DGW Hawken flint kit assembly

[rfd]

well, the DGW (investarms, same as a lyman) Hawken caplock was a fun exercise, but caplocks have proven not to be my choice for an ml so i sold it off. ordered and received the .50 flint version two days ago and spent a few hours rasping and sanding down the stock to meet the brass furniture i screwed into it. i don't spend any particular time on the brass, just clean up the flashing if any, and if it gets in the way of files and abrasives it'll get buffed around a bit. after both coarse and fine rasping, i got at the wood and brass with 60, 150 and 220 grit, followed by a 0000 steel wool buffing. 'tween sandings i raised the grain with a paper towel saturated in naphtha (lighter fluid). i buffed, stained and clear coated the ramrod, now the walnut stock's ready for staining with a good coat of LMF walnut. whilst the stain will be curing, i'll see about pulling off the patent breech plug, cleaning it all out and then screwing it back in with anti-seize lube.

you can also see in the pic below, i'll be replacing the notch 'n' blade sights with a GPR peep set.

i don't like patent breech plugs, wish they'd not do that, just a pain to deal with for cleaning out fouling whilst shooting.


http://i.imgur.com/bXIarDE.jpg

the beauty of half stocks with barrel wedges is fast removal. i'm getting to really like that. i wish there were better commercial choices for a good half stock with a longer barrel than the investarms offerings.

anyhoo, back to the assembly. after putting a witness mark across the barrel and patent breech, i pulled the breech plug. it was relatively easy - nothing like an 18" rcorp reed flat jawed wrench for pulling breach plugs - and *mandatory* for me with new guns. look at all that krap in the chamber and breech tunnel, yikes! cleaned it all out with WD40 and and patches - with the plug out, swabbing can be done safely from the barrel's rear. put 'er all back together with anti-seize on the breech and flash hole sleeve. gave the stock a good coat of LMF "walnut" stain (which has a pleasing amount of red in it) and then it's first coat of wipe-on clear.

http://i.imgur.com/yGSkIOS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qOi8oBx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/taqW9cO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5XWc4Mu.jpg


all done, that was relatively easy. finished up with a rubbed in coat of johnson's paste wax. that's a lyman GPR rear peep and globe front set of sights. feels real good in the hand and will be ready to rumble after some lock tuning.

http://i.imgur.com/WyVKoUT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xQQNPIc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bDRTPnS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/oSrXiGb.jpg

[bedbugbilly]

Looks great Rob! I'll be anxious to hear how she shoots!

Jim

[MrWolf]

Nicely done! Keep us posted on how she shoots please.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

why didn't you finish the shaping of the lock panels?

[rfd]

why didn't you finish the shaping of the lock panels?

didn't want to, don't care, don't matter. aesthetically, i just like it as is. :mrgreen:

[Tatume]

i don't like patent breech plugs, wish they'd not do that, just a pain to deal with for cleaning out fouling whilst shooting. ... i wish there were better commercial choices for a good half stock with a longer barrel than the investarms offerings.

http://www.caywoodguns.com/

Danny Caywood kits are pricy, but they are very nice. Mine has a plain breech plug and pinned barrel.

Take care, Tom

[KCSO]

The breech plug should shine like a mirror for best results. I polish mine so that a light shined down the barrel will show the bore. This makes it easy to clean out fouling and when the rfile is well cleaned the breech will remain shiny for a LONG time. I also turn a jag to fit the breech of every rifle so that the owner can clean the gun clear to the bottom. My patent plugs are bored to the same diameter as the lands of the rifling and are coned same as a nock breech. This gives more velocity than a flat plug with the same charge.

You done good on the kit and I would bet it will be a shooter.