Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Ok, let’s see your custom "Hawken"

Hey guys, I may have one up for sale in the latter part of this year.

I have several orders (6 right now) and one man is speaking to me that he may change his mind and want a copy of a H. Derringer instead. He's got all the parts and wood for a Hawken here and now, but they are so popular I told him if he wants to trade them for a set of parts for a H. Derringer and have me make that one instead I would do it.

So if I end up with a set of Hawken parts and anyone wants a hand made Hawken let me know soon.
The stocks are made by me from blanks, so you'd have the options of your length of pull and drop dimensions. The breach plug is for a 1" barrel so you would have options of calibers 50 54 and 58.
If anyone wanted a light weight rifle I can swap the breach plug for a 15/16 or even a 7/8 size breach and that gives you options of 54 and smaller calibers.
And I can go the other way and go up in size for those that want 62 or even 66 cal. Straight or tapered barrels. Your call.

Please note, this is not locked down yet. The man has not made a hard commitment to the change so I am only posting this now for the benefit of anyone wanting one of my Hawkens without having to wait the usual 3 years between ordering and delivery. But I am not in charge of that yet. It's up to the customer who has been inline now for a long time.

But if you contact me (and if he does changer the order) I can then contact you back and let you know it's available. If it come up as an "open slot" it would not be until late in 2020 at the soonest, but that better then the middle of 2024.

I've got four I need to sell.....from $2500.00 to $1300.00...no trash in the bunch and all shooters! Age is telling on me!

Man those are beautiful.

Szihn! I forgot to mention, I was still in the Marine reserve unit here then. For like 2 more years! 🤣🤣🤣

Not anything near a true Hawken....but my first "build"


Long story on how it came to be.


I had an idea for what I thought was my ideal flintlock. Fast twist 50cal.

Found a Green Mountain TC 1" replacement barrel. Blued, fast twist, fiber optic sights.

Already had a L&R RPL lock and David deerslayer trigger for a TC (in my factory TC Hawken)

I knew TOTW sold replacement steel furniture. Ordered that and a Pectonia River TC replacement stock in maple. Snagged a Tang on eBay.


The steel and the stock came and I was beside myself. The steel was raw and were castings not drop-in replacement parts.

The stock. Whew! It was kinda sorta shaped like a rifle. The barrel fit. But that was about it.


It all day in the corner for months. I had no idea what to do with it. Always wanted to "build" a flintlock but had no idea how. Heck, I hardly owned any tools at all.


Decided to learn. And, off the deep end I've went.

That rifle, although not a show piece or historically accurate or anything like that, is a laser beam and a killer. Killed my biggest buck to date. Killed a yearling groundhog at a lasered 87yds.


I've now been building a rifle a year or so...and have finished my first plank build. Getting ready to start on plank build #2 here pretty quick.

Great bucks and a cool rifle Mauser! Pretty danged neat right there!

Mauser! That will work!!!! Nice critters too!!!! !

Agreed. Very nice especially for a#1 build.

If you decide to do a #2, let me know and if I can I'll give you some tip s as you go that I believe will help you along the way.

That’s a handsome rifle, Mauser. Nice job for sure.

Well I am back on the Hawkens now. I have 5 customers who have them ordered. I have enough wood and parts to make 6, so I think I'll make one and offer it to anyone who commits to it.

The wood I have is 1/2 stock length and the barrels I have are a 1" .54 and a 15/16" .54. The wood is nice curly maple. I do have both LH and RH locks and breach plugs.

So the "spec gun" will be a classic half-stock 54 cal, and stocked in maple, but all the details can be adjusted one way or another.

I will get the 5 standing orders satisfied first (as well as 1 fancy Golden Age Pennsylvania rifle,) so the one I intend to make for spec will not be done until around Christmas, but if anyone wants a custom made Hawken, now would be a time to talk it over. Depending on wood and the amount of ornamentation done (or left undone) the price will be as low as $1450 and would top out at around $2100.

Options that are available that would not effect the cost are length of pull, drop at comb, drop at heal and the use of one of my hand forged Hawken butts. The ones I have examined have mostly had crescents with less dish and a more even curve (not as long in the toe) as those castings we see marketed today, so I use my own plates when I make a Hawken unless a customer likes the long toe style. Here are 2 pics to show what I mean.

100_1479 by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
This is one I forged


This one has a long toe casting common today.
100_1478 by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

I bought a .54 TC Hawken about 10 years ago. I had belonged to a widow's husband before he passed. She had kept it in the trunk of her car for several months until she decided to sell it along with some other rifles. I showed her the new price list and some of the used prices. Since it needed some TLC, I offered her $250 for it and she accepted.

This baby won first place for the weekly aggregate rifle shoot at Rocky Mountain National Rendezvous this past week. Yes, I was shooting it.

WOW. That sucker is some kinda beautiful

I have one almost finished now. Be done in 3-4 days. I'll post pics before the customer come for it.

"WOW. That sucker is some kinda beautiful"

And she shoot as good as she looks!

Look forward to seeing those pics.

Apparently my photo didn't download all the way so I'll try again.

Got to fondle this one this past week at the rendezvous. This rifle is a joy to handle!!! Real prime possibles.

lLtest one finished
54 cal. Tapered barrel and rib.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

Hawken .54 Rocklock by .com/photos/61286670N08/]Sharps Man, on [bleep]