Naming your critter gitter after her would be a really thoughtful memorial.....

Wait what, you mean to tell me Ellie Mae is dead. Oh no!! Sorry, just had to take a moment of silence. Now I feel old too. But seriously, the thing I like about this rifle gun is the roll over beaver tail cheek piece. Very nice. **** fine looking piece.

Thank you for that Fincastle. As I mentioned when I first posted this, this was my first build from a blank hunk of wood. I had already picked up the barrel and the lock and furniture for it, and originally had in mind making a jaeger type of rifle. Using American maple kind of put a kabosh to that thought. In my study I ran across the "transitional" period of the longrifle. This was kind of a mysterious place without a lot of existing artifacts around to look at. That also put a lot more freedom into my plans. Some might call it "artistic license" but whatever....I cannot say that the rifle I was about to build could actually represent anything that ever was. So I went for my own ideas and wanted a rifle that fit me with comfort in mind. I had a fullstock Hawken rifle that had seen better days. I found it at a local gun show years before and picked it up for a song. The lock had a broken main spring, the barrel's bore was badly pitted, and the forestock had been broken and poorly repaired. But, it fit me like a tailored suit! When I shouldered it, it came up to my eyes without any need for adjustment. I was there on target. I took that old gun and placed it on that maple plank and traced it's pattern out with a black magic marker. What I ended up with is in the pictures. Not at all anything like a Hawken, but the fit I was after was there!

That's all that matters! If YOU are happy with it then enjoy shooting it!