semi-custom recommendations

[baloubear]

I've got some unique requirements for my next hunting rifle.  A lefthand hawken/jaeger in 58 or  62 caliber with a conical friendly twist. Iron furniture and a nice single trigger at a crisp 4 pounds pull.  A local shop in Springfield Oregon carries all the parts, but this is my first non-kit build, so I'd like some assurance that the parts will work together!  Maybe some builder with experience could recommend a shopping list.  I'm pretty sure I could follow the fine instruction provided in the sticky notes to produce a functional if not marketable rifle

blood on your shoes,

-Brian

[Captchee]

First I would tell you that even though these are called kits , they are not kits but parts assemblies. Be ready for a lot of inletting , drilling . Not to mention dovetailing of the barrel for the lugs and sights
 You might talk with Joe and his wife  there at the emporium . They are good folks .
 Joe also runs Oregon barrels so he can do you up a barrel  if need be .
So go in and have a cup of coffee . Joe like to talk so  have him show you  what they assemblies actually entail

 Now you say Hawkens/ Jaeger  rifle . Is this to be a hunting  gun or something closely historically correct ?
 While Jaeger means hunter , a Jaeger isn’t a Hawkens nor is a Hawkens a Jaeger .

 If it were I who was building your rifle  , this is what I would suggest.
  A plains style double pinned  stock as a base .
 This IMO needs to be of good wood . Not run of the mill maple . It needs to be dense and heavy blank  . Personally , I would not get that  from Joe . but he may have something that will work for you . If  you go with a pre carve from Joe  make double sure the grain run through the wrist proper .  Very ,very important for what your doing

   Now you say conical friendly .  Are we talking solid lead conical ?
 Is  the gun to be a dedicated conical shooter ?
 If so then I would go a 1 in 36  or a slower 1 in 48 twist . If its to be both RB and conical , then I would go with the 1 in 48 twist .
 
For a barrel I would go  58 cal  swamped barrel in 34-36 inch length “ 37  would be my preference   with under rib and a snail type breech .”properly faced “ .
 the 58 will give you a few choices of marketed conical design . vs. the 62 is going to be  basically a custom bullet . What im getting at here is the 58 cal will give you a readily available  group of projectiles  ranging from 300-530 grains  to chose from . This is important because it  gives you a better choice to find  what your new rifle  likes to eat  .
 Your wont find that in the 62.

 For a lock I would go with a Davis or chambers lock. An L&R would also be ok . But  IMO the Davis and chambers locks are far better locks and only cost a little more .
Also Davis makes a lock , breech and tang set that all match .
A good set of Davis double set “double bar” triggers . Thus you will get  the option to either use a hair trigger or a more heavy hunting trigger .
 if you want the single trigger  i would have a return spring added .
 this will  help reduce any play in the trigger as well as hold it  tight to the sear .
 i would also add  in a large loop trigger guard for the single trigger . that way if your wearing gloves  your finger will more easly fit
 
 The sights are really  up to you . Especially if your not trying to follow a historic example closely . So you could go with say a standard fixed open sight .Or you could even go with the later    Winchester style leaf sight  found on the later Hawkens rifles .

For hardware  the only recommendation I would give is to not go with a deep cresant butt plate . You want something more  mellow .
 The reason  I say this is from the photo you posted in the hunting section , you look like a heavy built fella .  You need a rifle with the proper drop and pull . If you don’t get that and  you add in a deep cresant butt plate  it libel to be alittle uncomfortable shooting  with heavier loads  .

  the rifle is still going to be  nose heavy . but you should be able to come in in the 9-10lb range

 now the trick is going to be finding that barrel  in a  good lenght , with the proper twist  to get the wait down
 you could go shorter with a strait barrel though .

[biliff]

Concur that The Gun Works is good people and very helpful.

I'd talk with Joe and see if he can set you up with parts for a left hand version of their English Sporting rifle.

[BEAVERMAN]

Yep, Joe and Suzie are good folks for sure!

[baloubear]

Thanks for the advice Captchee and others.  That's just what I was looking for.  Springfield is 2 hours south, but it sounds like it's well worth the drive.  This would indeed be a dedicated hunting rifle, so a shotgun butt is my intention.  Crescent buttplates are nice to look at, but I can't imagine shooting a big gun with one of those.  In fact I really dislike the hooked one on my Anshutz 1813 for the same reasons you mention.  It doesn't fit my shoulder.  Those smallbore wimps need to do more pushups...  I digress.  

As far as sights go, I like the ones on my M1 Garand the best .  The first attempt will be a nice thick post up front with a buckhorn rear, we'll see if I can hit anything with those.  

The projectile will be a conical.  Balls are terrific up close, but even in the tight woods (brush) of the Oregon coast, the average shot is around 100 yards, so I imagine the retained energy of the conical is going to work better.

It's good to know there are double sets with a reasonable non-set mode.  The few I've tried haven't impressed me.

No doubt, I am looking at a difficult project and have no illusions of creating a masterpiece, but with a daughter headed to Oregon State University next year, a custom built rifle for a tag I may not draw is not in the cards, besides that, I like difficult projects that are over my head.

Best regards,

-Brian