During the National Spring Shoot, Ron Upchurch invited as many true-blue Buckskinners as he could find to shoot a copy of Kit Carson's Hawken rifle. This rifle is an exact replica of Kit Carson's rifle that was presented to the Montezuma Masonic Lodge in Santa Fe in 1868. Last summer Ron took photographs and exact measurements from the original. Don Stith assembled it with a .54 caliber, thirty-one inch de Haas barrel. The roller lock and triggers and other parts were manufactured by Don. There is also a silver cheek piece inlay that was engraved by Bob Ham. The silver inlay is engraved "Donated to Bent Lodge #42 AF&AM by Fraternal Order of the Beaver, July 1999."

This Hawken replica will be presented to Bent Lodge #42 in Taos, New Mexico. The Lodge will retain ownership, and will be displayed in the Mason-sponsored Kit Carson museum in Taos. Kit Carson was one of the founding members of the original Taos Lodge.
Ron, who was the organizer and the man who made it all happen, was given the honors of the first shot. Using 80 grains of FFg and a spit patch, he fired at the target on the primitive range behind the blockhouse. Ron caught paper with his first shot and everybody in turn took one shot from the Hawken. Everybody asked where the previous shooter aimed his shot. I remember my shot as high right. I was in a group with about five other people. By the time everybody was done shooting, the last group of people were hitting in the black. The last man that night to fire a shot was a John P. Miller from Arlington, Illinois -not to be confused with our John A. Miller, the NMLRA EVP. I had never met John P. before, or many of the other men who fired that rifle that afternoon. We all have more in common now than before we first met. We have all fired a shot out of the Kit Carson rifle before it was sent to the museum. So when you get to Taos, New Mexico, stop in and see the rifle. You will be able to say I know some friends who shot that Hawken. Muzzle Blasts