The thickness of the forend on a Hawken rifle is determined in part by the thickness of the bolster of the lock plate, as the lock panel at it's forward end flares wider than the tail end. When the lock panel is cut with just enough to give some definition to the panel, what is left along the barrel channel is not much more than 1/8" of wood. A further "problem" is that the forend of a plains rifle with a 1 1/8" breech, 1/4" + of underrib and subsequent web between the barrel and the rod hole, a 7/16" - 1/2" ramrod hole, and another 1/8" of wood along the bottom of the forend, adds up to be a much deeper forend vertically than on a Longrifle. So, with the minimal wood thickness, and the major wood depth, it is easy to get a slab-sided forend, which must be avoided. Be certain to shave the forend's wood along the barrel channel to almost a knife edge, to help avoid that slab-sidedness.
