out of the shooter ...... other than Civil War re-enactment enthusiasts and collectors, there is darn little market for the military repros ..... I'm amazed that they are regularly given catalog space ..... other than they are nice to look at ..... good readin' room material ........ when I first started out shooting my rocksmasher, I wanted one ..... but when I looked at the practical side of it ....... not so much.
 
It has allot to do with perception. Buck Skin wearing Pioneers Mountain Men Trappers Scouts sometimes gained fame and fortune and are usually pictured in one's mind carrying a Hawken or Pennsylvania type rifle. Military issued weaponry {Enfield's & Springfield's} are seldom remembered in history. Only its General's are.
 
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