Do it yourself Stock making thread

[dryhumor]

Figured I’d give it a whirl….







Slowly sneaking up on it. I’m about 100% certain I’ll have a few gaps for cooling air to circulate….

 

[joshb]

Figured I’d give it a whirl….

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Slowly sneaking up on it. I’m about 100% certain I’ll have a few gaps for cooling air to circulate….

Attaboy!!! Bedding will take care of the action area. Room around the barrel is a good thing!

 

[Seagull]

I have used marine epoxy with microfibre beeds for bedding works a treat . Have a also used another marine grade body filler bedding aswell not shrinkage at all

 

[yukonal]

Good job dryhumor! Thanks for sharing, keep it up. We love watching yous guys make stocks. I'm already jealous. But, you should be inletting for a Tikka...lol

 

[dryhumor]

Good job dryhumor! Thanks for sharing, keep it up. We love watching yous guys make stocks. I'm already jealous. But, you should be inletting for a Tikka...lol

I’ve been watching these 16.25” Howa barreled actions for months. They had a 15% off coupon, so I figured it wasn’t going to get any cheaper. Sort of had to make a stock out of necessity.

I do have a Tikka and a nice walnut blank. Have to see if this one turns out ok. Am definitely learning from it.

Mostly learning that having a mill would be pretty handy.

 

[LVLAaron]

Those mini actions are pretty neat. If they had lefty models I know I would have half a dozen of them.=

 

[dryhumor]

Iwasaki files. Some cut on the push, some on the pull. They range from coarse to extra fine. Various shapes. Definitely a plus to have some.

 

[dryhumor]

Starting to shape some. Trying to set goals of one operation at a time, and trying to get ready for the next one. Moving from side to side, front and back.



Right side forearm.



Intended to do the left side forearm this morning, but the left grip was bugging me, so I started there and got it moved along some.

Good learning experience.

 

[ChristianSilver]

Looking good! Well done.

 

[joshb]

Ahhh. The Zen of shaping! It looks great! You’re doing a fine job on it!. Keep flipping it around and working on it from different angles. It’s hard to relate how much instinct and feel enters into the process. I still look at some of my stocks and wonder how it came out like it did.
It’s a combination of work and art. Don’t rush the process. I make all my mistakes when I rush it.

 

[dryhumor]

Ahhh. The Zen of shaping! It looks great! You’re doing a fine job on it!. Keep flipping it around and working on it from different angles. It’s hard to relate how much instinct and feel enters into the process. I still look at some of my stocks and wonder how it came out like it did.
It’s a combination of work and art. Don’t rush the process. I make all my mistakes when I rush it.

It’s surprising how Zen like it is. I work till I get hungry, or reach a stopping point. Except for Friday. I only work half days on Fridays.

 

[Seagull]

Actually got some time in the workshop this afternoon so I thought I better get some inletting done on a customers stock . Got the barrel channel and inletting done for this 1 piece vblock trigger guard for a barnard action. Will have it glued and triple pinned this week while also getting a few other parts made aswell.

 

[dryhumor]

A little update.

 

[Seagull]

Make sure you leave enough gap between the timber and the safety or the safety wnt work properly . Looks neat as what timber are using for the stock ?

 

[dryhumor]

Make sure you leave enough gap between the timber and the safety or the safety wnt work properly . Looks neat as what timber are using for the stock ?

Safety and bolt release both function tested.

Using Maple, with a bit of figure in it. My test board with 320 grit and five coats of refined Linseed oil. Hard to see, but the far end is more matte, the near end above the pencil mark I hit with 1500 grit. That brought out a bit of shine and smoothed it up. I’ll probably do more oil coats on the test board until after I finish the stock work.

 

[jelenko]

This is all completely outside of my wheelhouse.

But, about how many hours effort do you have into it so far? Any idea of how many to finish?

 

[ELR LVR]

I offered to show another forum member how to make one of my stocks. Although he's hesitant, some other guys have asked if I would show them. I'm going to make copies of the patterns I use, send them out and then lead them thru the process. I'll start a couple stocks, describe how and what I'm doing and post lots of pictures. I'll do stocks for a Rem 700 and a Tikka. If any one else wants to do one, PM me your address and I'll put you on the mailing list. I figure that if I'm going to type it out , there may be some other guys that might want to do one. Let me know, Josh
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I should add something. These stocks can be "tweaked" to your favorite style of shooting, during the build. They can be made longer, wider, have a flat bottom butt, etc. I usually make them with a 4-5" long flat spot on the forend for shooting off a rest. That area can be 2-4" wide or the entire forend can be wider. They can also be cut short and made thinner for a lighter hunting rifle. I'll be making mine repeaters with bottom metal but they can be made as single shot . The forend can be cut to expose the magazine or be cut flat from the mag well to the tip of the forend, like a prone Anschutz.

Just came across this, had no idea
Those are freakin awesome man!

 

[dryhumor]

This is all completely outside of my wheelhouse.

