Redheart, it doesn't matter if the breech is straight or slanted if you are building a copy. There ain't no 1 1/8" straight breech out here, and there ain't hardly no 1 1/8" slant breeches, either. Muzzleloader Builder Supply was out the last I checked. Jedediah Starr is out. I know of no other except Track of the Wolf, and that 1 1/8" hooked breech has such a hump in the tang that it takes sever reshaping to match an original Hawken wrist shape. You either heat the tang hump white-red and pound it flatter or grind off the hump and solder a reinforcement underneath to accommodate the tang bolt countersink. The tail lifts easily to match the contour, but you got to get rid of that hump.
Most of the Hawken parts out there that I have used are badly shaped. Mtn Meek addressed the buttplate. That trigger guard has to have the loop bent more open to have the stud screw into the trigger plate at right angles. The Ron Long trigger plate has to have the front end bent down to match the stock line, and if you are exact, the triggers are too long. The entry pipe Track sells with their Hawken kits is wrong, and the correct one, RP-Hawk-TE-7-I, requires considerable reshaping. Their rear sight for Jim Bridger is too low, matching the one for Kit Carson's rifle closely, which results in a very low front sight. A better sight is their Large Hawken rear sight, saw off the front end. Their shaped and inletted stocks are nowhere near close, though their Hawken Rifle Halfstock, not inlet for lock (or anything else, just barrel channel and ram rod hole) will work. It is a half inch higher in the toe line, but it works OK for a 15/16" or 1" barrel (I just used both) and could be opened up for a 1 1/8" barrel. Pecatonica made the 15/16" stock for me, not inlet, and I liked their work. There is still a lot of work in cutting such stocks to the correct shape.
Oh, then there's the lock. Track's Jim Bridger's Hawken lock is the correct one, but if cut for the snail, the hammer probably won't reach the nipple. Then you heat the hammer white-red and lift the nose till it does. The hammer may also have to be twisted to align with the nipple. Better to get the lock not cut for snail and cut the plate yourself. I have posted this procedure on here, and Taylor has, too. Just click on my name, Herb, and a box comes up that includes "show posts by user". Do that and about 37 pages of my stuff comes up including photos. Probably everything you need in there.
The Bridger barrel is 33 1/8" ahead of the snail (I measured it up at Helena). It measures 1.175 at the breech and 1.125 at the muzzle, and Carl Walker, GRRW's gunsmith, said "you can make that much difference with a file". That is half the thickness of a dime per side in 33 1/8". I got an exact copy from Oregon Gun Works, 7 lands, right length and thickness, and 1 in 48" twist. I highly recommend them. The nose cap is .8" long, longer than Track's. I recommend MBS. They have one for an 1 1/8" barrel, and 1", but if you have a tapered barrel, the size will be 1 1/16". You either squeeze one down, or solder fillers in, or file a 1" one more open.
Martin, I have hundreds of photos of building close copies of the Bridger and Carson Hawkens and I plan to produce a How To instruction CD when I learn how to put those photos and text where I want them. Be a while.
And thanks to Mtn Meek for his authoritative photos and comments. He is a treasure on the subject of Hawkens!
