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Hawken Shop Hawken Kit update

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Joined
Jan 7, 2022
Messages
122
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Location
Montana
Well, delivery took a bit longer than expected but arrival finally occurred. I'm 2 days into this project, as promised here are my initial thoughts and status.

First, this is as you have heard, a very high-quality deal. Greg notified me of shipping via UPS, delivery date here in MT is more of a suggestion, but it arrived on Monday evening.

Great packaging, foam liner, and the ubiquitous bubble wrap. Individual plastic bags for all small parts, both working and final assembly screws, necessary drills and taps. Lock, tang and set trigger assembly wrapped in the bubble wrap. The ramrod is shipped in the Rice barrel, protected by foam rings. There is an excellent, and quite large Hawken drawing showing locations and cross sections at different points along the rifle/stock assembly.

Also included is a short piece of barrel to place in the barrel channel if this area needs to be clamped in a vise, and a short section of ramrod to assist in fitting the thimble at the ram rod hole.

Completed work includes both front and rear sight, front sight and 2 underlug dovetails are cut, under barrel rib is installed as is the breech plug, the stock is partially inlet, and the ramrod hole is drilled (this is not an assembly only kit).

The castings are excellent and will require very little work before browning.

Current status is Butt and Toe Plate installed and the barrel sitting in the stock. It took more time to open the package and admire the contents that it did to fit the barrel to the stock, less than 1/2 hour with a wood block and 180 grit sandpaper.

I called Greg with a concern concerning the Toe Plate, he most graciously explained the situation, I inlet the piece about 1/16' deeper and problem solved.

I'll update my progress, successes and failures (mid process design changes) as they occur.

I am extremely pleased with the kit for a couple of reasons, the high quality notwithstanding. I have it in hand, no backorder and should a question or problem arise IMG_20220307_184645.jpgIMG_20220308_083509.jpgIMG_20220309_173537.jpg there is a gentleman available by phone or email.

Frosty
 
One-week in the books.

The Barrel and Tang are fitted, Underlugs installed, the Trigger Plate is in place awaiting drilling and tapping for screws connecting it to the Tang, the Lock Plate is partially inlet and I'm hand filing the Plate to fit the Snail. I needed a break from cutting really small slivers of wood and metal so I disassembled the Lock and Set Trigger, good looking pieces.

As to tools, most of the work was done with two inexpensive inlet chisels, small hand files and sandpaper. I did use two sizes of punches to remove the trigger pins. The Barrel is held in place with zip ties, soon to be replaced by the Wedges. I've started working on the rifle as a whole, skipping from one component to another, being mindful of the relationship each to the other.

There is a considerable amount of handwork necessary, the Worry Chair has been put to good use, and I am finding this to be a very rewarding project. Per one of the instructors in the NMLRA 3 day build videos, I'll be praying to the God of Beer before drilling the Tang to Trigger Plate holes.

Frosty
 

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Friday update.

Lock and Tang to Trigger Plate holes drilled and tapped successfully. The threaded rod jig on the drill press is a wonderful thing. Just be certain the hole sitting on the threaded rod is the one you want to hit, check twice, drill once. Guess how I know this. I did check twice, and it was a good thing I did.

The wedge holes are drilled and cleaned, and the wedges installed. Again, the drill press setup recommended in the instructions worked perfectly.

On to the Ram Rod Thimble, slow and easy on this one.

Frosty
 

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Friday update.

Lock and Tang to Trigger Plate holes drilled and tapped successfully. The threaded rod jig on the drill press is a wonderful thing. Just be certain the hole sitting on the threaded rod is the one you want to hit, check twice, drill once. Guess how I know this. I did check twice, and it was a good thing I did.

The wedge holes are drilled and cleaned, and the wedges installed. Again, the drill press setup recommended in the instructions worked perfectly.

On to the Ram Rod Thimble, slow and easy on this one.

Frosty
thanks for posting
 
Well, it took quite a while to fit and install the Thimble. You need to maintain alignment with the ramrod hole, the Thimble, Under Rib and barrel centerline. The short piece of ramrod was a great help, just many small chips and check, repeat as necessary. Tap drill and tap are included for the attachment of the Thimble to the stock. Four Escutcheons and Wedges are installed, and screwed in place using the working screws, also provided. I am fitting the Nose Cap next, more small chips, check and repeat as necessary.

I removed casting marks from the contact points on the set trigger assembly and polished the set trigger sear with a hard Arkansas stone. It is nice!

Beginning to look like a gun and I am having a ball. Yes, there is a considerable amount of inletting, so each day is started with tool sharpening. Sharp tools are safer, and the job goes much better.

Enjoy Spring,

Frosty
IMG_20220323_122814.jpg
 
Well, delivery took a bit longer than expected but arrival finally occurred. I'm 2 days into this project, as promised here are my initial thoughts and status.

First, this is as you have heard, a very high-quality deal. Greg notified me of shipping via UPS, delivery date here in MT is more of a suggestion, but it arrived on Monday evening.

