Traditions Hawken kit gun, good for beginners?

[LivewireBlanco]

So want to get me a muzzleloader and I found a Hawken kit in .50 cal for $315. I could try to build one or just buy one for $389. I kind of like the idea of building my own. My question is how much work is it to build one? Should I go .50 cal or .54? This will be strictly a range gun.

 

[mykeal]

The .54 will be a slightly lighter gun, which means very little to a range gun. The .50 will probably be slightly less expensive to operate over the long run as .50 balls tend to be a very little bit less expensive, but we're talking pennies a year here. All in all, not much to recommend one caliber over another.

As for kit vs finished, I'll always go for the kit. It's 95% complete in that everything but sanding and staining are done; well, maybe a little knife work might be necessary. The deal is, you can finish it any way you like and when it's done you can say, "I built it."

Go for it.

 

[LivewireBlanco]

I cast my own bullets so the cost of components isn't a big deal. I guess it would come down to what my wallet finds better as far as caliber. I just don't want to booger up a kit gun and throw a few hundred dollars down the drain, but the idea of making my own is very appealing to me.

 

[25cschaefer]

After building one of Tradition's Trapper pistols, I would say start smaller. The Trapper was suppose to be a fun father and son project which it could be if you had considerable skills. I'm not saying the lay person couldn't make a working pistol/rifle but, it takes a lot to make it 100% reliable and look decent. I would be willing to bet there are more kit guns from Traditions in scrap bins in the corners of garages than there are on racks.

My advice is to start with a smaller project like one of Tradition's pistols or cheaper pistol from Dixie to gauge your skill level. It would be much cheaper and if you do a good job but it isn't your cup of tea, they make excellent gifts and sell easy.

Here is my first, lots of work including; inletting, soldering the trigger guard longer, soldering the ramrod rib longer, re-drill/tapping on of the rib holes because it was 1/4" off, draw filling the words and ripples out of the barrel, making a new mainspring, making a new rear sight, timing the cylinder, re-drill/tapping the nipple hole because it was stripped from the factory, annealing/fliling/re-casing the lock plate and hammer, timing the internals, shaping the stock, and finishing. All of this was in a class without the use of power tools.

 

[LivewireBlanco]

Well damn...I was hoping for maybe some wood fitting, sanding, and bluing. All of that sounds like work!

 

[25cschaefer]

There is a lot of work, it may actually be better to buy someone's half finished kit. It was kind of disappointing that there were some issues that couldn't even be solved, very shoddy craftsmanship at the factory. Maybe their other kits are better but, the materials were sub par, even for Italian guns, and nothing was made to any discernible standard. There were 16 of us in our class and about 50 different problems.

Ask Gary about the quality of brass they use.

 

[mykeal]

Timing the cylinder??? Are you sure you were working on the pistol shown?

There's nowhere near that much work required on a Traditions kit. You've way overstated the case. 90% of what you did was for personal choice (making a new rear sight and mainspring???), not something required to have a serviceable pistol. Interesting it was done for a class. I suspect it was just done to demonstrate or teach the methods, not because it was necessary.

Timing the internals? There aren't any 'internals'. What 'cylinder' did you have to 'time'?

 

[Zeke/PA]

I did a T/C Hawkin kit several years ago to take advantage of a late Deer season that was being offered.
The kit was not a bad project at all with plenty of wood on the stock to fill ones "shaping" desires.
The rifle, a .50 Cal., shoots round balls well and is pure poison on deer using a home cast Maxi-Ball.

 

[4v50 Gary]

The newer Traditions kit uses a zinc coated brass. The ones 25Schaefer and I worked on were mystery brass. 25Schaefer meant timing the drum; not timing the cylinder. Some of the drums were way off and the hammer would not strike the nipple.

As for the extra work, the purpose of that was to teach us some new skills. One doesn't have to make a new mainspring, extend the rib or the trigger guard or draw file the barrel or color case harden the lockplate. However, some of them including my own needed to have the ram rod hole drilled. I had to file the bottom of my drum and lower part of the lockplate where the drum drops in just to make the thing fit together. The barrel was already at the bottom of the channel and couldn't be lowered any more. On mine the stock was just badly inletted.

I'd stay away from Traditions. Go with the Lyman Great Plains instead.

 

[25cschaefer]

Drum, cylinder, whats the difference? Sorry, I had never really even shot a bp gun before going to school

The rear sight on mine had a dove tail that was way too small, like it didn't cast right. The stud on the tumbler where the hammer screws in was twisted in such a way that the mainspring would not engauge it. I had to heat it and twist it into the correct orientation then re-harden it.

The dovetail for the stock wedge was cut too far back but I was able to rig it up so it looks okay and works well.

 

[LivewireBlanco]

I guess it would depend if you got a good specimen or not on how much work needs to be done. I'm still on the fence, but I may just end up buying a finished gun after hearing all of this. Any more thoughts on .50 vs .54?

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I have built several Pedersoli kits including a Hawken style 50 caliber percussion and two Pedersoli pistol kits, one flint and one cap. I would second the suggestion that you start with a pistol kit unless you already have basic woodworking skills and tools. I don't think the caliber is critical for your first one as .50, .54, or even .58 are suitable for deer to elk sized game.

 

[frontiergander]

way over doing it IMO lol.

Seeing how traditions no longer makes a 54cal unless you find old stock, you're going to be using the 50cal hawken which is fine. Patched balls or conicals will get the job done.

Theres very little difference in starting with a pistol or half stock hawken. The hawken has very simple lines and doesnt require no where near the sanding/wood removal of a lyman great plains rifle where one has to actually files to remove the wood.

 

[mykeal]

+1 on the Lyman GPR. Much better product to start with. More money, too, of course. The Traditions pistol is a nice beginner project because if you bugger it up, you won't have invested a great deal in it. Not so with the GPR. But the GPR is a better kit, so the odds are you'll do a better job in the first place.

 

[frontiergander]

lately the GPR has been getting a lot of complaints about stocking being broken, parts not threaded and the one i hate worse, that real white color sap wood in the stock. Its a shame they've been having so many slip up's. You just dont know what you'll get when you open the box of any kit gun.

 

[rodwha]

If it's strictly a range gun there's no need for a .54 cal.

I bought a .50 cal for hunting with, and part of that decision was made due to the plethora of gear for the popular .50 cal vs the others.

And if a .490" RB wasn't enough I could use a conical.

A .50 cal will likely use 20-30 grns less powder.