What did Jake and Sam'l do for stocks??

[mountainman70]

Ok, here goes a sublect  Bob Walden and I have been kicking around. With the manufacturing of barrels,locks, etc in the East, Pennsy and other areas, producing barrels ,etc to the gun trade,  is it likely that our beloved Hawken brothers could have bought and used precarved stocks, and fit their own parts?
This seems possible to me after much study of the early trade .
I hope I aint desecrating the ol altar here. Just a thought for discussion, and to see what happens. Thanks,bros. Dave f

[redheart]

Having worked at Harpers Ferry Arsenal they would have probably known how to use the stock duplicator there. Who knows, they may have made or bought their own.

[mountainman70]

That is part of the idea that got me and BW thinking. Thanks..Dave

[45-110]

Not being from Missouri myself, I am wondering if hard maple trees grow there? I have always heard about the walnut in the region though.
best kw

[Mike Brooks]

There is wide variation in the parts the Hawken Bros. used in building their guns so nothing was standard. A stock duplicator would not have worked. All stocks were made by hand from a plank. Besides, their production numbers weren't large enough too warrant a duplicator. Honestly, a rough shaped stock doesn't save me any time and I suspect they found the same. Lots of hard maple around that area back in the day. Most all of it was used to as fuel to make lime in the lime kilns, rare to see a hard maple now, I have only had 1 local cut hard maple plank in 38 years.