The thing is, extra wood left on the forestock is about the most common mistake a untrained builder makes. In genera if you think you have taken off enough wood you probably haven't. There should be very little curve on the lower 2/3 of the forestock. Be methodical about the removal of wood and you will avoid a lot of misery.
1 get your top dimension down to half the flat (you will bring this dimension down further after you get close to final shape )
2 get you ramrod channel down to less than 1/2 the diameter if the rod
3 bring the wood down to about 1/8th" on both sides forearm (flat and even) you could leave this wider but not much (you will bring this down quite a bit more before you are done)
4 mark a line line the full length of the barrel about a little below 1/3 from top to bottom
5 mark line above the one you have half way between top of forestock
6 mark line below the half way between the ramrod channel.
7 file a flat front to back from almost the top to the 1st line you have at the top
8 do the same at the bottom.
9 now, draw a line in the middle of the two flats you just made
10 file a flat from the new lines to up and down to you original lines
Now you should have 4 relatively parallel flats on the forestock and the beginning of the shape you want that is the widest point at 1 third down the barrel and fairly steep slope to the ramrod channel. just keep in mind that the width begins to drop of at that top third point in the for stock. the for stock should not look meaty it should be almost delicate looking. Take it easy and keep it a straight and you will come out lookin' good
All this applies to the area in front of the entry pipe. behind the pipe is of course oval in shape but with the same max width at about the 1/3 point down for the top of the stock. Most times the line of max width is not straight horizontally and is blended as it goes over the entry pipe. Higher behind the pipe.
