Thanks for all the input and comments!
The cheque is in the mail and I expect the rifle to arrive in 10-14 days. I still need 'Big Brother's' approval until such time as the gov't scraps our long gun registry. That bill has survived 2nd reading in the House. One more to go and then it gets goes to the Senate for approval/amendment before becoming law; a long awaited day.
The rifle is crossing the country from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, the true venue for a 'Mountain Rifle'. It will be put to appropriate use and will be my spring bear rifle. In the meantime, I've been boning up on my lore and history by reading:
"The Hawken Rifle: It's Place In History" by Charles E. Hanson and "Mountain Men", the diary and account of the travels of 'Ruxton of the Rockies' in the fur trade era. These boys were unimaginably tough, taking on deprivation, Indians, and all comers with equanimity. Ruxton was an erudite ex-British Army Officer who had served in Canada and got bored with garrison life.
I also found the catalog that came with my Frank Straight Green River Forge 'Astorian' .50 flinter that I once owned. What a classy rifle that was! Not a "Hawken" per se, it was a transitional piece, a half stock 'plains rifle' with some of the graceful lines of the eastern rifles. 1x72" twist, 32" barrel.
Price for it and the NW Trade Gun I bought as the same time was $450 each, a lot of money for a young Pilgrim at the time, but worth every dime! I had to float a loan and found a sympathetic loans officer who was amused that anyone would put himself in debt for a gun.
Everyone else at the time was shooting the affordable TC 'Hawkens'. There was no comparison.
If I was ever to order a custom rifle, it would be along the lines of the 'Astorian'; a flinter, of course.
Now that I've got the JBMR coming, I'm in the market for a horn. Nothing fancy and not huge. I tend to like dark brown tones rather than white horns. Any makers out there?