Jonathan Browning Mountain Rifle

[gregdaws]

Realtree and other camo finishes are fine but I find I prefer wood and steel. Recently I have been looking at Hawken style percussion guns but know very little about them. The other day I came across a Jonathan Browning Mountain Rifle .54 in good condition. It looks really well made and well looked after. Does anybody know much about these rifles would it be a good start in the percussion ML world.

If you were buying a secondhand Hawken style rifle for hunting what would you choose and why? There's a lot of experience and knowledge on this site and I'd really like your opinions please. Thanks for any help that you can give me.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Recent discussion on another site about the same thing.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/browning-mountain-rifle-value.873709/Does yours have brass or steel furniture seems to be a biggish factor. 600-900 to the right buyer tho, from their thread. Not too many made and relatively high quality.

 

[Fyrstyk]

The Browning Mountain Rifles were well made guns, unfortunately they are no longer in production and parts for them are hard to come by. They were somewhat heavy and had a single set trigger which you don't see to often on a production gun. The designer of the JBMR went on to Lyman and designed their Great Plains rifle.

 

[Willfish4fud]

What’s your budget? Roundball or bullets? What critters you hunting deer? Elk? Etc

 

[gregdaws]

Budget would be $400- $800, round ball and white tail. I'm really looking for what people more experienced than me would pick as their choice of rifle looking back at their time in the field. What is a good 1st percussion rifle on the used market today.

 

[Willfish4fud]

At $800 you can get a nice pedersoli Rocky Mountain hawken. My only knock on them is the forward weight of the 30” barrel. I have bad rotator cuffs n it’s hard for me to hold. If I didn’t have that issue it’d be no problem.
Hard to go wrong with a TC Hawken or Renegade. I hate the butt plate on the hawken so I prefer renegades. Parts n accessories are readily available n there are plenty of aftermarket upgrades Like stocks, Davis deer slayer triggers, drop in barrels by Rice n Green Mountain and L&R locks for the TC guns. My 2 cents

 

[Nit Wit]

I have one in .45 steel furniture.
Nit Wit

 

[gregdaws]

At $800 you can get a nice pedersoli Rocky Mountain hawken. My only knock on them is the forward weight of the 30” barrel. I have bad rotator cuffs n it’s hard for me to hold. If I didn’t have that issue it’d be no problem.
Hard to go wrong with a TC Hawken or Renegade. I hate the butt plate on the hawken so I prefer renegades. Parts n accessories are readily available n there are plenty of aftermarket upgrades Like stocks, Davis deer slayer triggers, drop in barrels by Rice n Green Mountain and L&R locks for the TC guns. My 2 cents

Thanks, your 2 cents is important to me

 

[45-70]

Realtree and other camo finishes are fine but I find I prefer wood and steel. Recently I have been looking at Hawken style percussion guns but know very little about them. The other day I came across a Jonathan Browning Mountain Rifle .54 in good condition. It looks really well made and well looked after. Does anybody know much about these rifles would it be a good start in the percussion ML world.

If you were buying a secondhand Hawken style rifle for hunting what would you choose and why? There's a lot of experience and knowledge on this site and I'd really like your opinions please. Thanks for any help that you can give me.

yes , they are suppose to be good rifles

 

[52Bore]

I picked up a 1/1000 at Friendship a while back.
Jonathan Browning was born in TN.
My understanding, they were made by GRRW for Browning.

 

[moridgerunner]

That is a handsome rifle!

 

[45-70]

green river were making Hawkins back then

 

[GM54-120]

If you want to shoot round balls the Browning in 54cal would be a really nice rifle.

 

[gregdaws]

Thanks for the advice. In fact thanks to all of you that have added to the thread. Hawkens style percussion rifles are something that I know little about and I have never shot round ball. However, I am going to !! I don't need a genuine antique rifle, just a gun that will perform and that I wont want to replace. It doesn't have to be the best just a good shooter. I really appreciate the input that I get here.

 

[Willfish4fud]

I’ll add that my best shooting roundball gun is a .50 renegade with standard 1:48 twist. Nothing special...bought it as a used gun off arms list or somewhere. It will shoot a ragged hole at 50 yds every time n I’ve shot I think 6 deer with it. But I’m not sold on that twist. In fact that barrel or another for that gun was headed to Bob Hoyt to get bored to .54 n 1:60 or 1:66 twist. Until I shot it...
Point being You could get lucky n get a shooter. But if you get a used gun n it has a roached barrel or just will not shoot for you then you still have options. $150 or so n Hoyt will rebore it or for a bit more he can resleeve it. This is true for TC guns or the browning or others. A barrel is a barrel for that type work. And you’d have a brand new bore to work with. Just FYI

 

[gregdaws]

I’ll add that my best shooting roundball gun is a .50 renegade with standard 1:48 twist. Nothing special...bought it as a used gun off arms list or somewhere. It will shoot a ragged hole at 50 yds every time n I’ve shot I think 6 deer with it. But I’m not sold on that twist. In fact that barrel or another for that gun was headed to Bob Hoyt to get bored to .54 n 1:60 or 1:66 twist. Until I shot it...
Point being You could get lucky n get a shooter. But if you get a used gun n it has a roached barrel or just will not shoot for you then you still have options. $150 or so n Hoyt will rebore it or for a bit more he can resleeve it. This is true for TC guns or the browning or others. A barrel is a barrel for that type work. And you’d have a brand new bore to work with. Just FYI

I’ve learnt something, thank you

 

[Valkyrie]

Still miss my J/brown .50 cal iron rifle, (early '80's) gone but not forgotten.

 

[Fyrstyk]

Still miss my J/brown .50 cal iron rifle, (early '80's) gone but not forgotten.

My JBR was originally a .50, but I found it somewhat heavy for carrying while deer hunting so I had it rebored to .58. Lightened it up some, and it really puts the deer down.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

While a TC Hawken isn't " historically correct " for a Hawken, it is the superior rifle for hunters afoot. The true Hawkens, and replicas, are more suited to hunters on horse. Historically speaking.
Some say the TC is modeled after the New England style rifles of the later percussion period. They are accurate, reliable and really quite versatile, being able to shoot bullet/ ball and sabot.
If the rifle buttplate and brass are too much, then the Renegade is an excellent choice.
I've had Lyman Plains rifles and the Browning Mountain Rifle. All were excellent. But as a practical rifle that will do what is needed without wearing a fella out, the TC Hawken/ Renegade is the better choice.
This picture is Autumn. My factory laminate TC Hawken.

 

[gregdaws]

While a TC Hawken isn't " historically correct " for a Hawken, it is the superior rifle for hunters afoot. The true Hawkens, and replicas, are more suited to hunters on horse. Historically speaking.
Some say the TC is modeled after the New England style rifles of the later percussion period. They are accurate, reliable and really quite versatile, being able to shoot bullet/ ball and sabot.
If the rifle buttplate and brass are too much, then the Renegade is an excellent choice.
I've had Lyman Plains rifles and the Browning Mountain Rifle. All were excellent. But as a practical rifle that will do what is needed without wearing a fella out, the TC Hawken/ Renegade is the better choice.
This picture is Autumn. My factory laminate TC Hawken.

Thanks for the input. There’s a lot of knowledge on this forum.