Study Unit

Gun StocksBy

Dale Storey

Copyright © 1997 by Education Direct, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may bereproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be mailed to Copyright Permissions, Education Direct, 925 Oak Street, Scranton,Pennsylvania 18515.

Printed in the United States of America

06/20/03

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About the Author

Dale Storey is a graduate of the Colorado School of Trades andMontana State University. He runs DGS Inc., a full-time profes-sional gun shop in Casper, Wyoming, where he offers quality gunsmithing and gun making. Mr. Storey’s 25 years of experiencein general repair and custom firearms represent skill, practicalknowledge, and top craftsmanship. He offers careful handworkbacked by professional grade machinery to ensure sound generalgun repairs, as well as accurate custom rifles. Many major armspublications have featured his custom work, along with articlesexplaining his craft.

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In this study unit we’ll concentrate on gunstocks. From selecting a quality blank toapplying the final finish, you’ll learn theprocess of building a custom gun stock.

When you complete this study unit, you’ll be able to • Identify various gun stock designs and styles

• Recognize quality in a wood blank selected for a customgun stock

• Develop a design plan for building a custom gun stock

• Explain stock bedding techniques

• Summarize the process of inletting a barreled action into agun stock

• Explain how to finish or refinish a gun stock

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STOCK DESIGN AND STOCK STYLE 1

Types of Gun Stocks 1Stock Styles 6Designing a Custom Stock 15

GUN STOCK WOODS AND SYNTHETICS 26

Wood Grain 26Walnut Woods 28English Walnut 28Claro Walnut 28Other Woods 30Exotic Woods 32The Laminated Stock 33Synthetics 34Stock Bedding 36

MAKING A GUN STOCK FROM A PLANK 44

The Tools 45Other Tools 47The Particulars of Stock Making 48

INLETTING THE BARRELED ACTION 65

Using Inletting Black 65Cutting the Mortise 72Assembling the Rifle 74Fitting Attachments to the Blank 75Stock Shaping 77Recoil Pad 83Staining 85Stock Finishing 85

ADDITIONAL STOCK WORK 92

The Semi-inletted Stock 92Stock Refinishing 95Removing Old Finish 96Making Repairs 96

SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 101

EXAMINATION 105

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STOCK DESIGN AND STOCKSTYLE

Types of Gun Stocks

A gunsmith requires a basic understanding of stock functionprior to becoming a stock maker. A rifle stock, in function, isnothing more than a segment of wood, fiberglass, plastic, orother material shaped to support the rifle’s barrel and action.It also functions to conform to the shooter’s body so theshooter can control the firearm. That’s the mechanical side ofit. However, arms lovers the world over consider a stockmuch more than a mechanical device. They think of a gunstock as a work of art and function (Figure 1). As a prospectivegunsmith, we hope this is your position.

Stocks can be built in a multitude of styles with a stockshape to fit everyone. Even factory rifles come in a wide vari-ety of stock styles. Factory stocks, incidentally, have come along way and can be considered quite good today, althoughcertainly not in the realm of a custom-made stock.

Figure 2 shows a gun stock labeled with its proper nomenclature.

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FIGURE 1—Notice the attractive oak-leaf pattern on this Bishop-III stock. (Photo courtesy of Reinhart Fajen, Inc.)

Early Stock Design

Turning the pages of gun history to an earlier time revealsthat the first stocks well known to American shooters had agreat deal to do with contemporary stock designs. However,such muzzleloader stocks left a lot to be desired. For shootingoffhand with limited recoil, such as when firing the average45 caliber Pennsylvania muzzleloader, the stock of old wasworkable. However, these stocks have too much drop and toonarrow a comb combined with a thin metal buttplate.

Drop is the distance downward from the line of sight to theupper edge of the buttstock, called the heel. Comb is theupper edge of the buttstock. Drop and comb features madethe old-time stock uncomfortable to shoot when the rifle hadheavy recoil. Therefore, early stock designs aren’t appropriatefor today’s high-powered rifles.

Modifications in stock design came slowly over many years.You, as a gunsmith, should recognize some of the great namesin stock making, whose influence helped to create the most-used and sought-after stock styles of today. Among the mostnotable were August Pachmayer, Bob Owen, Alvin Linden,Adolph Minas, Tom Shellhamer, and Leonard Brownell, tomention a few.

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FIGURE 2—Become familiar with the names of the parts of a gun stock.

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Factory Stock Designs

Factory stock designs range from plain classic models withouta cheekpiece (cheekrest) to attractive and functional contem-porary styles like Weatherby with its striking lines andprominent cheekpiece configuration. Factory stocks, however,can’t account for the considerable physical differences amongshooters. Factory stock designs accommodate the hypothetical“average” person. Drop at comb on a factory stock, for example,must conform to standardization. The same goes for pistolgrip length and forearm particulars. Professional gunsmithscan alter existing stocks, somewhat like tailors who modifysuits to fit their customers. In most cases, the major interestof a shooter owning a factory stock will be to change thelength of pull for proper reach to the trigger. A shooter shouldneither stretch nor cramp his or her arm to comfortablyplace a trigger finger into the trigger guard. Unfortunately,long- and short-armed shooters fall into the “average” groupwhen it comes to factory stock dimensions. But fortunatelyfor them, the accomplished gunsmith can modify length ofpull either by adding spacers between the recoil pad and thebuttstock or by shortening the buttstock.

A gunsmith can even build or modify the pitch of a stock tosuit the individual, especially the burly fellow with short,heavy arms who may have a difficult time with the factorystock. Here, pitch refers to the down angle of the muzzleformed by the intersection of the line of bore and a lineextending from the heel and toe of the butt on rifles andshotguns.

Female shooters have special problems. Big bore rifles areseldom built with women in mind. The length of pull is gen-erally too long. Again, the gunsmith can help by fitting thestock to the person, in this case a stock short enough to becomfortable and easy to use.

Still another group of shooters that doesn’t always receive aproper share of attention is young shooters. Such an impor-tant segment of the shooting world must have guns that fitthem at their given ages. “Growing into” a rifle isn’t theanswer. By the time a shooter is large enough to match therifle, he or she may have lost interest in the sport. In order tohave a fair chance, the young shooter should have a rifle that

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fits. Very few factory rifles fit the beginner, but you can adaptsome stocks to fit. One big-game rifle that fills this niche isthe Model 7 Remington. This little rifle offers a good selectionof calibers along with a straight-line stock that you canshorten considerably without it becoming awkward inappearance or function.

Statistics suggest that we’re taller than our ancestors (on theaverage), which means that the average stock doesn’t perfectlyserve taller shooters. This is no problem for the stock makerwho can add a recoil pad, spacers, or a combination of padplus spacers. Today’s shooter knows a rifle should fit andthat such fit is possible through the expert stock maker whocan either alter an existing stock or build a new one “fromscratch.”

