Jedediah Smith carried the Hawken rifle as he traversed the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains of the western interior. On May 27^th, 1831 while enroute to Santa Fe with fellow fur traders David Jackson and William Sublette, at Wagon Bed Springs Kansas, Jedediah Smith was ambushed and killed by Comanche Indians. His Hawken rifle and two sidelock pistols were traded in Santa Fe, New Mexico by Comancheros who obtained them from the Comanches. Such a rifle is fitting to recognize the man who discovered the South Pass and was the first to reach the California overland from the American Frontier. He was also the first to cross the Sierra Nevada, first to travel the length and breadth of the Great Basin and the first to reach Oregon by traveling overland up the California coast.

The Hawken rifle was originally produced by brothers Jacob and Samuel Hawken, in their St. Louis, Missouri shop founded in 1815. The earliest known record of a Hawken rifle dates back to 1823 when one was custom made for William Henry Ashley, a gun powder manufacturer turned fur trader, who used it in his expeditions up the Missouri River to the interior of the Western United States. These parties included Jedediah Smith and many other explorers who would later become famous mountain men.

The Investarm™ Flintlock Santa Fe Hawken Rifle Kit offers high-quality features such as a 28" barrel with 1:48" twist rate for patched ball hunting loads, double set triggers and Hawken style percussion "snail" with clean out screw. The rifle includes a separate ramrod entry thimble and nose cap, and reliable coil spring lock with correct lock plate. The Investarm™ Santa Fe Hawken Rifle is available in .36 caliber and flintlock or percussion configurations. The Investarm Santa Fe Hawken Rifle is an attractive, traditional muzzleloader that is rugged, well built and meant to last a lifetime.

One of the best ways to get a real hands-on muzzleloading experience is to build a rifle yourself. Easy to read instructions guide you through the building process to a finished product. There is no greater feeling of accomplishment than knowing you built a fully functional rifle for shooting or display.