[Doc Hoy]

...for my criticism.

Certainly it is difficult to charactize what is now generally referred to as a Hawken rifle as having much similarity with all of the rifles made by the Hawken brothers. There are so many different descriptions of rifles they made that you could point to a rifle that is closer in appearance to an authentic Kentucky rifle and it might have been made by the Hawkens.

But we, in the twentieth and twenty first century have (IMO) embraced a definition of the Hawken which matches fairly closely (admittedly not exactly) to the rifles which they made in about the middle of their years for use in the western plains and the mountains. Fairly big bore. Half stock. Abbreviated patchbox. Octagon barrel that is 30 inches or longer. Set trigger. Other similarities exist but admittedly the differences may be more pronounced than I am allowing. I do acknowledge that there are plenty of things out there that are called Hawken which require a great deal of imagination to make the connection.

And so we have the original definition of a Hawken which is quite varied. We also have our present definition of a Hawken which is a little more narrowly focused but with a real connection to only a small number of the originals. In effect the present market has created a new definition. Perhaps forty or fifty years ago, when TC introduced their Hawken Rifle, a different curmudgeon was criticizing them as I am now criticizing Traditions.

On the other hand the present marketplace has not amended the definition of the Kentucky long rifle. Nor have any of the importers or vendors been able to successfully propose a second, more recent definition to the extent that has occured with the Hawken. Not one which the marketplace has been willing to accept. The term "Kentucky rifle" is relatively specific in the mental picture it creates. The specimen from Jukar is Kentucky rifle in name. But informed buyers don't buy it for the name, they buy it for the price.

This is just an alternate point of view, an opinion driven more by emotion and less by knowledge. I stick to it, though. I do believe it is more than just half stock versus full stock. When I opened the box of my first Kentucky (CVA) kit I was disappointed. But when I first looked at the TC Hawken Kit, I was pleasantly surprized.

I think the present day rifles we know as Hawken have a historical prototype which is closer than the present day Traditions Kentucky is to its namesake.