The Synthetic Stock

Since the previous discussion hinges partly on aesthetics, weshould address the place of the so-called plastic stock. Mostarms manufacturers now offer one of the latest entries to theworld of stocks: the synthetic stock. It’s also offered separate-ly to replace existing traditional stocks. Synthetic stocks aregood, and for the most part they copy some form of tradition-al stock in design and style. But are they works of art? Mostcustom stock makers would say no. However, the majority ofstock artists would admit that they offer their customers achoice of synthetic or composite stock. Why? Survivability.The synthetic stock is strong, stable, made of high-gradematerials, and will last through several lifetimes of use. Itrequires very little maintenance aside from an occasionalfresh coat of paint.

The Semi-inletted Stock

Semi-inletted (semicustom) stocks are constructed fromrough blanks, in which most of the work is completed.Several companies, including Reinhart Fajen, Richards MicroFit, and others, supply them (Figure 3). Each company offersseveral different styles as well as their own unique designs.Semi-inletted stocks include wood and laminated models.Semi-inletted stocks are available in different styles, with

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various dimensions as well. Each company strives to individ-ualize its product line so that we can clearly recognize itsstocks.

Semicustom stock manufacturers have built reputations bycatering to the shooter who desires a stock of good quality fora reasonable price. The semi-inletted stock requires theattention of an accomplished amateur or expert to bring thestock from its original semi-inletted state to a properly fittedand finished rifle stock.

Often, the semi-inletted stock retains sufficient wood to allow a personal touch in finally forming the stock’s linesinto a unique piece suited for a specific use. We’ll discuss the semi-inletted stock later in this unit.

The Custom Stock

The custom stock reigns supreme. It’s handcrafted from aplank of wood designed in all respects to fit one shooter. Astock maker can create any style to satisfy the most discrimi-nating customer’s special needs and desires. The executionof a custom stock requires the attention of an expert stockmaker who must design, lay out, inlet, shape, and finish the

FIGURE 3—Shown in (B) is the semi-inletted stock for the Remington 500, shown in (A). (Photo courtesy ofReinhart Fajen, Inc.)

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plank to transform it into a functional piece of art. The beau-ty of the custom stock’s figured wood, blended with utility, isbuilt around one specific shooter. Perfect fit is impossible toachieve in any other than a custom stock. The end result isan extension of the shooter, which helps this person realizehis or her full shooting potential.

Now that you’re aware of the various types of stocks availableon the market, our discussion will center on gun stockstyles. In learning about the various styles, you’ll come tounderstand much about gun stock function.

Stock Styles

Stock styles are many and varied. The modern stock’s incep-tion is without doubt linked to the muzzleloader of earlyAmerica. As mentioned earlier, the muzzleloader rifle stockwas typified by the inclusion of considerable drop, a narrowsharp comb, and a narrow metal buttplate. Such stocksadapted well to offhand shooting with iron sights that layclose to the barrel. The style was tenacious, hanging on formany years. The muzzleloader stock didn’t entirely disappearwith the invention of the cartridge rifle. Many of the earlycartridge rifles continued to carry features from the muzzle-loader era. These rifles were often noted as “hard kickers.”One example is the Model 1895 Winchester lever-action rifle,especially in caliber 405 Winchester. This one got the shoot-er’s full attention each time the shooter pulled the trigger,especially when using heavy loads. The narrow, old-fashionedsteel buttplate often left its mark on the shooter’s shoulder.

A later rifle, the bolt-action Model 54 Winchester (forerunnerof the famous Model 70) was an excellent piece, but it alsoretained more drop than necessary, a holdover from the olddays of stock design. The Model 54 stock was also on thenarrow side. These and other similar rifles were enhancedgreatly with new stocks of better design. Savage, Marlin, andRemington also maintained original stock lines for some timefollowing the muzzleloader days. The stocks were handsomein many ways, but they didn’t adapt well to the modern riflewith its high-power cartridge.

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At this juncture, a review of the basic stock styles that haveevolved over the years is in order. None of these styles isstagnant. Each has been and will continue to be personalizedby stock makers to express their own creativity while fittingthe needs of a particular shooter.

The Classic Stock

Simple elegance typifies the classic stock. The style is calledclassic because it has endured and because it has a no-frillsdesign. Straight combs prevail in this stock style withoutexcessive drop at the butt or point of comb. Its cheekpiece israther simple in nature, usually trailing out and tastefullydisappearing into the top of the wrist (Figure 4). To accentu-ate the cheekpiece with a touch of class, a shadow line maybe used to subtly enhance the lines.

A cheekpiece isn’t necessarily a functional touch, despite the fact that many current factory rifles have them. Unlessthe cheekpiece is quite large and protrudes considerablyfrom the side of the stock, it contributes little if any to anindividual shooter’s fit. And with few exceptions, it does littleto elevate and support the shooter’s face and provide a betterview through the ocular of the scope sight.

In support of the previous fact, consider an excellent classic-style stock built with no cheekpiece from a nicely figuredplank of English walnut (Figure 5). The completed rifle wasdisplayed in a gun shop and customer comments were noted.Many saw it, many commented. Not one in ten viewers men-tioned the lack of a cheekpiece. This fact suggests, perhaps,that the classic-style stock doesn’t depend on additions to itsdesign. Its clean appearance stands well without extraappointments or exaggerations. However, a tastefully execut-ed cheekpiece can augment the beauty of the classic stockstyle.

It’s common to find a classic-style custom stock adornedwith a horn or checkered steel buttplate, or a skeletonbuttplate with a steel border around the butt with the centerof the plate left open to expose wood for checkering. Suchbuttplates are for show, not durability or function.

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FIGURE 4—Shown are three different cheekpiece styles on classic-style stocks. The top stock is Bostogne walnut,the middle stock is maple, and the lower stock is laminated birch.

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The rubber recoil pad has found favor with many shooterswho carry their classic-style custom stocked rifles into thefield and onto the shooting range. This type of buttplatelessens recoil and makes the rifle more comfortable to shoot.

Another feature of the classic-style stock is a pistol gripdesign leaning towards the conservative with a graceful curvenot falling much below the toe line of the stock. The pistolgrip may follow the previously mentioned buttplate design,with a grip cap of steel. The grip can be checkered. It canalso be skeletonized, whereby the exposed wood can be treat-ed to checkering. Solid steel grip caps are also prominentand can be engraved. Horn grip caps are also found, butsteel is more prominent. Furthermore, there are pistol gripcaps with small trapdoors installed in them. The trapdooropens to a tiny recess in the pistol grip itself. This touch hasbeen added to some fine classic-style custom stocks.

The forearm of the classic-style stock is normally about halfthe length of the barrel and well rounded in shape, slightlytapering to the end. It’s common to find a forearm cap ofebony or other wood of moderate contrast fitted to the classic-style stock forend. An exceptionally beautiful piece of woodmay have no forend cap at all because the addition of a capcould detract from the natural beauty of the wood. Personalpreference weighs heavily on all of these points, of course.However, the classic-style stock must maintain its clean andgraceful lines to qualify as classic. Skilled artisans can coaxgreat beauty from a piece of wood styled in the classic form.Two words used earlier continue to apply: simple elegance.

