All of the major parts are now inletted and located to one another. The only inletting left will be for the barrel escutcheons, the two keys that hold it to the stock. I can actually assemble it and get an idea what it's going to look like.
Boy was I ever ill prepared for what it has taken to get this far. I now clearly understand what I was getting into, though, and am very much enjoying the challenge. Literally nothing "fits" anything right out of the box. Every single part had to have its inletting finished, nothing was even close. Every single metal part that mates or interacts with any other metal part had to be extensively filed to fit. There has even been some welding involved, to make a part fit its mating part properly. But, come to find out, that is what these kits are all about. "Building" as opposed to "assembling".
Beyond that, now that I can actually hold it like a rifle, I'm a little surprised just what a massive beast this thing is. I can see why modern "Hawken" semi-replicas have all been so extensively reduced in size and lightened. I knew this thing was supposed to go around 11 pounds, but the full appreciation of that didn't sink in until I was able to shoulder it and able to carry it like a rifle.
The photos don't do it justice, really, but here it is up against my Lyman Great Plains rifle, widely regarded as "the best" representation from a mainstream manufacturer. It goes around 8 pounds and both shoulders and carries very nicely. Its reduction in weight comes from its much lighter barrel, which is 32" long and a straight 7/8" octagon. The new rifle sports a 34" long barrel that is a tapered octagon, going from 1 1/8" at the breach to 1" at the muzzle. Hopefully you can see the difference.
The Lyman rifle, with its lighter barrel, is restricted to 100 grains of FFg behind a patched .530" diameter round ball of 230 grains. That is actually a pretty light charge for a .54, but that's what Lyman says. The new rifle can be loaded with the same patch and ball combination, but but with a much stiffer charge of up to 160 grains. I'm thinking if I do go that heavy (for hunting purposes), I may begin to better appreciate that weight...
Anyway, that's it for now. Most of the hard stuff is done, with the only critical locating to be done on the escutcheons. After that it's all down to finishing. Getting there...