New build First time this way FINISH pictures added

[Wyoduster]

Making a little headway .. I'm not real happy with myself inletting the lock..(should have taken wood off first) But its starting to feel right..

[Wyoduster]

Well it is finished.. Had thoughts about more inlays but decided for now plain is good. Whats your thoughts??

[sqrldog]

Wyo some not all Hawken trigger bars have wiid sceww at the rear of the trigger bar just in front of the rear finial on the bar. Just use a little bigger screw there and things should be fairly solid. Tim

[Wyoduster]

Right now everything feels tight I did use a larger screw at the rear of it.

[Black Hand]

Please take this as a constructive comment - your rifle has lots of extra wood that could be removed.

[Wyoduster]

Please take this as a constructive comment - your rifle has lots of extra wood that could be removed.

Thanks.. I'm just a grasshopper in the world of building so I need all the comments I can get. Where would you pull more wood? I felt the barrel needed a little wood under it.. its a honker.. and the stock well. what are you thinking..

[Black Hand]

Your stock forwards of the lock looks square and it should probably be more rounded. The buttstock and wrist look chunky, though it is difficult to see for certain. The lock panels are abruptly carved and they don't flow.

On a muzzleloader, the barrel supports the wood rather than the other way around.

[Wyoduster]

Your stock forwards of the lock looks square and it should probably be more rounded. The buttstock and wrist look chunky, though it is difficult to see for certain. The lock panels are abruptly carved and they don't flow.

On a muzzleloader, the barrel supports the wood rather than the other way around.

Thanks for your comments.. This is a learning process. I'm making memories not money doin this. I did want this one to be more plain.. but wasn't sure how to get a flow around the lock panels .. thoughts? I do agree it looks a little square in front of the trigger.. the butt and wrist are a lot thinner than pictures make them appear. 

[smart dog]

Hi,
You did pretty well.  For future reference, you started to cut the lock panels in way too early. The panels form naturally as you shape the wrist and lock area to final form.  You made the mistake that many of us did when learning to build.  That keeps the  wrist and lock area from being slab sided and the lock panels sticking out like picture frames against a flat wall.

dave

[Black Hand]

...and the lock panels sticking out like picture frames against a flat wall.

That describes very well the appearance of the first gun I built....
Still have the gun and have considered re-working the wood, but I haven't and likely never will. It serves as a reminder of good times and where I started.

[axelp]

There were chunky slab-sided originals but the better examples seem to be painfully thin. I once owned an early Lehigh build that the wrist was so tiny I was afraid it would crack in two, but it never did and I used that gun hunting and camping for years. I have heard many builders say slim it down until you are scared to death then go a bit further. I own a hand made ash canoe paddle that was extremely thin and again I always feared it would break but in all the years I used it for paddling and propping up tarp shelters and whatnot... Its still going strong. Good wood is amazingly resilient.

I am not a builder-- just a lurker, but I admire ALL of you that do--keep making cool stuff guys!!

K