Hawes Firearms Co. 1851 Navy

[Blank Stare 73]

Came across an 1851 Navy made by Hawes Firearms company. It looks to be rather cheaply finished, but it seems to commemorate the battle of Gettysburg

 

[Blank Stare 73]

I am curious if anyone can tell me anything about this company, or about how long ago this gun was made, thanks

 

[kBob]

I believe you will find that Hawes was the importer and not the maker. Looks like someone stripped the finish off the barrel. Send more close up clear pictures of any and all markings and whole gun shots.

-kBob

 

[Patocazador]

I know that Hawes marketed SA Army clones in the early 80s. I was going to buy one in .44 mag but my gunsmith, Kurt, told me to get an Interarms Virginian instead due to the lack of quality in the Hawes. The Hawes SAA was marked "Made in W. Germany" so I figured it would be well made but Kurt said "NO."

 

[Fingers McGee]

Hawes was an importer of cartridge and black powder arms from the 50s through the 70s (80s?). The model you are asking about was made in the 1970-71 range and had a companion revolver commemorating Ft Sumter. The Gettysburg model has a gold/bronze finish and the Ft Sumter model has a silver finish. They were both made by Armi San Paolo - that later became Euroarms. The DGG stamped on the underside of the barrel is the ASP/Euroarms makers mark. These revolvers came in a leatherette covered presentation cases with powder flask and bullet mold. These were well made back in the day and should hold up well today.

The cartridge revolvers were made by JP Sauer of West Germany. Many of the Western Heroes of the 50s and 60s carried Hawes Western Marshal or Great Western revolvers

Original Great Westerns and Hawes Marshal models are sought after revolvers today.

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Cool info, A friend of mine just gave it to me, found it buried in his father in law's guns safe and knew I liked the older looking guns. I think it looks pretty cool, but it obviously has not been treated well

 

[Cosmoline]

Might look better if you just took it down to the white and let it get a patina.

 

[kituwa]

I had a Hawes in .44mag years ago.That gun actually made me very famous in the community i lived in MS at the time.When i was a teen useing a handgun to hunt deer was looked at like a joke and whenever i showed up at a big hunt they always made fun of me.Well later that day a group of us jumped a smaller buck that ran out across a muddy bean field.Several guys where shooting at it with rifles when i threw up and fired a shot with the Hawes .44, the deer was about 250 yards away by the time i got the shot.It hit him in the neck and the deer did about 3 cartwheels before it feel.It completely blew everyones mind and they never teased me about useing a handgun again. What they didnt see, and i never told them, was that i saw the bullet hit in the mud a good 30 feet low and it had skipped up and hit the deer,lol. That Hawes was a nice gun, but not as nice as several cimmeron SSA guns i had later. Your Hawes 1851 might not have as nice fit and finish as newer repo's have but that was common on most of the earlier imports.Its not hard to clean up the fit a bit and usually the weaker parts that gave a problem on the early guns were the springs, and that can usually be fixed as well.I have seen some of the trigger/bolt springs that looked like they were cut out of the top of a soup can with a hammer and chisel,lol.

 

[Fingers McGee]

I tend to agree with Cosmoline. Yours doesn't really have any collector value; so stripping the barrel & cylinder and letting them age naturally, or cold bluing them won't hurt anything. By all means though, have fun with it.

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Thanks for the info on the gun, I figured someone on here would know about it. I like that it's different than the others I have with stamping on the barrel and what not, and getting it for free was an added bonus. I'll probably just make a wallhanger out of it. It'll look good next to my ASM 1847 Walker monstrosity. These guns have an awesome cool factor for me, but it's been my experience they just don't hold up well to actusl use. The cylinder is out of time with the hammer, so I would have to "tinker" with it some to get it to function right; and if it's as old as Fingers McGee says it is, it might not bee very safe to shoot it

 

[Fingers McGee]

and if it's as old as Fingers McGee says it is, it might not bee very safe to shoot it

Even if it were older, it would still be safe to shoot. I regularly shoot a couple 1851 Navy repros that were made in the early 70s, and have a couple made in the 59-60 time frame that are still shooters.

Original 150 year old revolvers can still be safe to shoot.

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Oh well that's good to know. Thanks for sharing your knowledge

 

[Blank Stare 73]

One more question, what's the best way to remove the finish?

 

[kituwa]

Some sporting goods stores that cary birchwood casey products may have something called rust and blueing remover.It works real good.Also i think navel jelly works too.You can get that at a hardware or a walmart.That and a little steel wool should have it good to go.

 

[Rojelio]

That gun looks like it has some sort of plating on it that is starting to chip off in some areas.

 

[AJumbo]

Vinegar will remove a finish, and it doesn't cost much to try it before spending money on stripping products that have to be completely and thoroughly removed before applying the new finish. If vinegar doesn't work you have to buy the other product anyway, so it's worth a try.

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Thanks for the tips, vinegar worked pretty good on most of it. Still a few nooks and crannies left, but that fake brass finish is coming off. Perhaps Easy Off oven cleaner will take care of the rest?

 

[Cosmoline]

It's really improved IMHO. Never liked bling finishes. You could just let the rest wear off with use.