Jim Kibler seeking original Hawken to aid in Kibler Hawken Kit Development
Jim Kibler has put out formal notice that he and the Kibler Longrifles team are beginning work on the long awaited Kibler Hawken Kit. He had this to say in a post on the American Longrifles Forum:
“We’ve begun working on a Hawken rifle kit. In order to capture the details of these rifles, we would like to get our hands on a good original to study and aid in the kit development. So, we might be willing to purchase one or otherwise work out a deal for a loan etc. If you know of any potential leads, we would love to hear from you.
Will consider about any price or payment .
Thanks!”
As with most of Jim’s posts, its short and to the point. We know he’s working on the Kibler Hawken and looking for an original to study and aid in kit development. The Kibler Hawken has been discussed for several years now, with some of the first public discussions dating to 2020.
When will the Kibler Hawken be released?
We don’t have a confirmed release date for the Kibler Hawken, but we can speculate with some of the Kibler’s Longrifle History. The Kibler Woodsrunner was released in 2023 and was the first Kibler kit to be developed on new machinery allowing for more accurate machining and as a result, easier assembly by the customer. The Woodsrunner took somewhere around 2 years to become available, but it looks like future kits won’t take as long.
As of writing in October 2023, Kibler has stated that the next kit to be released will be the Kibler English Fowler. The Kibler English Fowler, or Fowling Piece, is expected to be released in 2024. At the time of writing, we don’t have any images or other information about the Fowler.
If Kibler releases the Kibler Fowling piece in 2024, we could see the Kibler Hawken as early as 2025 or by 2026 if you want to play it safe.
What Kind of Hawken will the Kibler Hawken be?
We don’t know for sure what kind of Hawken the Kibler Hawken will be. The Hawken shop in St. Louis built several “Models” over the years, with different versions being attributed to several builders during the shop’s multi-decade history. For many muzzleloading enthusiasts, the Hawken was defined by the 1970s reproductions made by Thompson Center and CVA. Kibler is known for his attention to detail and historic accuracy, so we can expect something a little closer to the real thing than these iconic versions.
In my opinion, it would be interesting to see a “Kibler Super Hawken” that was brass hardware, percussion half stock as an homage to the late 20th century models and a nod to the popularity of the T/C Hawken.
Commenters on the American Longrifles Forum have chimed in with some ideas on what they’d like to see. From Flintlock full stock to percussion half stock “sporting rifle” models, there are a lot of ideas floating around.
Will the Kibler Hawken be flintlock or percussion?
“We’re planning on a half stocked percussion rifle. We will probably make a few concessions in order to make it what we feel is a little better rifle. I know this might anger the purists, but the masses will appreciate this.”
To give some context, Jim’s notes on making concessions to make a “better rifle” is about the discussion on the build quality of original Hawken locks being different than what modern enthusiasts expect out of a lock.
The Kibler Hawken will be a half-stock percussion rifle, true to the iconic percussion era of the St. Louis Hawken Shop. Apart from those details, however, we don’t know which Hawken Kibler will recreate. Will it be a Tennessee-influenced early Hawken? A “Golden age” Iron mounted? Perhaps a later period Gemmer Hawken? Only time will tell.
Apart from the excitement of a Kibler-built Hawken Kit, it’s important to point out here that Kibler is almost certainly going to develop a percussion lock alongside this kit, as he has done with his previous kit. For fans of the Kibler line of products, this gives you a new lock AND the first Kibler percussion lock. We don’t know yet if the Kibler Hawken Percussion lock will be a totally new build, or use components from the Kibler Flint lock mechanisms.
I Love Muzzleloading will be watching for more updates on the Kibler line of kits.
