Mountain Rifle Sneaks into the House and Decided to Stay

[RonRC]

I had resolved not to buy any more front stuffers for a while. After all, I have several of them in a variety of types.
I failed at my resolution. :cry: I saw a "Hawken" "Mountain Rifle" offered for sale, a really lovely piece. The asking price was reasonable, but too high for my hobby budget. It didn't sell and the price kept dropping until it was too much for me to bear. A nice little consulting project came my way and made it possible to buy this rifle if I could convince my wife that I was under the control of metaphysical powers that drove me to an irresistible urge to add to my collection.
And, here is is:

It is a .50 cal. I would have preferred a .54, but that is what it had. Tom Watson built it for his son who has now built his own rifle.
Ron

 

[Old Smoke]

Gorgeous!

But you got to learn to fight those metaphysical forces that twist and bend you will.  You might find that same rifle in a .54. Then what'll you do??!!  The horror!

 

[Okie Hog]

Congrats, that is  beautiful rifle.

 

[Fishmagnet]

What a beauty, congratulations.

 

[hawgslayer1]

Ron she's a beauty. Hope it won't be long before you get the chance to shoot her. Do me a favor though. Check the stock in the 3rd pic right at the front of the lock. Hope that's the wood and not what it appears to be.

Ray...........

 

[RonRC]

Ray,
Thank you for pointing it out. There is a flaw there and I asked about it before purchasing. According to the builder, Tom, he stabilized it to make certain there would be no failure. There is a similar line just above  where the ram rod enters the stock. That one is barely noticeable and Tom is the one who pointed it out.
The rifle has been well used by Tom's son in tournaments and those are the only 2 flaws.

It has an original (NOS) 1" Sharon Barrel. The length over all is 49.5" the barrel length is 32.5". The final finish is many coats of Tru-Oil. The length of pull is 14.5" (a little long for me). The weight is 9.6 #. The Lock is a new L & R  with an L & R double set trigger.

Ron

 

[hawgslayer1]

Just didn't know if you knew Ron. If it's taken care of you shouldn't have any problems. Good luck and let us know how she shoots.

Ray.............

 

[lighthorseman]

Ron

absolutely beautiful rifle...........and with a gun that pretty I could live with a .50 cal. easily!

:thumbs up:

 

[Hilljack1]

Wonderful piece...you should be very proud....Those forces can be very hard to combat, but they always give you that AWWWW feeling....Congrats...

YMHS
Hilljack

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Congrats Ron! There is always room for "just" one more!  Very nice Hawken, beautiful wood.

 

[BigAl52]

Every time I say Im not gonna buy anymore Ron I fail. Nice to know Im not alone. I will be one of the lucky ones here I bet I will see that next time we go to the range. Looks good Ron as it did yours it also caught my eye when it went up for sale. Al

 

[lighthorseman]

I don't know if I'm getting better.....but currently I'm saving up to buy my wife a short barreled flintlock smoothie.......no really.....no it's not for me!.....honest

 

[RonRC]

lighthorseman,
I keep telling my wife that I am going to buy her this or that firearm. She sees right through me. :x

I think that she holds a grudge from the time she visited me when I was working in South Africa and I introduced her as my "American wife."
Here she is last year at a Colorado Greyhound Adoption function. Keep in mind that she is only a year younger than I am:

She is very sensitive to my behavior and becomes angry at trivial things, like this:

She is small, at 5', but our son, who was an MMA fighter and a submission grappling champion, has learned never to make her angry:

Yep. Now, y'all know why I am the way I am.  
Ron

 

[patocazador]

Beautiful wood and I really like the matte finish on the metal.

Why did she hit your son instead of you? Mothers love their sons much more than their husbands. :Shh:

 

[RonRC]

I ducked.  

Actually, that was after an MMA meet he was in. The other guy looked worse.
Ron

 

[Sharpsman]

Tom Watson does great work! :lol: :cheers: :Salute:

 

[PacNWJim]

What a beautiful mountain rifle!

My dear friend in Blanco, Texas built my mountain rifle from a CVA kit he got back around 1978, and hunted with it every year until he sold it to me a few years back.

Your mountain rifle is the only one I've seen that I thought was a pretty as mine. I can't seem to post a photo in here, sorry.

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

Oh, those rascally rifles. 
Sneaking into your safe. 
IDK how that happens. 

Nice looking rifle, though.
Grats!

Think you could let one into my safe? 

 

[PacNWJim]

I guess it's not going to let me post a photo. Anyway, you have a beautiful Mountain Rifle! I couldn't help noticing how it has the same paint job as the dogs your wife is posing with.

 

[RonRC]

I guess it's not going to let me post a photo. Anyway, you have a beautiful Mountain Rifle! I couldn't help noticing how it has the same paint job as the dogs your wife is posing with.

But the dogs shoot out the other end!
I would like to see your rifle once you work out the logistics of posting a photo.

Ron