Hi guys well this is my first foray into percussion. I went to the gun show yesterday with a buddy who was looking for a .303 Enfield and all I wanted was to grab some ammo at a good price if they had any, seriously that's it. I was looking on a table at a couple of Enfields when I spotted this and a Lyman Deerstalker. I made the mistake of touching them both and this just felt better in my hand and even with all its dings, it just looked like a classier girl. I worked the seller down on the price because of the dings and am happy where that ended up. Here is what I know about the rifle from the gun value blue book, maker’s marks, proof marks and my friend Google. I just nosed around the net to gather what information I could find, not because I thought that this was an original Hawkens, but mostly because the seller was a private seller and claimed to have bought it at an estate sale and knew nothing about the rifle or BP. That kind of thing gets me to making a cup of coffee and giving my computer a workout. As such please feel free to jump in with corrections of any kind as I am completely new to this rifle and percussion BP.
Per the barrel marks and secondary sources like books and websites:
"AM" mark dates its build date as 1984.The rifle was built in Gardone, Brescia, Italy and bears the two official testing and proof house marks. The manufacturer mark is a capital "I" inside a square. By accessing the trademark database that trademark corresponds to Investarms. it seems that this rifle, Model 120B, was made by Fabrica d’Armi of Investarms of Italy. Sold in Italy as the Investarms Hawken Rifle, this rifle was imported by the Richland Arms Co. of Blissfield, Michigan, again in 1984. The Richland Arms Company was based in Blissfield, Michigan from the 1960s to the mid 1980s. The company imported a range of Spanish and Italian shotguns and pistols. As best as I could find it looks like Richland went out of business in 1990. It looks like the current US importer of the Investarms Hawken is Cabelas. Given the manufacturer calls it one thing, the barrel says another and the current importer calls it another I went back to the source nomenclature, the Investarms Hawken, Model 120B. Please correct me if there is another more correct way to refer to this old girl.
My plan is to clean and buff up her scratches and dings as needed, normal BP cleaning regimen being observed of course and hunt her, iron sights and all, this season right alongside my scoped inline. It should be interesting. Here are some pics, let me know what you guys think. Thanks.
EDIT:
Tried three times and still can't get these photos uploaded.
Per the barrel marks and secondary sources like books and websites:
"AM" mark dates its build date as 1984.The rifle was built in Gardone, Brescia, Italy and bears the two official testing and proof house marks. The manufacturer mark is a capital "I" inside a square. By accessing the trademark database that trademark corresponds to Investarms. it seems that this rifle, Model 120B, was made by Fabrica d’Armi of Investarms of Italy. Sold in Italy as the Investarms Hawken Rifle, this rifle was imported by the Richland Arms Co. of Blissfield, Michigan, again in 1984. The Richland Arms Company was based in Blissfield, Michigan from the 1960s to the mid 1980s. The company imported a range of Spanish and Italian shotguns and pistols. As best as I could find it looks like Richland went out of business in 1990. It looks like the current US importer of the Investarms Hawken is Cabelas. Given the manufacturer calls it one thing, the barrel says another and the current importer calls it another I went back to the source nomenclature, the Investarms Hawken, Model 120B. Please correct me if there is another more correct way to refer to this old girl.
My plan is to clean and buff up her scratches and dings as needed, normal BP cleaning regimen being observed of course and hunt her, iron sights and all, this season right alongside my scoped inline. It should be interesting. Here are some pics, let me know what you guys think. Thanks.
EDIT:
Tried three times and still can't get these photos uploaded.