quote:

Originally posted by Battery:
Hello guys. I haven't seen the Pedersoli Hawken though I am told it is very impressive.

I have a Hawken by Uberti which I believe pre-dates the Santa Fe and I would apreciate any information you might be able to dredge up from your long memories.

The serial number is 817 and the build quality is excellent down to the german silver escutcheons,forend cap and foresight blade and iron hardware. The stock appears to be maple.
The calibre stamped on the breech is .54 but the bore is actually .53 - takes a .52 ball and pillow ticking patch for a good tight fit.

When I bought this about 9 years ago at a gun fair there were some sketchy web references but these have since long gone.
As I remember it Allen Arms Manufacturing (or similar name) of Santa Fe, who also marketed Western Arms guns, had requests from customers in the 1970's for a Hawken rifle. The Masonic Lodge in Santa Fe had a Hawken donated by Kit Carson who had been a member (rifle since moved to a national/State museum(?)). They agreed that blueprints could be made. Allen Arms approached Uberti to make 1000 exact copies of the original but in .54 calibre. Uberti shipped them with Uberti and .54 stamped on the breech but mistakenly with the actual bore still .53 as per the blueprints (the way to identify that original custom order). Allen Arms were selling them for about $700-800 which proved a little too expensive for the market. A little later the young Uberti son who was running the USA side of the business thought Uberti could sell a cheaper version and they produced their own, the Uberti Santa Fe Hawken which they sold via their agents/importers. It looked similar, was stamped .54 and the bore was also .54. A good gun but not up to the quality of the Allen Arms special order.

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Thanks,

Peter.

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I say, Grauwulf, speaking of just the original halfstock Hawken rifles, I don't recall seeing a J&S Hawken with a tapered barrel. Of course, my observations are not as complete as I wish. What have you noticed about the tapered barrels from the J&S era? Shoot sharp, Mike

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I am pretty sure I have measurements off a J&S fullstock with a tapered barrel that I handled in New Mexico a few years ago. I'll have to look for it, but it was definitely tapered

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Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
to muddy up the waters just a bit more, Ed Webber (IIRC) and John Baird collaborated on that prototype for Sante Fe Arms. I got one of the first thru John in 1980 or early 1981. Then there was the Jed Smith limited edition model. I found one this summer, but the gentleman who bought it new shot it a couple times and put it away in 1983 without cleaning it. Sigh...
I posted elsewhere about getting a barrel freshened. That was it. I may update it a bit with a new 35" barrel. These were great rifles for the time and price, $299.95.

Rich