FIGURE 5—Shown here is a standardgrade stock made from English walnut.(Photo courtesy of Reinhart Fajen, Inc.)

The Contemporary Stock

The Weatherby stock comes to mind when thinking of thecontemporary style. Roy Weatherby boldly broke new groundby departing from the prominent stock styles of his day. Hisunique design won praise both for high performance andstriking beauty that departs measurably from the subtle.

The buttstocks of contemporary design have the Monte Carlocomb with prominent cheekpieces. Pistol grips are muchmore pronounced and larger than the classic-style stock,often with a flared style of daring design capped with highlycontrasting woods. Inlaid grip caps are also common on thisstock style. Forearms are more angular than the classic styleand they follow geometric lines that end with a highly con-trasting forearm cap. White line spacers between the forearmcap and/or grip cap are common. These touches, in mostinstances, are appropriate. They’re at home with the overallflamboyant style of the contemporary stock. Generally, peopleeither equally like or dislike the contemporary stock. However,this sound and useful stock style fits many shooters betterthan the classic-style stock.

The Thumbhole Stock

The thumbhole stock (Figure 6) belongs in the contemporaryrealm. Shooters use the thumbhole stock for silhouette off-hand shooting, with rifles of modest weight and lines, tobenchrest, with rifles of blocky and square designed stocklines.

There are few guidelines to mark the thumbhole-style stockfrom other stocks, aside from the fact that the thumb of theshooter extends through the pistol grip itself rather thanwrapping around it. Also, most thumbhole stocks have very

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FIGURE 6—A Thumbhole Sporter Stock (Photo courtesy of Reinhart Fajen, Inc.)

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little drop at the comb. Harry Lawson of Tucson, Arizona,has done more with thumbhole stocks than any other well-known gun maker of the era. His designs are radical, dealingheavily in contrasting woods for forearm caps and pistol grip caps and often carrying considerable embellishments,including inlays. The thumbhole-style contemporary stockisn’t for everyone, but the style has a strong following.

The Monte Carlo Stock

The Monte Carlo comb came to rifles via shotgun stocks. Itrises well above the ordinary comb line of the stock at thebutt and tapers downward toward the point of the comb.This raised portion of the stock lifts the face of the shooterand his or her line of sight well above the standard elevationprovided by the classic style. However, the same amount ofdrop is maintained at the buttstock. A shooter with a longneck who often has trouble getting his or her face down farenough on the comb of the regular stock benefits from theMonte Carlo style.

The Monte Carlo is also helpful in uplifting the shooter’s lineof sight to better meet with the ocular lens of the telescopicrifle sight. Scopes rest higher over the barrel than iron sightsto begin with, and this factor is accentuated by a scope witha large objective bell that must clear the barrel with highrings. The Monte Carlo stock is a natural when used withsuch scopes.

The Monte Carlo style normally has a cheekpiece. It’s animportant stock style to consider when trying to fit individualswho have specific physical characteristics that lend themselvesto a high comb-style stock.

The Rollover Cheekpiece Stock

In many regards, the rollover-style cheekpiece is a spin-off of the Monte Carlo (Figure 7). Where we normally see theprominent rise at the buttstock on the Monte Carlo design,all we see on the rollover style is the rollover itself. This style is evident on a number of rifles, including the famousMannlicher. The rollover cheekpiece is large and prominent,the major point of attention on the buttstock. It makes a

graceful transition from the right side to left side of the stockwith the backside stylized and accentuated. The rearwardpart of the cheekpiece rises high to give the cheek and facesolid support.

This stock style, correctly executed, gives the shooter anideal fit, aligning his or her eye with the scope. It’s imperativethat the cheekpiece be properly shaped, which means makingthe actual point of comb the lowest part of the cheekpiece.This particular configuration allows comfortable shooting,especially with high-power cartridges that deliver heavyrecoil. The style also reduces the tendency for the stock to lift up, hitting the shooter on the cheek.

It’s natural to associate the rollover cheekpiece with theSchutzen target rifle. The Schutzen style had an elaborateand large cheekpiece created with a deep dish for the face to rest in.

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FIGURE 7—Shown is an elaborate rollover cheekpiece patterned after the Mannlicher rifle.

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The Schutzen rifle was pleasant to shoot. Chambered for low-intensity cartridges such as the 32-40 Winchester, it produces low recoil. Low recoil, combined with the heavyweight of the Schutzen, averts abuse to the shooter’s face.

Today’s average big bore rifle is lighter than the Schutzen,however, and it’s normally chambered for a high-intensitycartridge, such as the 270 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, or7mm Remington Magnum. However, the rollover cheekpieceremains a good design.

The forearm style often encountered on rollover cheekpiece-style stocks generally follows contemporary lines with moresquared and geometric lines rather than the forearm style ofthe classic rifle stock. Pistol grip caps and forearm caps ofcontrasting exotic woods also fit in well with the contempo-rary styling of the rollover design. The rollover cheekpiecestock is attractive and comfortable to shoot when its shapingis properly accomplished. However, when poorly shaped anddesigned, the rollover can be abusive to the shooter’s face.

The European Stock

The European-style stock isn’t particularly easy to categorizethese days, as firearms from Europe are being produced witha multitude of stock designs. We can attribute the situationto the influence of American guns and gun makers. Also,Japanese manufacturers copy extensively from many stockdesigns, erasing certain style traits and blending others. It’sbecoming more difficult to isolate a given firearm by its over-all design. However, the gunsmith should understand thatwhat exemplified the European-style stock was the high nar-row combs with rather long, bird-head type pistol grips withrelatively short and small forearms. This somewhat simplifieddescription stands in general, and these traits are evident onmany older European rifles. The European-style stock isunique in its older form, and is clearly recognizable by anobservant stock maker.

The Target Stock

There are many branches of target shooting, and each has itsown and varied rules and regulations. It would require anentire book to describe the types of target stocks used today,each boasting the latest unique design feature that provides

a shooter with the edge. For example, a stock built for off-hand shooting used to tip metal silhouette targets will look fardifferent than the cumbersome-looking blocklike stock thatprovides the benchrest rifle with near total stability. Suffice itto say at this stage that a stock builder should first direct hisor her attention to basic designs, applying practical skills tomaster building them. Having obtained the necessary practi-cal experience, the gunsmith might progress to speciallydesigned target-style stock building.