But, about how many hours effort do you have into it so far? Any idea of how many to finish?

I think starting with basically a board, and mostly handwork with chisels and files, and a dremel carver for the recesses, there will be 80-100 hours in it, more towards the high side. I’ve yet to bed, finish, and address the recoil pad.

I had a nice channel in the comb for the bottom of the bolt. However, I cut a hair deep with a chisel and couldn’t work it out with sanding. Still got to figure out how I want that transition to look.

The basic inlet went somewhat fast, the gradual final inlet went slow. I didn’t have any inletting ink, and basically took my time finding interference and addressing it. The barreled receiver was fit, then the bolt release attached was fit, then the trigger attached, then the bolt handle recess. The bottom metal wasn’t too bad, but it was a meet in the middle affair between it and the action. I inlet until I had what I needed from top and bottom.

The palm swell and off side grip took a bit. I’ve reworked the palm swell more as I go along to fit myself. I’m a hair back from ideal, but in dry firing, it’s pretty smooth. The trigger breaks with no bobble. My trigger finger is more towards the tip on the shoe than the pad.

The front forearm will be mostly square ish. There’s a very slight taper on both sides and a more pronounced taper on the bottom near the end. It’s a 16.25” barrel, so the whole forearm is a bit shorter to get some proportion. I believe it will be a more robust looking stock rather that I refined looking stock.

I wanted a wood recoil pad, but no black ebony was available locally, I had a piece of teak on hand I’ll use. I’m allowing for the possibility of changing out to a grind to fit pad if needed. The stock is currently 15” ish or so in LOP. I’m going for 13 1/2” when I start on that next.

I found myself needing tools that I didn’t have and couldn’t find to do a couple of things. I repurposed a thing or two, and turned a piece of brass to make a spacer for a marker. Had two long 6mm bolts I used as position bolts. The Iwasaki files are a significant time saver. Would like to have another one or two, but they are hard to find in stock. A clamping system might be nice, but overall, I’ve been working off of a shooting rest under the forearm and a shot filled squeeze bag under the butt. When I need rigidity I clamp the forearm to my work table. I’m about to need to work vertically, but I think I’ve got clamps that will work out.

Overall a good learning experience. I’d recommend it to anyone. A free style stock lets you back up and regroup if you need to. I’m just trying not to screw up.

 

[joshb]

Just came across this, had no idea
Those are freakin awesome man!

Thank you! Where have you been? You’ll need an afternoon to read thru the whole thread but you’ll see stocks by other talented guys, too. Well worth the time.

 

[joshb]

I think starting with basically a board, and mostly handwork with chisels and files, and a dremel carver for the recesses, there will be 80-100 hours in it, more towards the high side. I’ve yet to bed, finish, and address the recoil pad.

I had a nice channel in the comb for the bottom of the bolt. However, I cut a hair deep with a chisel and couldn’t work it out with sanding. Still got to figure out how I want that transition to look.

The basic inlet went somewhat fast, the gradual final inlet went slow. I didn’t have any inletting ink, and basically took my time finding interference and addressing it. The barreled receiver was fit, then the bolt release attached was fit, then the trigger attached, then the bolt handle recess. The bottom metal wasn’t too bad, but it was a meet in the middle affair between it and the action. I inlet until I had what I needed from top and bottom.

The palm swell and off side grip took a bit. I’ve reworked the palm swell more as I go along to fit myself. I’m a hair back from ideal, but in dry firing, it’s pretty smooth. The trigger breaks with no bobble. My trigger finger is more towards the tip on the shoe than the pad.

The front forearm will be mostly square ish. There’s a very slight taper on both sides and a more pronounced taper on the bottom near the end. It’s a 16.25” barrel, so the whole forearm is a bit shorter to get some proportion. I believe it will be a more robust looking stock rather that I refined looking stock.

I wanted a wood recoil pad, but no black ebony was available locally, I had a piece of teak on hand I’ll use. I’m allowing for the possibility of changing out to a grind to fit pad if needed. The stock is currently 15” ish or so in LOP. I’m going for 13 1/2” when I start on that next.

I found myself needing tools that I didn’t have and couldn’t find to do a couple of things. I repurposed a thing or two, and turned a piece of brass to make a spacer for a marker. Had two long 6mm bolts I used as position bolts. The Iwasaki files are a significant time saver. Would like to have another one or two, but they are hard to find in stock. A clamping system might be nice, but overall, I’ve been working off of a shooting rest under the forearm and a shot filled squeeze bag under the butt. When I need rigidity I clamp the forearm to my work table. I’m about to need to work vertically, but I think I’ve got clamps that will work out.

Overall a good learning experience. I’d recommend it to anyone. A free style stock lets you back up and regroup if you need to. I’m just trying not to screw up.

Take a look at Woodcraft. It’s where I get my “good” tools and smaller pieces of ebony and other woods. They have some nice gouging chisels and the Japanese files. A good source for Analine dies for that gorgeous Tiger maple you’re carving up. Here’s a couple I did in brown and black: