This rifle has been a long time getting finished...life has a way of interfering with my plans, it seems. Or as someone so well put it: "Man makes his plans, and God laughs!"
I've just spent the last week polishing steel. I am going to attempt pack hardening all of the hardware on this Hawken rifle, to be as authentic as possible, and I hope to get interesting colours as a bonus. So I've polished the steel to 1200 grit, all by hand.
I don't know if I've gilded the lily here, but I've cut the nose of the hammer "English style" to allow the cap to split and fall away, rather than jam in the hammer cup. Also, being a hunter, and knowing that the rifle will be used for moose and elk, I chequered the hammer spur. You don't want the hammer to get away on you when the trophy of a lifetime is standing in front of you waiting to receive. I do this to all my Hawken builds, HC or not.
The stock I stained with Ferric Nitrate dissolved in water, and finished with hot bees wax. I doubt Sam ever did this, preferring varnish for his own work, but I used the finish on my own Hawken rifle, and I've used it hard now for two hunting seasons, and it has stood up so well in nasty circumstances, that I decided to finish this one the same way. After final burnishing of the wood following the staining process, I heated the wood with a hot air heat gun, and melted bees wax onto the surface, doing a small area at a time, and heating the wood until it would suck up no more, before moving on the the next area. After the entire stock was coated with wax, I reheated it and rubbed it hard with a towel to remove the surface wax...done! All of the inlets have been likewise soaked with wax. The stock is now ready for chequering the wrist and grip, which I shall start this afternoon.
Here's a pic of the majority of the hardware, ready to be packed into the crucible. I'm going to include the breech plug, but the tang I'll rust blue like the barrel, since I have brazed on the boss for the tang sight. Speaking of which, Chris, I think it should be called a diopter. The original rifles (three of which I have seen images) all carry their rear sights. I was pleasantly surprised how clear the diopter makes the rear sight notch . Also, on all three of these great rifles, the front and rear sights are noticeably higher off the barrel than usual. This is a big help when target shooting, to get away from heat mirage.
Anyway, the build continues, and the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter.
