Herb
54 Cal.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2004
- Messages
- 1,953
- Reaction score
- 445
Well- mostly. Friend Bob got a wild hair and decided to build a Hawken rifle. Never mind that I built him one 20 years ago, a left-handed caplock with a GRRW 1x32" barrel and a 14" LOP stock I hand-sawed out of a plank of West Virginia walnut, the other parts basically a Kit Carson Hawken. He has built cedar strip canoes and houses but no guns and has few metal working skills. So he came out from Colorado last Thursday and we spent a few hours each day through Sunday building the parts set as far as I could go in that time. He had Track fit the breech plug and underrib with thimbles. The rib was not cut off, so I cut it back 1/8" at the muzzle and 1 1/2" at the rear. He opted for the 36" 1" Green Mountain barrel against my advice of a 32" length, which is handier. The rib screw holes were correctly drilled to depth. This is what I got done:
1. I inlet the barrel, using a piece of 1" cut-off barrel 4" long to slide and smoke-mark the high spots.
2. Tried to unscrew the breech plug to enlarge the .360" powder chamber but could not do it. Advised him of the small powder chamber and how to clean it.
3. Fit the breech plug to the tang. Super-glued them together to inlet. Had to bend the tang a little. Inletted the barrel and tang together. Filed down the hump in the tang.
4. Cleaned up the lock and inletted it, the factory inletting being correct.
5. Cut the lock plate for the snail, smoke-fitted the snail into the plate.
6. Drilled, tapped and fitted the lock bolt and inlay.
7. Fit the dovetailed underlugs (substituted for staples).
8. Drilled for the two stock keys, 6 holes perfectly drilled, did not even scratch the barrel or underlugs. Did not have time to install the key escutcheons, already inlet.
9. Inletted the trigger plate, rather coached Bob and he did most of it. The triggers worked correctly without having to cut the blades down.
10. Heated and bent the top front trigger guard bow to get the stud at right angles to the plate. Re-cut the 1/4x28 threads on the stud. Drilled and tapped the hole and "countersunk" it with a 3/8" drill to get the bow turned full down and aligned. Filed out the trigger guard.
11. Drilled, tapped and countersunk and installed the tang bolts.
12. Drilled and countersunk the screw holes in the buttplate and toeplate. The buttplate is BP-SE-I as shown in their plan, not the correct one. The stock is cut at 14 1/2" LOP, way too long for most people. Bob is about 6'2" tall and has a 34 or 36" sleeve length and this is way too long for even him. I did not have time to cut the stock off but gave him instructions on how to do it. And how to drill that top buttplate return screw hole to pull the return forward into the inlet.
13. Filed out the sights (the rear sight was not a clean casting) but did not have time to install them.
14. Trued up the 7/16" ramrod but did not have time to install the rod tip. The ramrod hole was undersize of the rod, so I drilled it with a long 7/16" diameter drill, making it 1 1/4" deeper, back to the front tang screw. Scraped the hole a little larger, using a 3/8" steel rod that I peened larger at one end and filed to the diameter I wanted, about .440. I tap it into the hole a little and scrape it back. Soon I can scrape full length. Now the rod with the steel tip goes through the pipes easily and into the hole freely.
I did not have time to install the entry pipe or nose cap. Also the hammer needs a little bending to align correctly with the nipple. He can do the final wood shaping, staining and finishing. Also told him how to drill and tap for the rear trigger guard loop screw and install the screw at the tail of the trigger plate. I did not have time to take any pictures and was wiped out when he had to leave for home. This is a good kit except for the wrong buttplate and that ridiculous 14 1/2" trigger reach.
1. I inlet the barrel, using a piece of 1" cut-off barrel 4" long to slide and smoke-mark the high spots.
2. Tried to unscrew the breech plug to enlarge the .360" powder chamber but could not do it. Advised him of the small powder chamber and how to clean it.
3. Fit the breech plug to the tang. Super-glued them together to inlet. Had to bend the tang a little. Inletted the barrel and tang together. Filed down the hump in the tang.
4. Cleaned up the lock and inletted it, the factory inletting being correct.
5. Cut the lock plate for the snail, smoke-fitted the snail into the plate.
6. Drilled, tapped and fitted the lock bolt and inlay.
7. Fit the dovetailed underlugs (substituted for staples).
8. Drilled for the two stock keys, 6 holes perfectly drilled, did not even scratch the barrel or underlugs. Did not have time to install the key escutcheons, already inlet.
9. Inletted the trigger plate, rather coached Bob and he did most of it. The triggers worked correctly without having to cut the blades down.
10. Heated and bent the top front trigger guard bow to get the stud at right angles to the plate. Re-cut the 1/4x28 threads on the stud. Drilled and tapped the hole and "countersunk" it with a 3/8" drill to get the bow turned full down and aligned. Filed out the trigger guard.
11. Drilled, tapped and countersunk and installed the tang bolts.
12. Drilled and countersunk the screw holes in the buttplate and toeplate. The buttplate is BP-SE-I as shown in their plan, not the correct one. The stock is cut at 14 1/2" LOP, way too long for most people. Bob is about 6'2" tall and has a 34 or 36" sleeve length and this is way too long for even him. I did not have time to cut the stock off but gave him instructions on how to do it. And how to drill that top buttplate return screw hole to pull the return forward into the inlet.
13. Filed out the sights (the rear sight was not a clean casting) but did not have time to install them.
14. Trued up the 7/16" ramrod but did not have time to install the rod tip. The ramrod hole was undersize of the rod, so I drilled it with a long 7/16" diameter drill, making it 1 1/4" deeper, back to the front tang screw. Scraped the hole a little larger, using a 3/8" steel rod that I peened larger at one end and filed to the diameter I wanted, about .440. I tap it into the hole a little and scrape it back. Soon I can scrape full length. Now the rod with the steel tip goes through the pipes easily and into the hole freely.
I did not have time to install the entry pipe or nose cap. Also the hammer needs a little bending to align correctly with the nipple. He can do the final wood shaping, staining and finishing. Also told him how to drill and tap for the rear trigger guard loop screw and install the screw at the tail of the trigger plate. I did not have time to take any pictures and was wiped out when he had to leave for home. This is a good kit except for the wrong buttplate and that ridiculous 14 1/2" trigger reach.
