Hawken rifle
The Hawken rifle is a muzzle-loading rifle that was widely used on the prairies and in the Rocky Mountains of the United States during the early frontier days. Developed in the 1820s, it became synonymous with the "plains rifle", the buffalo gun, and a trade rifle for fur trappers, traders, clerks, and hunters.: 32 It was displaced after the American Civil War by breechloaders (such as the Sharps rifle) and lever action rifles.
| Hawken Type Plains Rifle | |
|---|---|
Lyman Replica of Plains Rifle | |
| Type | Long rifle |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1823–1870 |
| Used by | Confederate States of America |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Samuel Hawken |
| Designed | 1823 |
| Variants | Single trigger or double set trigger |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | About 10–15 pounds (4.5–6.8 kg) |
| Caliber | Round shot, averaged .54 in (14 mm) caliber |
| Action | Flintlock/percussion lock (after about 1835) |
| Rate of fire | User-dependent |
| Muzzle velocity | Variable |
| Effective firing range | 400 yards (370 m) |
| Feed system | Muzzle-loaded |
| Sights | Open blade sight |
The Hawken rifle was made and sold by Jacob and Samuel Hawken. Trained by their father as rifle smiths on the East Coast, the brothers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, at the beginning of the Rocky Mountain fur trade.: 1, 4 Opening a gun shop in St. Louis in 1815, they developed their Hawken Rifle, dubbed "Rocky Mountain Rifle", to serve the needs of fur trappers, traders, and explorers, a quality gunː light enough to carry all the time and that could knock down big animals at long range.: 4–5
In 1858, the shop passed to other owners who continued to operate and sell rifles bearing the Hawken name: William S. Hawken, William L. Watt, and J. P. Gemmer. Gemmer closed the business and retired in 1915.