The Hunting Rifle Stock

This category is much easier to deal with than target stocks.The hunting rifle must be designed to smoothly mount to theshoulder with sights aligned for rapid but accurate use. Ifscoped, the shooter should immediately see a clear picturewhen he or she brings the rifle to the shoulder. The stock’slength of pull must be short enough to avoid the buttplate’scatching at the shoulder or on clothing, but long enough tosuit the shooter’s build. (The length of pull is the distancefrom the center of the buttplate to the trigger.) Furthermore,the thumb must naturally seek a place on the stock so thatthumb and nose don’t come together during recoil. The riflestock must fit correctly so that the scope doesn’t recoilagainst the shooter’s eye area when fired. The hunting stockshould fit the shooter so well that the rifle becomes almostan extension of the shooter’s body. When the stock fits well,it’s second nature for the hunter to bring the rifle up smooth-ly and almost unconsciously. The shooter shouldn’t have toconsider how to hold the rifle to get a clear view of the sights.

Furthermore, stock makers must adequately proportion thestock to match the intensity of the cartridge for which thehunting rifle is chambered. Hunters may remind stock makersthat they carry the rifle all day, but use it for only a secondor two. However, that split second becomes the moment oftruth.

Hunters who say that recoil and stock fit don’t have much todo with success are wrong. The practiced shooter is the bet-ter marksman. Practicing with an ill-fitting, uncomfortablestock causes bad habits that can carry over into the huntingfield. The shooter must sight and practice with a rifle before

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hunting. The rifle should fit well and behave under all cir-cumstances, from the benchrest to the hunting field.Furthermore, continually shooting a rifle that delivers anuncomfortable kick can cause the marksman to develop aflinch. A flinch disturbs the shooter’s accuracy whether thetarget is a paper bull’s-eye or a bull elk. Rarely can a persontake punishing recoil on or off the bench without his or hershooting ability suffering.

A large-caliber rifle demands a stock of adequate size andweight to help distribute and control the resulting recoil.Rifles of modest weight fitted with some of the newest muzzlebrakes significantly reduce recoil at the shooter’s shoulder. Agood muzzle brake can tame a lot of recoil. Even then, how-ever, the shooter must pay a price. Muzzle brakes of properdesign work well, but they can direct uncomfortable soundwaves back at the shooter. Also, many shooters who wantthe ultimate in a fine-looking rifle don’t appreciate the visualeffect of a muzzle brake attached to the barrel, nor its extralength.

Designing a Custom Stock

No two people have the exact same stature, and in manyinstances, hard-to-fit physical characteristics lead to customstock design. Of course, most people can fit themselves intostandard-sized stocks—up to a point. That’s why the stan-dard stock is often a workable option. However, when thecustomer desires optimum fit, the stock maker develops acustom stock design plan.

Ideally, the client for a custom stock will be available to aidthe stock maker in developing the design. This allows forone-on-one communication and a free exchange of ideas. It’sespecially helpful if the customer is on hand for final shapingso that the stock maker can address minute details. Manytimes, this is impossible. So, the gunsmith must rely on hisor her best judgment in perfecting a stock that will fit thecustomer, even if the customer is several states away.Occasionally, the stock maker must build a stock for ashooter he or she has never seen. In this situation, the stockmaker works from a list of specifications.

The stock maker must address several important considera-tions before designing a stock to fit the physique and needsof a client. What is the shooter’s physical size? Is the shootershort? Tall? So-called medium height? Is the shooter heavy-set or on the slim side? Barrel-chested with heavy neck, orlean? Is the shooter young? A man or a woman? Are theshooter’s hands large or small? Are his or her fingers long orshort? Does the customer have a physical disability that canbe compensated for? These are just some of the importantphysical considerations the stock maker must address whendeveloping a design plan.

What about shooting style? Does the customer “crawl thestock”? A shooter who tends to push his or her face far for-ward on the comb of the stock until thumb and nose gettogether might require special consideration during stockdesign.

Also, if the stock maker feels that the stock style selected bya customer is incorrect, they should discuss the issue beforedrawing up a contract. After speaking to a prospective cus-tomer, the stock maker must determine if he or she trulyknows what the customer wants. It’s not uncommon for ashooter to “fall in love with” an incompatible style, eventhough he or she hasn’t tested a rifle of that type.

Some shooters may wish to mix styles, the buttstock of theclassic, for example, with the forearm of a contemporarydesign. The stock maker should try to convince the customerto stick with one style or the other. Generally speaking, thereason a style is unique and workable is that its unique linesfit together—the design works. When you mix styles, theresults are often less than desirable. Furthermore, mixingstyles can result in anything but a piece of artwork. A stockof mixed style might look ugly, and it will probably havereduced value on the resale market should the customerlater decide to sell it.

“The customer is always right,” the saying goes, yet the cus-tomer deserves professional instruction to help him or herdecide in favor of correct stock design. Furthermore, thestock maker puts his or her name on the product and there-fore has the right to insist upon a certain amount of input asto what the stock will and won’t be.

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To illustrate how all the considerations come into play inactual practice, let’s discuss two of my clients.

The first client is Ron, six feet, two inches tall, weighing 190pounds. Ron has a muscular, well-proportioned build, buthas a rather long neck. His hands are large, but not overlylarge for a man of his size. His shoulders have a slightly slop-ing arc. He is an active, experienced hunter who shoots forpleasure as well as meat, spending a good deal of time at thetarget range.

For years Ron has shot factory rifles that had to be lengthenedwith a recoil pad to gain proper length of pull (the distancefrom the trigger to the middle of the buttstock). Ron likes theclassic look, but he learned from experience that the classicstock doesn’t fit him well. There’s insufficient drop in theclassic stock design for him to mount the rifle with the sightsinstantly coming into view.

Ron has clear options. The classic style of stock isn’t entirelycorrect for him. He requires correct drop at the buttstock toseat the stock fully into his shoulder, while his face remainsfirmly and correctly placed against the comb for a steady andcomfortable hold. If he insists on the classic style regardlessof the facts presented by the stock maker, it would be possi-ble to build a classic stock with considerable drop at thebuttstock. Such a stock design is somewhat like the originalmuzzleloader stocks. A lot of drop will exist, and felt recoilmanagement will be reduced. While hardly ideal, this com-promise is possible.

Step one in making Ron’s custom stock is providing correctlength of pull. The well-worn rule of thumb about measuringthe length from the crook of the arm to the index or triggerfinger is unreliable. The person’s shooting style determinesthe length of pull.

If the shooter crawls the stock, length of pull must be a littlelonger than usual or a thumb and nose may come togetherduring recoil. Worse yet, during recoil, a scope’s ocular bellmay cut into the shooter’s head. Ideally, I use a test rifle tohelp decide length of pull. I can examine how my client fitsinto the test rifle. From that knowledge, I build a set of speci-fications for a stock that fits properly.