Great packaging, foam liner, and the ubiquitous bubble wrap. Individual plastic bags for all small parts, both working and final assembly screws, necessary drills and taps. Lock, tang and set trigger assembly wrapped in the bubble wrap. The ramrod is shipped in the Rice barrel, protected by foam rings. There is an excellent, and quite large Hawken drawing showing locations and cross sections at different points along the rifle/stock assembly.

Also included is a short piece of barrel to place in the barrel channel if this area needs to be clamped in a vise, and a short section of ramrod to assist in fitting the thimble at the ram rod hole.

Completed work includes both front and rear sight, front sight and 2 underlug dovetails are cut, under barrel rib is installed as is the breech plug, the stock is partially inlet, and the ramrod hole is drilled (this is not an assembly only kit).

The castings are excellent and will require very little work before browning.

Current status is Butt and Toe Plate installed and the barrel sitting in the stock. It took more time to open the package and admire the contents that it did to fit the barrel to the stock, less than 1/2 hour with a wood block and 180 grit sandpaper.

I called Greg with a concern concerning the Toe Plate, he most graciously explained the situation, I inlet the piece about 1/16' deeper and problem solved.

I'll update my progress, successes and failures (mid process design changes) as they occur.

I am extremely pleased with the kit for a couple of reasons, the high quality notwithstanding. I have it in hand, no backorder and should a question or problem ariseView attachment 127159View attachment 127160View attachment 127161 there is a gentleman available by phone or email.

Frosty
I think it is a forum rule you have to post pictures as you progress. lol
 
Just received mine 2 days ago. New to this work but I'm halfway through a Lyman pistol kit, then I'll do a Kibler Colonial kit, and hopefully by then be confident and sure enough with the basic skill set to tackle the Hawken. Frosty, would you happen to have a pic of the finished inletted lock cavity on your Hawken? The lock inletting is the one thing that jumped right out to me that it could be a challenge. Looks like it'll take a good bit of chiseling, but then again, I'm a newbie.
IMG_1275.jpg
Lined up with toe plate recess
 
Good morning Winsum. The instructions specify starting the inlet with the lock plate at the bottom and front of the mortise. The depth of the mortise required little work, take your time at the back and top, go slow and small chips. Inlet black will show the areas that need work. It took a while, but I'm retired so I have plenty. Hope these photos help.
 

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Nearly all of the inletting I have done is with these three tools. Took a while to get the offset chisels sharp. To maintain a constant bevel I used a Lie-Nielson Honing Guide and Shapton #1000 and #8000 whetstones.
 

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Good morning Winsum. The instructions specify starting the inlet with the lock plate at the bottom and front of the mortise. The depth of the mortise required little work, take your time at the back and top, go slow and small chips. Inlet black will show the areas that need work. It took a while, but I'm retired so I have plenty. Hope these photos help.
Good morning Frosty thanks for the info. Your photos do help. I appreciate it. I was just nervous because the stock 'factory' inletting has a channel cut into it, presumably for the lock main spring, and it's not aligned with the actual spring location. It just appeared that I would have to remove a lot more material than I would have expected, especially since the instructions state that, "Since the inletting for the lock is very close to complete,...". Comparing your lock mortise to mine, it looks like you had to remove a good bit too. I might be just a little spoiled by the CNC'ing of the Lyman and Kibler kits. FYI - The printed instructions i got in the kit now show, and Greg at The Hawken Shop told me directly, that the lock inletting is now guided with the lock plate at the bottom and back of the mortise. Their instructions on their website still show bottom and front though.
IMG_1264_LI.jpg
 
My bad! I'd not had coffee. I looked at the original instructions on the PC, and not the ones supplied which are in my notebook. Greg is a wealth of info, and a fine fellow! Glad you checked with him. And yes, it is easy to be spoiled by CNC. For an example of the fine work on a Kibler kit, check out the videos on the NMLRA site. There is a segment where a "sliver" of a tang just drops into place. Good stuff!
 
Assembly is complete, with no leftover parts. Now the work starts. It is like building a boat, you finish the hull, and everyone thinks you are almost done.

Now shape and sand/scrape the stock and polish the metal, followed by stain and finish the stock and brown the metal.

Enjoy Spring! I'll be busy for a while.

Frosty
 

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Assembly is complete, with no leftover parts. Now the work starts. It is like building a boat, you finish the hull, and everyone thinks you are almost done.

Now shape and sand/scrape the stock and polish the metal, followed by stain and finish the stock and brown the metal.

Enjoy Spring! I'll be busy for a while.

Frosty
Looking good.
 
Well, the project is completed, ~40 days and 40 nights. Sharp tools, patience, support from Greg and plenty of time in the worry chair. Today is range day, also the first day of Turkey season, so I had to finish! It has been fun.

The barrel, lock and furniture are browned with TOW 's Tried & True Brown, TOW's Aqua Fortis and Tru-Oil on the stock.

A range report will follow.

Frosty
 

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That looks really good, @Frosty861 ! A first-class rifle.

I understand the barrels on these kits come with seven grooves and a 1-48" twist, like the originals. I'm looking forward to your range report.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
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