PH0854 Deer Creek Hawken Pistol Kit

The Deer Creek Hawkin (or American) pistol kit is of quite good quality. A builder with some experience will find it a worthwile project for not a lot of cash. I used Birchwood Casey's plum brown to finish the metal parts and Tru oil to finish the stock. I also made my own walnut presentation box. When finished it made quite an impressive display. so nice in fact that my wife lets me keep it on our coffee table! The only bad part of this kit was the (or lack of) instructions. A beginner might have a difficult time understanding the assembly procedure. An experienced muzzleloader would not have difficulty but Deer Creek should improve on this by printing an instruction sheet that would give simple step by step assembly procedures this slight improvement would make this kit an excellent choice for expert and beginner alike!

I completed my Deer Creek Hawken pistol kit. I suggest that you have some VERY sharp carving instruments to work the stock. You will need some small drills to drill pilot holes in the stock to start the screws. I browned the barrel and hardware. I finished the stock with an oil stain and will let my hands slowly oil the wood. After about 5 shots from a sand bag on a bench I have the sights \"zeroed in\"". When my kit arrived I seperated the associated parts in \""Zip-Lock\"" baggs and wraped the barrel in a paper towell and a gallon bag. There was no rust on any parts in the 4 months before I was able to treat the metal. This gun is very popular with my friends. David"

THIS IS A GREAT KIT FOR A FAIR PRICE. THE GUN WENT TOGETHER VERY SMOOTHLY WITH VERY LITTLE TRIMMING ON THE STOCK WHICH ENDED UP WITH A NICE METEL TO WOOD FIT. THE WOOD CAME OUT GREAT WITH ABOUT 3 COATS OF TRU-OIL. THE INSTRUCTIONS OR LACK THERE OF COULD BE BETTER BUT EVEN A BEGINNER CAN FIGURE IT OUT WITHOUT TOO MUCH HASSLE. THIS IS A VERY IMPRESSIVE AND SOLID PISTOL WHEN FINISHED. THE FORE-END CAP HOWEVER WILL NOT TAKE BLUE BUT IT DID NOT HURT THE OVER ALL LOOK OF THE PISTOL.THE BELT HOOK IS A NICE FEATURE. THE PEOPLE AT DIXIE ARE GREAT TO DEAL WITH.

I enjoyed putting this kit together. The only things I didn't like about the kit were the included sights. Very thick blade for the front sight and a semi-buckhorn rear sight with very narrow notch. Maybe an issue of taste or perhaps due only to my aging eyeballs but I'm ordering new front and rear sights. The belt hook. It is a nice feature but not exactly my cup of tea. I cut the hook off the screw plate and ground the plate down flush. My kit my gun my rules. :) I made it the way I wanted it to be. I recommend using a pre-stain treatment before applying wood stain. Stock on mine came out pretty blotchy after staining. At some point I'll sand it down and redo the stain/finish but it's good enough to go to the woods this season. Overall this is a 5-star kit for the price.

This was my first kit of any type.It needs just enough work to be a fun project but not so much work you need any special tools.It needs minor fitting of most of the parts.All and all it is a simple kit and fun to do.If you are any kind of a craftsman you should have no problem...This kit is going so well I just placed an order for a rifle to go with it!