Here is a modern copy of the Bridger Hawken. Note the browned barrel and furniture and the fancy maple stock finished to enhance the figure in the maple, the long bar adjustable rear sight and German silver surrounds on the forestock. What doesn’ t show are the lost wax investment cast parts, the 5-axis CNC pantograph that carved the stock, the modern GBQ steel, the P & W automated CNC drill and rifling machine and CNC planer that made the barrel, plus all the superb modern technology that contributed to the final product. The one great thing about all this is that it makes the final product as inexpensive as it is. It means that the average shooter can afford one if he puts his mind to it. Doing it the old way, without the advantages of modern technology, would cost a fortune.
As for myself, and I am probably typical of the genre, I use the best maple I can get with the best figure simply because $ 100 extra for the wood will yield $ 300 extra on the gun. Plain maple is to be avoided except where specifically ordered. I almost always finish it with modern clear penetrating oils preceded by Laurel Mountain stain and finally LM stock finish- which is really a very pliable varnish. I do this for a simple reason. The rifle sells better for a higher price if I do. Tradition be damned. I have found that a traditional finished stock detracts from the final price of the rifle, moderns just don’ t like it. I have done a few with the blackish varnish finish, but only on special order for those who know what they want.
I also buy the best barrels I can get, machined to fit the stocks carved on a 5 place CNC auto carver, digitally fed. I almost always finish them brown, simply because that’ s what the public demands. Once in a blue moon, I get an order for a traditional rust blued one but I’ m always careful to over blue it so a tinge of rust brown shows through for that worn, antique touch.
I often antique rust blue the lock, hammer, trigger guard and buttplate, but I’ ve had buyers complain because they weren’ t‘ correctly’ browned. I rarely case harden the same parts in color again because it adds substantially to the cost and it’ s not normally profitable to do it, unless on special order. The same goes for the real silver decorations and especially the silver plated forestock end-cap. Most moderns prefer German silver, it’ s just as pretty and far more durable with less care needed. And the real thing adds to the cost: A wax cast nose-cap costs about $ 10, the plating cost $ 40-50, the customer gets charged even more, as those base costs don’ t include S & H or the time / effort to get the job done. Same goes for the front sight. German silver is stronger than the real thing and brass bases are tougher than copper, too. As an aside, nobody knows what an original Hawken front sight looked like. Most show signs of modification in their later years. Likely the Hawkens did what I do now- leave the front sight a bit high so the shooter can file it into the shape he wants when he first sights it in.
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