I check for length of pull as Ron aims the test rifle. I look forall aspects of stock fit and ask questions. For example, “Howdoes the pistol grip on this rifle suit you?” Meanwhile, I lookat the position of Ron’s hand on the grip to see if it seems tofit well. Suppose that the little finger of his right hand (forthis right-handed shooter) slips over the bottom of the gripcap? It’s obvious then that the grip should be longer on thecustom rifle. In this instance, a quick measurement from thecenter of the trigger to the front of the pistol grip revealedthat I should add 1/2 inch to the test rifle’s grip measurementto adapt the custom grip for Ron.

The next consideration is the pistol grip profile. Could Iimprove the factory profile to better fit Ron? In this case, yes.We mutually determined that the pistol grip should be locat-ed slightly more to the rear and at a somewhat different pitchor angle in relationship to the wrist of the stock.

At this point, since we were discussing the pistol grip, Rondecided on a checkered steel pistol grip cap. Specifically, heselected a Niedner cap (Figure 8). (These caps are availablefrom several sources, such as Brownells, Reinhart Fajen, andJantz Supply.) So far, we’ve determined two major factors ofthe stock design: length of pull and grip cap dimension andshape.

Next, what about drop in the buttstock? Since the factorystock is fairly close to a fit, we studied it again as a model.Ron shouldered the factory rifle as I looked on.

Most of the buttstock was on Ron’s shoulder, but not all of it.About 3/8 inch more drop in the buttstock would clearly bringall of the buttplate into contact with the shoulder, so Irecorded that measurement.

I then realized a potential problem. To incorporate the addi-tional drop in the buttstock, the classic-style stock fadedfrom the picture. I advised Ron that the factory stock, withits Monte Carlo cheekpiece, fit rather well (Figure 9). Ronyielded to my knowledge. He, too, wanted his new rifle tocustom fit. So we agreed that the custom stock would have aMonte Carlo, possibly with rollover cheekpiece.

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FIGURE 8—The Niedner Series5 Grip Cap (Photo courtesy ofReinhart Fajen, Inc.)

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Next, we decided on the cartridge—the 7 � 357mm AckleyImproved. Because this isn’t a heavy-recoiling round, thebuttstock could be nominal, quite close to the dimensions of the factory rifle being used as a model.

The rifle stock began taking shape in my mind. After jottingdown specifications and measurements, I introduced for consideration the stock’s front end. A simple rounded style of forearm would blend nicely with the rest of the stock and would fit the hand of this particular shooter. We didn’tconsider a forearm cap, as neither Ron nor I deemed onenecessary. A plain forearm design would serve both in thehunting field and at the shooting range.

We selected a plank of wood from several choices. The con-servative nature of the stock lent itself to a nice piece ofBostogne walnut that would blend with the overall tone ofthe rifle. A Monte Carlo cheekpiece would fit nicely on thisstock, well proportioned to fit the face of the shooter and tosatisfy his eye for beauty.

Next, I considered a slight pitch in the stock to keep the riflelevel when Ron held it to his shoulder. We discussed a steelbuttplate, then decided in favor of the rubber pad. An UncleMike’s Ultra Mag 1 inch recoil pad would provide shootingcomfort at the shoulder.

I proceeded to build the custom stock to Ron’s satisfactionand mine. Before the final finish, we applied a test. I askedRon to close his eyes and bring the rifle to his shoulder as ifhe were going to shoot. Then, after the rifle was in position, I asked Ron to hold that position and open his eyes. He waslooking directly into the full picture of his scope’s view, prov-ing that the rifle stock fit properly.

FIGURE 9—A Monte Carlo with a Rollover Cheekpiece (Photo courtesy of Reinhart Fajen, Inc.)

Now, let’s discuss a second client, Anne, to provide an aware-ness of how we determine individual stock design. Anne’sstock requires cast-off, toe-out, and pitch, three aspects notpreviously discussed. Anne is five feet, four inches tall, 105pounds. She wants a custom rifle for deer and antelopehunting only. She specifies a 6mm Remington with a 22 inchbarrel, straight 6X scope—a lightweight rifle. I took all of thepreviously discussed measurements, starting with length ofpull.

After I recorded all stock dimensions, I incorporated cast-off,toe-out, and pitch into Anne’s stock for better fit. Consider a left-handed stock in the following discussion, as Anne isleft-handed.

Cast-off

Cast-off moves the vertical center line of the buttstock to oneside of the plank or the other, depending on whether theshooter is right- or left-handed. In Anne’s case, I moved thecenter line as far to the left as the plank would allow. (Someinstances don’t require much cast-off.) Stock blanks are ofrather small dimension today. Therefore, cast-off is generallylimited to about 3/8 to perhaps 1/2 inch.

Warning: The comb line must remain parallel to the borewhen the stock is shaped out or the side of the stock willdrive directly into the shooter’s cheek during recoil.

Cast-off causes the buttstock to align such that it’s positionedmore fully on the shoulder, rather than into the chest region,when the rifle is sighted. Cast-off also allows the shooter toposition his or her face more directly behind the scope in anatural fashion. When the buttstock is moved to the left,more wood becomes available for use as a cheekpiece, anotherimportant aspect of cast-off. More wood provides for a cheek-piece that solidly supports the face while aligning the eyewith the scope’s ocular lens.

Toe-out

Toe-out was the next stock dimension aspect considered forAnne’s custom rifle (Figure 10). We achieve toe-out by movingthe toe of the buttstock to one side or the other (to the left for

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this left-handed stock). Toe-out positions the toe of the stockout and away from the chest of the shooter, rather thanallowing it to dig into his or her chest during recoil. Such asituation most likely occurs when mounting the rifle hastilyand firing before the butt end of the stock is firmly againstthe shoulder.

Pitch

Next, we consider pitch. Pitch is the angle of the buttstock inrelationship to the barrel. When a stock has the correct pitchto match the shooter, it’s almost impossible for that shooterto mount the rifle improperly. I added sufficient pitch to Anne’sstock to match the profile of her shoulder. I took care toensure that when she mounted the rifle, she would be look-ing directly through the scope.

Here’s how to visually achieve pitch.

Place the rifle’s buttstock flat against the floor with the top ofits receiver aligned with a wall. Remove the scope sight fromthe rifle so that it doesn’t make contact against the wall. Thebarrel (muzzle) of the rifle will point away from the walldepending upon how much downward pitch has been addedto the buttstock. The more pitch, the more the barrel willangle away from the wall. If there were zero pitch, the barrelwould end up parallel with the wall. This little visual demon-stration is always helpful in explaining pitch to a customer.

FIGURE 10—Shown is toe-out on a stock. Note the line of the ruler in comparison to the line of the buttstock.

Furthermore, by measuring the distance between the walland the muzzle of the barrel, we can measure pitch moreexactly. That measurement shows how much downwardpitch the stock has incorporated in it in inches.

The uneducated eye may view a stock that has cast-off, toe-out, and downward pitch as “crooked.” However, suchfactors can provide a rifle that mounts more naturally for the shooter, along with better recoil control.

