I’m very interested in building a reproduction of one of Kit Carson’s known rifles. I’ve found a few kits that looked good, but does anyone know where a high quality place would be? His life was extremely interesting, he has a couple of know rifles, and his preferred type of hunting rifle seems to be what I’d like in a hunting rifle as well.

My Hawken is patterned after Carson's last Hawken rifle. I like it very much!

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/full/125573.jpg

Nice looking rifle. I’m not an aficionado but to my untrained eye it seems to have less drop in the stock than most rifles of that era?

I agree PDS, I like that a lot! Where’d you come by the parts?

Mine also was “patterned” after that rifle. It is .50 caliber and not as pretty as prairie dog shooter’s, but shoots very well. I built from a kit in the 70’s.
It looks blued but it’s not, it’s a very deep brown.

If you Google "Don Stith Hawken" you'll find one source. "The Hawken Shop" and "Track of the Wolf" are other sources.

I got a Hawken kit from Don early last year. Don was in poor health at the time, so there was some delay in getting all the parts together (along with the Wuhan supply chain disruptions). The Stith kit is an exact pattern of the (a) original Carson Hawken in New Mexico and has excellent components.

I'm not sure if you've ever built a muzzle loader before, but a Hawken may not be the best choice for a first effort; it's actually a somewhat complicated design.

Another interesting Carson Hawken. Interesting story behind the association between Carson and Beale during the Mexican war. They remained friends until Carson’s death.

https://americansocietyofarmscollec...Carson-Beale-Hawken-Its-Identificati.pdf

I’ve not built a Hawken in total, but been around them my whole life and worked on them in a lot of different fashions. My father, however, had built several which he used to shoot competitions and hunt with. I’d like to get into the build while he’s still able so my son has something that his dad and grandfather worked on together.

I’ve looked at the Don Stith kit, and that’s what I was leaning towards. I’ll check the link out, KW. Thanks for that.

On the subject of Hawkens,,,,,,

Here’my fullstock J&S style Hawken by John Bergmann of Tenn. .54 calibre. Not necessarily a copy of any particular rifle.

That thing is niiiiiccceee!

I would love to have some of your BP guns you have posted. Very cool gun!

KW, That is a beautiful gun. Black walnut for the stock? Really nice.

Thanks OK huntr.
Texczech, if we can ever get together again in Texas, we’ll shoot em!

30338, yes nice piece of blk walnut! Tapered barrel too! A pleasure to carry!

Kaywoodie
That would be super cool! 🙂 👍

My builder had all but the barrel. Not sure of his source. The lock and triggers are Davis, the barrell is a Rice. I-66 twist, 54 cal. one inch at the breach tapered to 7/8 at the muzzle.

I really appreciate those tapered barrels. As much as a swamped barrel!!

Kay

Nice looking Hawken !

What are the barrel specs ( Length and Diameter)?

No mater what you build, look at SS336s butt plate, it has a bigger curve.

Not sure what cal you want, but get a butt plate that is friendly to your shoulder!

Absolutely. Even if the stock blank doesn’t have one it will when I’m done.

Makes all the difference on how the rifle balances and handles. I do not like a muzzle heavy gun.

When making a Hawken with a tapered barrel it's important to also taper the under rib in the opposite direction so the rod doesn't follow the line of the bottom of the barrel but is parallel with the bore.

This one has a tapered barrel and rib.
100_1479 by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
100_1483 by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

Fine looking rifle there Szihn.

Szihn, nice looking rifle, did you make your own under rib?

Thanks BS2 and 30338.
I actually only tapered an existing part. The ribs I got from either Track of the Wolf or picked up at the nationals at Friendship Indiana.

Buy a flat bottomed rib that is as wide as the barrel at the juncture of the nose cap. (not at the muzzle. Too wide can be dealt with later. Too narrow can't be made to grow no matter how much you water it)
Measure the barrel at 3" increments and see the taper. Understand that it's tapered at the top and bottom both, so to match the taper you need to cut the reduction measurement in half If as an example your barrel tapers .014 every 3 inches you will need to taper the rib .007 every 3 inches. So take a file edge and make a slot carefully so you can measure with a depth gauge and make that each slot gets (in the case of this example) .007" deeper then the last one, starting at the muzzle end and deepening every 3" measurement all the way back to the place the rib touches the nose cap
Once you have all the depth slots made you need only draw-file the metal in-between away. A course cross-cut metal file is best to use. Get within about .001 or .002 of each slot but done file them away yet. When the bottom of the rib is very close to the depth of each slot you can then switch to a standard mill file and draw file the rest until all depth slots are gone. and you have a smooth flat bottom. Next you clamp the rib on and you'll see the muzzle end is now too wide, (as stated when I started the explanation) so scribe a line on it's bottom with a bent steel pick and unclamp it. File off the overhang to a point you file off the scribe lines. That takes very little time or effort, and is fast.

When you are done the rib will be in parallel with the bore and fits the barrel like it grew there.

At that point you can attach it with screws or solder (I like solder)