Uberti Hawken

[ridjrunr]

Does anyone have any working knowledge of the Uberti Hawken rifles? There was also a marking on top of the barrel from a buisness in NM cant recall the name.
Intereste to know history and quality of such a rifle. I have my eye on one but know little about that brand or that outfit in New Mexico. I will say it was a very nice rifle,with honest patina. No patchbox,steel furniture, straight barrel at .54 cal., etc.
Any help appreciated.

[rollingb]

They are a good quality muzzleloader, and designed more correctly as a true "Hawken" than Lyman's Great Plains Rifle.  

[Bigsmoke]

What rollingb said.
In the late 70's - early 80's they were imported by an outfit called Western Arms or Allen Arms Co.
Shooters they were, in lieu of .520 ball, you could get a .530 with a .005 patch down the bore, but it was terribly tight.
I think Hornady used to make a .520 ball, no idea if they still do or not.
They did have grandiose plans but they never materialized.  In addition to the percussion half stock, they were going to produce a flint half stock, a percussion full stock and a flint full stock, but all that ever came about was the percussion half stock.
Several years ago, Pedersoli came out with a similar rifle which I felt was absolutely beautiful.
If the rifle you are looking at is in half way decent condition, I would not hesitate to get it.
Parts should be obtainable through Uberti.  Cimmaron Arms Co purchased all the inventory of Western Arms when Mr. Allen passed away.
Hope this helps.
John

[Greenhorn]

Hornady still makes a .520 ball, Track of the Wolf and Log Cabin both sell .520s.

[ridjrunr]

Thank you for the input. Does Uberti have any connection to Pedersoli? Or are they entirely different as far as barrel manufactureing.I know they are both Italian.
Would the quality be on par with Pedersoli?
Thanks again, i thinkin it should go home with me soon.

[Bigsmoke]

Nope, they are two separate companies.
The Uberti Hawken is really a .53 caliber and the Pedersoli is a .54.

[rollingb]

Nope, they are two separate companies.
The Uberti Hawken is really a .53 caliber and the Pedersoli is a .54.

:rt th

[ridjrunr]

Thanks again, I will get another look at her next weekend and bring a bore light for inspection.

[Bigsmoke]

The first two that I brought in were serial numbers 7 and 10 or something like that.  When I took a look at the muzzles they appeared to be .22's, not .54's.  Evidently someone at the factory had not killed the browning process in the bore and they got kinda fuzzy inside.  
In retrospect, I really should have kept one of them and had it freshed out to a real .54 or maybe a .58.
Hind sight, y'know?
All the rest of the rifles that I brought in did not have that problem, so evidently they had a short learning curve.
It's kind of funny that this subject would come up right now, as I was cleaning out some papers just the other day, and I ran across a check register from that period of time.  As I looked through it, I noticed how many checks for $1,500, $2,000 and even $3,000 I was writing to Western Arms Co.  My goodness, I bought a lot of stuff from them.  It was like every week I was bringing in a shipment of revolvers and rifles.  I do kind of miss that stuff, it was rather exciting and gratifying to be turning that kind of volume out of a basement operation.

[ridjrunr]

Thanks bigsmoke, so did they asseble too or were they just the distributer here in the US.? ( western arms)

[Bigsmoke]

I believe they only imported the firearms into the US.
I know the Cold 3rd Generation guns were assembled and finished by Colt Blackpowder from Uberti parts.  Not aware of any others that did that.  Wait, that's not quite correct.  I think Pedersoli provided the parts for Hatfield who then assembled and finished their rifles.
Anyone else?  I don't know.
John

[One Shot]

I have one. It is marked as a .54 cal. I use .530" RB and .015" patches. It has no other markings but Uberti's. It came as a rough unfinished kit. SN is in the initial 8000's.

[RobD]

don't forget you can get any size mould from jeff tanner - superb quality and all i use these dayze.

[dmills]

Does anyone have any working knowledge of the Uberti Hawken rifles? There was also a marking on top of the barrel from a buisness in NM cant recall the name.
Intereste to know history and quality of such a rifle. I have my eye on one but know little about that brand or that outfit in New Mexico. I will say it was a very nice rifle,with honest patina. No patchbox,steel furniture, straight barrel at .54 cal., etc.
Any help appreciated.

Saw one recently at a gun show in Ft. Worth.  History is that A. Uberti acquired an original Hawken and had his company copy it.  The original was a .53 cal. which is why the first production Ubertis were .53.  I would have bought that one at the gun show except some prior owner had put brass tack decorations on the stock.  It was #70, though, and was probably well worth the asking price.

[TurkeyCreek]

I have one that I shoot .520s in but they load really tight.  I'm getting ready to order some .509s and see how they shoot.  Very well made and very accurate.  Mine was a "kit" that someone had put together without bothering to finish shaping the stock so it was a real "chunk gun"!  LOL.  I traded a old ratty .22-250 for it and case hardened the lock, shaped the stock, pulled the brass tacks out and plugged the holes, etc.  Turned out to be a really nice gun.  The calipers bare out the fact that it is a .53 caliber for sure.  I'll try to let y'all know when I try the .509 balls in it.