Anne’s lightweight rifle was a success. Anne’s spouse paidme one of the finest compliments when he declared that thestock didn’t fit him at all. Of course not. It wasn’t built forhim. It was custom-fit for Anne.

Further Considerations of Stock Design

Final rifle weight. Explain to the customer that there’s noway to gain the stability of a heavy benchrest target rifle witha lightweight hunting rifle. You could build a very accuratelightweight rifle, but in the field such a rifle won’t stabilizelike a heavyweight. However, it will carry nicely and fulfill itsfunction as a hunting rifle.

Consider the offhand shot. In building a custom stock,remind the customer that part of the reason you’re matchingthe dimensions and angles of the stock to suit him or her isto achieve a fast-pointing, well-balanced rifle. Such a riflemakes offhand shooting more effective. And sometimes theoffhand shot is the only one possible.

Choose the right cartridge. Cartridge choice becomes animportant consideration when building a custom rifle for anindividual. As mentioned earlier, a client might carry the riflefar more than he or she shoots it, so build it to carry easily.However, the shot is still the bottom line. Match the cartridgeto the rifle style. While proper stock fit and recoil reducerscan reduce the effect of recoil on the shooter, there are limitsto such reduction.

Consider recoil reducers. Muzzle brakes, Mag-Na-Porting,and other means of helping to control recoil can produce afar more pleasant-shooting rifle. Felt recoil, the actual effectof recoil on the shooter, can cause flinching. Heavy recoilmay also ram a scope’s ocular lens into the shooter’s head.

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Lightweights can be too light. There has been a tendencytoward super-lightweight rifles over the years. However, thefact remains that a standard-weight rifle with medium barrelhas a greater propensity for stability. Remind your client thathe or she can compensate for another half pound or even fullpound of weight in a rifle by carrying less into the field. Itmay seem a feather in the gun maker’s cap to build a fivepound 30-06, but even with a muzzle brake, such a rifle isn’tlikely to be pleasant to shoot.

For example, a gun maker built a seven pound 458 Winchesterfor a client who was going to Africa with a professional hunter.The client shot the rifle so poorly, due to its face-smashingrecoil, that he had to borrow his professional hunter’s riflefor Cape buffalo. The professional hunter wouldn’t allow theclient to use the 458 on dangerous game.

The big bore trend. There’s a decided trend toward the cus-tom big bore rifle, especially 416s (as well as 375s and 458s).Big bore rifles have hard-recoiling calibers. So, the gunmaker must reinforce around the recoil lug, add additionalrecoil lugs on the barrel where called for, and add cross-boltsin back of the recoil lug that go through the stock for addedstrength (Figure 11).

Epoxies fortified with carbon fiber and reinforcing fibers addstrength also. Naturally, perfect wood-to-metal fit also aids inrecoil management so that a stock won’t split out.

Buttstocks on big bore rifles should be large, which allowsgreater area for recoil distribution. And of course the bestrecoil pads should be used. Recoil pads have improved overthe years and companies such as Pachmayer have done considerable research to provide more effective pads forheavy-caliber rifles.

Stocks on heavy-recoiling rifles should have as little drop aspossible. This allows recoil to come back in a straight lineinstead of forces angling the stock into the shooter’s face.Also, less drop on big bore rifles helps to control muzzlejump.

Pistol grips on heavy-recoiling rifles should be on the longside to keep the hand farther from the trigger guard.Therefore, there’s less chance of the trigger guard rearingback into the hand.

Forearms should be large enough to provide a firm grip onthe rifle to help distribute recoil and better control the rifle. Awhite-knuckle grip on the forearm isn’t advisable for accurateoffhand shooting, especially on a moving target. However, therifle of heavy recoil must be controlled differently from one oflighter recoil, and this is why a larger forend that offers abetter grip is advised.

Custom stocks come in many designs because custom riflesare built for individuals and not for that mythical “average”shooter. Furthermore, custom stock design offers a matchupbetween form, fit, and function. The form of the stock matchesthe shooter’s needs. The stock fits the shooter, which pro-vides the ultimate in rifle handling. And the custom rifle isbuilt to perform a specific task or set of tasks. That’s whythere’s no shortage of demand for the handmade stock. Itgets the job done, with beauty.

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FIGURE 11—This photograph shows a reinforcing screw through the thin web area in front of the trigger on aMauser-actioned big bore rifle. Notice the exposed pin and that it rests above and forward of the trigger guard.The pin is a piece of threaded brass rod.

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Self-Check 1At the end of each section of Gun Stocks, you’ll be asked to pause and check your under-standing of what you’ve just read by completing a “Self-Check” exercise. Answering thesequestions will help you review what you’ve studied so far. Please complete Self-Check 1 now.

Indicate whether the following statements are True or False.

_____ 1. The old muzzle-loading style stocks were comfortable with heavy recoiling loads.

_____ 2. The Weatherby-style stock has striking lines and a prominent cheekpiece configuration.

_____ 3. When designing a stock for a rifle that has heavy recoil, it’s not important to consider the buttplate size.

_____ 4. An important physical characteristic of a shooter that a stock maker should knowwhen designing a stock is height.

_____ 5. Factory stocks are designed for all types of people and most factory stocks areill-fitting and poorly designed stocks.

_____ 6. Toe-out and pitch basically refer to the same thing when it comes to the buttstock.

_____ 7. August Pachmayer and Leonard Brownell helped to influence the most-used andsought-after stock styles of today.

_____ 8. Statistics show that we’re a bit smaller than our ancestors, so the trend in shorter stocks is imminent.

_____ 9. Synthetic stocks require much maintenance.

_____10. Cast-off moves the vertical center line of the buttstock to one side of the plank orthe other.

Check your answers with those on page 101.

GUN STOCK WOODS AND SYNTHETICS

Wood Grain

Wood used for gun stocks is special. It should be relativelylight. Ironwood, for example, has ample strength to make agun stock for a 600 Nitro Express. However, this dense woodis far too heavy to be practical for gun stocks. The grain ofthe wood used for a gun stock should be close, not porous.Open or wide-grained woods don’t accept as fine a finish asnarrow or closed grains. Also, closed grain thwarts moisturebetter and is less likely to warp (Figure 12).

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FIGURE 12—Shown are two examples of planks—blocks of wood from which you’ll cut a stock blank. The grainstructure on the top plank is poor to use regardless of the fact that it’s a fancy piece of wood. The straighter-grained stock, bottom, while less attractive, will produce a stronger stock.

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The grain pattern should be relatively straight through thewrist and grip area of the stock, for strength. Straight grainis also acceptable in the forestock region. In the buttstockregion, wavy grain patterns can be beautiful, and wood withsuch a pattern is in demand (Figure 13).

The blank, obviously, must be cut precisely so that the bestfeatures of the wood are where they belong—straight grainwhere straight grain is desirable, curly grain where appear-ance is paramount.

