Herb, that's a good assessment of the plans. They are at best contemporary builder's ideas of how to improve upon the Hawken brother's designs. Yes, there are lots of Hawken 'flavours' there.
In defense of that concept, my A. Verner rifle is a good example. I wanted a documentary copy of his famous fancy rifle, so I built it exactly as the photos and documentary evidence called for. I ended up with an excellent copy, but it isn't the most pleasant rifle to shoot. It has a 13 1/2" LOP, and not quite enough drop at the comb for my long arms and neck, so if I'm not careful, it'll crack my cheek. Just adding 1/2" to the LOP would have almost completely eliminated that, and made a rifle much more shooter friendly.
In Hawken rifles, there is a lot of variations in the dimensions of the stock's butt and forearm. Just using those rifles as an example, using TOW's plans is certainly a good base from which a builder, especially one without a lot of experience, can design a rifle that suits their body shape and shooting style. I have purchased quite a number of their sheets over the years, and used them as another piece of information to help with rifle design. Now, I draw my own plans, often just the butt plate to entry pipe, but sometimes the whole shebang, and sometimes even top and bottom views. Making the drawings yourself goes a long way to helping the builder understand the important relationships that will make the rifle a success, or 'I wish I'd have..."
