I think, from reading the patent, that we can deduce a couple of things, one being that it is possible and quite likely that guns of different frame sizes may have had "strengthening rods" of different diameters inserted. Further, that the hickory was a lighter, less dense wood and the use of this rod in a gunstock likely necessitated boring an additional hole to add weight - hence the two plugs of different sizes we often see. Also, the verbiage of the patent indicates that stocks with cross grain at the "neck" were the candidates for the strengthening rod (but the possibility exists that this feature may have also been used on smaller frame guns).
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