Good gun stock wood has an absolute minimum of sapwood,which is pithy and soft. Also, good stock wood is expensive;however, it’s the only type of wood acceptable for making acustom rifle. Using a cheap-grade wood is foolhardy andunfair to the client. Clean checkering lines are all but impos-sible on a soft-surface wood, as they tend to be fuzzy. Inferiorwood might be easy to work with in some instances becauseit’s soft, but it will never become a gun stock the stockmaker and the client can be proud of.

FIGURE 13—Shown are the tops of two planks. The top plank shows straight grain, which will make a strongstock. The grain pattern of the lower plank runs at an angle to the length of the plank.

Walnut Woods

Walnut is the wood most used for gun stocks because itsproperties lend themselves best to building a fine stock.American walnut (also known as black walnut) is native tothe United States of America. It’s a hard and dense wood,and some pieces contain beautiful burl figures (Figure 14).

English Walnut

English walnut is the same genus and species as French walnut, and the terms are interchangeable. There are oftenarguments concerning their interchangeability. However, the botanist says that the woods are the same. Sometimesthere’s confusion in naming woods because of where theygrow. Walnut grown in France is, by fact, French walnut, butscientifically it doesn’t differ from English walnut. The samewood may also grow in Germany, in which case it’s Germanwalnut, but that doesn’t change its genus and species.

Claro Walnut

Claro walnut (Figure 15) is another member of the walnutfamily. It’s said to be a hybrid taken from trees that exhibitboth the English walnut and American walnut traits. Sinceit’s often grown in California, Claro walnut is also known asCalifornia walnut.

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FIGURE 14—Shown is a plankof American (black) walnut.This grain, even in this unfin-ished piece of wood, clearlyshows through and is a topgrade plank for a two-piecestock.

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There are many other walnuts. Some are well known andothers aren’t. Circassian walnut is an Asian strain that getsits name from the Caucasus Mountains. Circassian is all but nonavailable today; however, you should recognize it byname. Turkish walnut resembles Circassian in beauty andgrain structure. The best pieces of Turkish walnut have con-trasting close-grain coloration.

Various other walnuts exist, far too many for worthwhileinclusion here. The stock maker may come across a few exoticwalnuts from time to time, but essentially, he or she willwork with American walnut, Claro, and French/Englishblanks. American walnut is the least expensive of the threeand is a good wood that was somewhat underrated in thepast. Today, American walnut of high quality is rising steadilyin price. Due to cost, some manufacturers make factory rifleswith cheaper woods that they stain to resemble walnut, ratherthan with American walnut.

Over the past 200 years, many millions of American militaryrifles were stocked with black walnut wood. Today, high-gradeAmerican walnut is expensive and hard to locate. Americanwalnut can exhibit beautiful grain patterns and color in thebest examples. And it takes checkering well. It’s also suffi-ciently tight-grained to thwart warpage.

Claro walnut costs more than American (black) walnut. Itoften carries a beautifully contrasting color pattern withgrain tending to orange streaks. These streaks, along withyellows and golds, stand out markedly against the darkerportions of the wood. Claro isn’t quite as dense as Americanwalnut, and it can warp a bit more easily. American walnutis stronger and a little easier to checker. But Claro costsmore because of its fine figure. When cut correctly into astock blank, Claro walnut offers a very serviceable materialfor stocks. Naturally, as with all woods, it’s found in various

FIGURE 15—Claro walnuttends to have more contrastand is a little softer thanAmerican black walnut.

degrees of excellence. English or French walnut is on a higher plateau than either American walnut or Claro. Whilegood planks in this walnut aren’t available on a wide scale,English walnut is available. Some of the better blanks maycost a thousand dollars, incidentally. English walnut carriesall of the good traits of a gun stock wood, including color anddensity.

Our brief rundown on walnuts only scratches the surface.There are even walnuts within walnuts. For example, we candistinguish American walnut by its grain structure, such asfiddleback, flame grain, crotch, and burl. These names aren’tentirely distinct. But they help to distinguish one Americanwalnut blank from another.

Other Woods

Walnut is hardly the only wood suitable for stock making. As already noted, gun manufacturers use birch extensivelyfor stocks, often stained to resemble walnut. Birch is a goodstrong wood and it has found a good place in laminates. But it’s not a high-grade material for custom-made stocks(Figure 16).

Mahogany is a fine wood for furniture and another exampleof the hardwood family. It’s less dense and softer than walnut.There are cheap grades of mahogany that are useless evenfor furniture. High-grade mahogany can be turned into a gunstock, especially certain harder pieces. But mahogany isn’t a classic wood for stocks.

Maple, on the other hand, makes a good gun stock, especiallyfor muzzleloaders. Curly maple, also known as tiger tail maple,is especially handsome. Maple can be very hard as it’s close-grained wood. Birds-eye maple is a distinctive wood that youcan use to make a stock for a modern rifle. Fiddleback mapleand ribbed figure maple are ideal for the black powder longrifle.

Apple wood is hard to work, but is strong and can be turnedinto a stock. (Walnut is better for stock making, all thingsconsidered.) Apple wood checkers well due to close grain andhardness.

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Pear wood is similar to apple. It’s an attractive wood, buthasn’t gained great favor with American gun makers.

We don’t use wild cherry wood in stock making very often.However, early American stock makers employed cherry woodand examples of antique muzzle-loading rifles with cherrywood stocks still exist. Cherry wood doesn’t have the person-ality of other stock woods, which is probably one reason it’sseldom used in stock making. It can turn out a dull reddishbrown in color with little grain showing.

Myrtle wood, on the other hand, is absolutely beautiful withhigh-contrast grain in the better examples. It’s used alongthe coast of Oregon to make many decorative householditems, including clocks and coffee tables. Myrtle is on theheavy side, and it can have soft spots in it. It’s not ideal forthe heaviest-recoiling rifles and rarely used in Americanstock making.

FIGURE 16—The top two semi-inletted stocks are laminated birch. The lower semi-inletted stock is a high-gradeCalifornia Claro.

Gun Stocks

Mesquite, an extremely hard Southwestern wood, wouldmake one of the strongest stocks known to gun making.Weatherby rifles have been built with mesquite. It may exhibit terrific grain structure, including knots, whorls, and sometimes wild patterns. Mesquite isn’t easy to come by. It’s costly, hard to work, and it can have dead spots in itthat are flawed, so to speak. Although some fine stocks con-tain mesquite wood, it isn’t the material for the newcomer tomaking stock.

Beech wood is well known in America. It’s strong, tough wood,but not very pretty and certainly not the choice for a finecustom rifle in spite of its serviceable nature.

Sycamore, like beech, is another tough wood, but it’s notcurrently popular for making stocks.

Exotic Woods

Mainly, we use exotic woods for pistol grip caps and forearmtips, as well as some inlays. There are hundreds of woodsthat list as exotic because they’re in rare supply and growprimarily in the tropics.

Exotic woods are generally dense. They could be made into agun stock, but it would be a very heavy stock. These close-grained woods are ideal for supplementary appointments instock making.

