Full stock early Hawken build

[Chocktaw Brave]

Well thanks to major eye surgery(detached retina) I was able o find time to work on my Hawken that’s been sitting dormant for over a year. I had about six weeks out of work, so in the last few weeks I picked up the rifle project again. This is my progress so far;

[Chocktaw Brave]

[Chocktaw Brave]

This is where I left off last year.



upload photo

[CooleyS]

Looking good! Glad you were able to get back at it, despite the reason for being able to get back at it… looking forward to seeing the progress.
-Steve

[reddogge]

The only thing I noticed is the curve of the buttplate is more like a Tenn. Mtn. rifle. It's not too late to modify it more like this one.

[Chocktaw Brave]

The stock and butt plate are from Pecatonnica River. I was trying to emulate the rifle in this picture.
I cut the stock to fit the butt plate that came with it.

[whetrock]

Chocktaw Brave,
I'm glad your eyes are recovering. I pray they continue to heal. I have retina issues, too. No fun at all.

Very nice work on the rifle.

The inlet on your rifle is very much like the inlet on the original rifle Ethan had on his website.

I think Reddogge was talking about the shape of the butt plate itself. There is a difference in the shape of the butt plates on your rifle and the one on Ethan's site. The wood to metal fit is the same, but the one in Ethan's photo has a lot more heel, and more curvature in the horizontal plane, as well. Those differences make the crescent shape deeper. And the heel on the rifle in Reddogge's photo is a bit more like the rifle on Ethan's website.

I look forward to seeing more photos of your rifle as it progresses.

[Chocktaw Brave]

Oh, I see now more of a crescent  moon shape rather than a swooping shape.
Got it.
Due to the fact that I already have it finished, and my length of pull ended up being 13-3/4”, I don’t wanna make it any shorter.
So I think I’ll just leave it as is. I’m not trying to make an exact copy, just kind of basing it on the design of this rifle.

[Chocktaw Brave]

I have a question on the thickness of the wood beside the barrel.
About how thin should that taper down to?
Thank you
Here is where it’s at right now

[reddogge]

I would round off the corners and have the top edge a nice radius into the barrel.

[Chocktaw Brave]

I’m no artist, but something like this?

[reddogge]

Yes sir. Just don't leave any flat sides on it. Nice round curves.

[CooleyS]

I would suggest that you get a set of plans for a full stock Hawken. The plans will have profiles of the stock from the buttplate to the nose cap. From that I make templates that I cut from file folder type paper. The template half of the entire profile if that makes sense. In the picture below I would cut it in half along the vertical line. Then I can put the template up to the stock to see how it compares. I don’t have a set of full stock plans, but this is a profile from Track of the Wolf’s Kit Carson plans. The profile will obviously change somewhat in front of the entry pipe, but the top portion will not change. I can’t recommend a good set of plans enough.
-Steve

[Chocktaw Brave]

A lot better than my drawing!
Thank you!

[Chocktaw Brave]

Managed to get the barrel keys all done today. I had to buy some longer 1/16” drill bits, and I made use of my exacto knife with a chisel blade, this made it easier to do the two reward ones than the first one. 

[SteveK]

Could you please tell me what the ramrod diameter is?

[Chocktaw Brave]

.375, or 3/8”
The caliber is .50

[SteveK]

I have a similar project going but I am having trouble finding 3/8ths ramrod pipes that are cast. Did you use cast or formed steel on yours? My stock was drilled for 3/8ths so I’d like to stay with that.

[Chocktaw Brave]

SteveK,
Because mine is an early Hawken build, the ramrod pipes are made out of sheet steel. I just plan on browning them like the barrel.
I’m not sure who makes 3/8 inch cast ramrod pipes.
I made a little bit of progress on the rifle this weekend. I managed to finish sanding the stock.
But then I had a couple setbacks.
I tried to put the rear sight in and ended up with the slot being slightly too large so now it moves around on its own. I’m thinking of JB weld or peening it, but I don’t wanna do it until I get the rifle sighted in because it’s not gonna move after I do it.
I also tried to round off the screw heads for the toe plate and the buttock and they ended up looking awful.
So now I had to order a new toe plate and screws for both the toe plate and the buttplate.
The guy at Pecatonnica thought it was kind of strange that I was ordering eight each of the screws. But I wanna have a couple to practice with.

[Daryl]

I would peen it on the back side as the overhang will cover the the marks. Glues, epoxy would not allow sighting it in.
Kind of a grubby looking sight you have there.

[smylee grouch]

Depending on how much too big the dovetail is , you might be able to stretch the base of the sight enough to give a snug fit .

[Chocktaw Brave]

Thank you,
Yeah, the picture was before I filed it and bead blasted  it.
I did order another one. I’m going to try it first because I did File on the sight somr to clean up the dovetail.

[A.Merrill]

Heat up the base of the sight and hammer it out.   Al

[Realwarrior]

I'm following & enjoying your build. I'm getting ready to start a fullstock hawken in the next month or so, so thanks for the inspiration.

[Chocktaw Brave]

Thanks for all the tips and comments. I’m stalled in the stock, until I get the new toe plate and screws. So I think I’m going to start browning the steel parts, except for the barrel, which I still need to put the front sight on. And tighten up the rear one.
Hopefully I’ll make some more progress this weekend.