Green River Rifle Works Collectors Association GRRW.CA Start Up | Page 20

Screws, keys and small parts are most often fire blued, just like they were in the Hawken shop,
but with a torch not a forge. Among the oddest complaints I’ve ever received are the ones about
blue screws. Most moderns think they should be browned. Most don’t realize that screws in
those days were handmade but fire blued. Want to really jump your cost on a traditional
Hawken? Just ask for handmade screws.
The oddest of all is the complaint about the curve in the buttstock. Back in the GRRW days, the
Montana State Historical Society contracted for several hundred copies of the Bridger Hawken
in their collection. They let us keep the original here in town for nigh onto 4 years. I carefully
jotted down every detail, measuring every dimension in sight, right to the mid butt-stock being
an eighth inch thicker than the buttplate. The GRRW produced rifles were very careful copies of
the real thing. The complaints we got about the fat buttstock were enough to make a gunsmith
cry. Note: a Hawken stock with a straight no-curve line from wrist to buttplate is WRONG!!
What does all this mean? It means that if you really want a totally traditional Hawken rifle, it will
have a black varnish finished plain maple stock, a blued barrel, case colored buttplate, lock,
trigger guard and breech fittings, plain low rear and copper based real silver front sight, real
silver trim, a silver plated nosecap, blued screws and will cost half to twice again more than a
more ordinary modern finished rifle with highly figured stock. You make the choice. It’s your
money.
PS - I finally found all those precious photos I took of the Bridger Hawken back in the 1970’s. I
don’t recall ever before getting them into the computer but they are now. I found them in the
huge box where all those thousands of photos are that I have saved uncatalogued over the
years. With any luck, I’ll have them on this website soon. DOC
PSS - I should acknowledge that there are those who might disagree with me about fit , finish
and provenance as I’ve described it above. They certainly have a right to. But I protest that I
have personally handled 32 original Hawkens , most of them back in the 70’s when they were
cheap and could be found at gun shows and in open available collections. I took several apart
and even shot several. We thought nothing of using them like any other antique back in the
days when there were only antiques to shoot and only antique parts to fix them with. I can only
claim a bit more exposure to the real thing than others. I fear that the real thing is so rare, that
describing the genre is like a blind man groping an elephant. His description will largely depend
mostly on which part he gets hold of. I fear that my perception might be likewise colored.
Examining only 32 out of the hundreds that the Brothers made over the years is really not a
very good sample.
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