I briefly looked into builds of Hawken-style rifles when I found out a buddy of mine was retiring from one of the armed services and he was into Hawken-type rifles. I had several years' "warning" to his retirement, and figured I could start working on one and redo and redo and redo until I got one right and could make it a gift for him.
Anyway, what I found was there is a process for creating the rib and attaching it so that the rod is supported/held properly, and if I remember right, it's not a simple one for beginners.
Google-fu led me to a lot of info, though. Should be "find-able" still....if you can't find any, I can try to recreate my searches and relocate some of the info. I basically bailed on the idea when I realized I just wasn't going to get this done in a proper manner for the intended purpose.
You could look into a full-stock option...would be kinda jaeger-esque? That way you have to deal with boring a ramrod channel and the thin web that creates, but I think that might be more manageable than figuring out a Hawken-type rib?
Just some thoughts, and I'm sure not the authority on it.
Anyway, what I found was there is a process for creating the rib and attaching it so that the rod is supported/held properly, and if I remember right, it's not a simple one for beginners.
Google-fu led me to a lot of info, though. Should be "find-able" still....if you can't find any, I can try to recreate my searches and relocate some of the info. I basically bailed on the idea when I realized I just wasn't going to get this done in a proper manner for the intended purpose.
You could look into a full-stock option...would be kinda jaeger-esque? That way you have to deal with boring a ramrod channel and the thin web that creates, but I think that might be more manageable than figuring out a Hawken-type rib?
Just some thoughts, and I'm sure not the authority on it.