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Flush cups into wood

CF2209

Could anyone advise me.
I would like to sling a new hunting rifle which has a hardwood stock and would like to know if flush cups can be fitted into a wood stock. Has anyone done this. If so how satisfied were you with the result, or are they fraught with pulling out.
Thank you in advance.
 
When you say "flush cups" I am guessing you are referring to quick detach, push button types like the ones MagPul makes??? If so, Uncle Mikes makes cups that you epoxy in place. They work fine and will not pull out as long as they are installed properly. You have to drill the stock with a 1/2" drill and this is the critical part. It has to be located right and drilled to the correct depth. If you go too deep you can shim under it to set it in the right place so that's not too bad. The critical thing is that the 1/2" hole has to be true and not wobbled out. The flush cup needs to fit the stock snug and not wobble around.
Drilling a 1/2" hole in a stock sounds pretty simple...one of those "all ya gotta do" things. You can tell the folks that have tried it from those that have not. Forget about a hand drill. You need to have a drill press set up that you can positively clamp the stock in because a bit this big will want to grab and go in wood. You also need to have the speed set up around at least 1000 rpm. I like to run it faster to avoid cracking and tearing the wood on the surface and you need to be able to feed slow. You really need to check your set up with a piece of similar wood first before you try it on a valuable gun stock. I can attest to way too many stocks brought to me all drilled and gunched up by some idiot trying to install regular swivel studs...they really ruin a stock when the bit gets bigger.
Bottom line, drill the hole right and use good epoxy and you wont have any problems. Brownells used to carry another type flush mount swivel that actually had a thread on the outside of the cup, but it appears they don't carry those any more.
 
Check the depths before you do your final setting.
The button sling swivels need a bit of a flat around it so they can connect with the cup.
 
hogpatrol said:
Single end, two flute end mill in a drill press feeding with the quill? You better have your act together.:D
Click to expand...

I thought I should clarify from the previous post {and now again with this one} that I never advocated the use of neither a "twist drill bit" nor a "two flute end mill". Four flute, carbide, center cutting end mill with the stock clamped up in a vise. I do apologize for not spelling it out clearer.
I have never had a problem with this set up. I have used the ones with the thread and they work fine, but the body was thinner steel and I had a couple of them crack the thread in the stock. Wood is not the best material in the world to try and tap. Some wood will hold up fine, a Boyd's laminate for example. Some does not, like a nice piece of figured walnut.
I reiterate again, you want to see a guy make a mess out of a stock???? Keep telling him "yeah, not a problem, all ya gotta do....." Try it.

Edit: in all fairness regarding the use of a Forstner bit, I believe there is no question that this style bit is most excellent and one of the best for drilling a nice clean true to size straight hole in wood, But most of them have a self feed thread or screw made in the middle that is the point of the bit too. The problem comes in when you have to drill to a precise depth, as in this case installing sling cups. That little feed screw doesn't want to stop feeding. The other thing is that they feed a little faster than you might want to run into a nice expensive stock even without the feed screw type point. The smaller ones just have a point and most of them just have one cutting blade for the flat part of the cut.
 
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Spade bit gets my vote. Inexpensive, doesn't try to feed itself, and can easily be customized to cut a hole that is smaller by a smidge. jd
 
I can't help but mention also that I pity the foo who doesn't
try a practice hole in a similar type wood or other material before he clamps his favorite stock in a vice and starts plunging implements of destruction in it.


bosch-spade-drill-bits-dsb5012-64_400_compressed.jpg
 
No way id use anything but an end mill. And since we need to clarify, like msinc, id use a 4 flute, carbide, TiN coated, center cutting, single OR double ended (cant see how this would make a difference but who am i?) end mill. And every end mill i buy is an OSG or niagara and i cant think of a single ended one ive bought in 25+yrs. my old mentor told me never buy a single ended end mill unless youll never need a spare. Of course my 1” plus ones that have a shank too big for r8 collets are single ended. Thats how i roll.
 
I used a two flute 1/2 end mill in a milling machine (Milrite) to do an H.S. stock.
Dusty Stevens said:
No way id use anything but an end mill. And since we need to clarify, like msinc, id use a 4 flute, carbide, TiN coated, center cutting, single OR double ended (cant see how this would make a difference but who am i?) end mill. And every end mill i buy is an OSG or niagara and i cant think of a single ended one ive bought in 25+yrs. my old mentor told me never buy a single ended end mill unless youll never need a spare. Of course my 1” plus ones that have a shank too big for r8 collets are single ended. Thats how i roll.
Click to expand...

I've worked in shops that were we'd call cheap and had to use a single flute end mill in an Aloris holder for a boring bar.
They also come in handy for down and dirty work in a drill press. I will refrain from saying anything about your mentor or where you served your apprenticeship. :p
Aside that, fifty years in more than a dozen shops, I never saw anyone plunge with a four flute. Standard accepted practice is two flutes for plunging.
 
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