Rosewood from Brazil is popular because of a beautiful grainpattern. Brazilian ironwood is extremely hard, as its nameimplies. Brazilian ironwood makes a nice contrasting grip capor forend tip.

Zebra wood has found its way into the world of handgungrips and can be used for rifle stocks, but is extremely heavywood and not ideal for a full stock. It’s useful for auxiliaryuse, however.

Cocobolo is a reddish wood, harder than rosewood, and alsouseful for grip caps and forend tips.

Ebony is quite popular. It has been used many times forknife handles because of its durability, and it serves well forforend tips and grip caps. Hard plastic and ebony look muchthe same, for ebony wood is usually solid black and withoutgrain.

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The Laminated Stock

A very long time ago, bow makers discovered that bondingtwo materials together could result in increased performanceand durability. So laminates are hardly new, dating back toprehistoric times. Gun stocks can also take advantage oflaminations. A laminated stock takes recoil well and lasts along time. It tends to help the rifle hold its point of impact,although any notion that a laminate is waterproof is false. Alaminated stock should have a good finish applied to helpseal it against moisture invasion. Laminated stocks are onthe heavy side, which shooters sometimes prefer, especiallyfor benchrest rifles, varmint, and target rifles. Heavy-recoilrifles do well with laminated stocks. From the service stand-point, there’s nothing wrong with the laminated stock.Laminated stocks have found their way into just about everyfirearms company because they’re reliable (Figure 17).

The maker of a fine custom rifle might object to the appear-ance of the laminated stock. Beauty is personal; however, few would argue that a fine blank of English walnut is farmore handsome than a laminated stock blank. The laminatedstock can contain contrasting woods, which give them color.Green camouflage, desert camouflage, straight brown, evensolid black laminated stocks are possible.

Birch is often the wood used for laminates because it’sstrong and can be cut into sheets. The tree is roto-milled intothese sheets. Then the sheets of wood are vat dyed for per-manency of color. Then the laminates are bonded togetherinto one unit with phenolic resins. These are only the mostbasic aspects of lamination production, but the end result isa product that works. Delamination, where the individualslats of wood part from each other, is all but unknown.

FIGURE 17—A Princeton-style Stock of Laminated Birch (Photo courtesy of Reinhart Fajen, Inc.)

Common laminate combinations are walnut to walnut, walnut to cherry, walnut to maple, and of course birch wood laminations.

Synthetics

There are at least two basic types of synthetic stocks now in use: laminated fiberglass and injection molded. McMillanCompany manufactures synthetic stocks of high quality, asdoes Ram Line and Bell & Carlson (Figure 18).

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FIGURE 18—This is an example of a Bell & Carlson synthetic stock on a very accurate 7mm Remington Magnumbuilt on a Remington 700 action.

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Modern computerized machinery promotes close tolerancesin these stocks. McMillan synthetic stocks use a combinationof epoxy-impregnated, high-pressure laminated fiberglasscloths coupled with chopped glass strands. A grained effectcan be induced in the synthetic stock, giving the stock awoodlike appearance (Figure 19).

You can purchase synthetic stock in various states of readi-ness, the gunsmith accomplishing final fit and finish.Finishes vary widely.

The attributes of the synthetic stock are strength, durability,and stability. They’re also, on the average, as light in weightas wood, with some exceptions that can be quite heavy.Synthetic stocks are everywhere from target-shooting sportsto big game fields.

FIGURE 19—This is anothersynthetic stock—a fiber-grainstock from the Bell & Carlsoncompany. Notice its woodgrainlike appearance.

The downsides of synthetics are lack of beauty, lack of tradi-tion, and the fact that they’re essentially another man-madeproduct. The modern gunsmith needs to know a good dealabout synthetics, however, because they’re here to stay. Theyrequire fitting and/or finish in most instances, even thoughsynthetic materials aren’t found on fine handcrafted customstocks.

The materials discussed so far aren’t the only stock materialsknown. But they’re the major ones. Ivory, for example, hasbeen used in the past, but it can no longer be considered a viable stock material. Today, ivory is rare and expensive. It never was ideal in the first place, tending to crack and discolor with age. But it did fine for inlays, grip caps, forendtips, and other incidentals attending the stock.

If one single material were selected for the custom firearm, itwould have to be wood. And the wood used would be walnut.Walnut is workable, strong, handsome, and traditional. Ittakes checkering well, and while it’s expensive in top gradesand sometimes hard to locate (for the best pieces), it remainsaccessible to the gun maker.

Stock Bedding

Bedding is an early logical consideration in stock making.Bedding is a means of control in regard to barrel motion dueto heating. The wrong bedding method can result in pooraccuracy, and no customer wants to pay for a custom riflethat won’t shoot well. There’s no remedy in bedding methods.Years of experience will eventually convince a stock makerthat this is true.

Some rifles shoot best only when the barrel is pressure-pointed. Others do their best work only with a free-floatedbarrel. No two rifles are exactly alike. Dozens of variablesapply, including exact bore dimensions to the ten-thousandthof an inch, precise chamber size, condition of the bore, action-to-barrel integrity, and many other attributes. However, themajority of difference rests in the barrel, right down to itsmolecular makeup. You can control chambering, choice of twist for the barrel, and can even do something aboutsmoothness of the bore’s lands and grooves. You can also

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select the barrel’s exterior dimensions for control of heating—heavy barrels, naturally, heat up faster and cool off slowerthan lighter barrels.

Some barrels become erratic as they heat—others don’t.Sometimes bedding can aid an erratic barrel considerably. Abarrel that’s moving significantly when heated may be betteroff in a free-floated mode. Or the reverse may be true. A pres-sure point may cause the barrel to stabilize.

Fortunately, you can properly fit a barrel to a stiff action and it will perform at least to the point of general huntingaccuracy, or around 1.5 inches for three shots at 100 yardsfrom a bench.

The action is a factor of consideration, of course. All commer-cial actions currently available are strong, including theRemington 700, Winchester Model 70, Ruger Model 77, Sako,Savage 110, Interarms Mark X, and others. Older militaryactions, such as the Mauser 98, Enfield Pattern 1914 and1917, and the Springfield, are also good.

Warning: Early Springfield actions weren’t properly heat-treated and can be brittle. These low-number actions, asthey’re called, shouldn’t be used for modern high-intensitycartridge chamberings. Springfield actions made by theSpringfield Arsenal must be above number 800,000 to qualifyas high-number actions. Springfield actions made at theRock Island Armory must be above serial number 285,507. If any doubt exists as to the strength of a Springfield or anyother actions, you’re obligated to investigate the matter untilyou know for certain that the action is strong.

The Enfield Pattern 1914 and 1917 action has proved soundover the years. So has the Mauser 98 German action.However, the older 98s should be chambered only for car-tridges or chamber pressures originally valid in those earlyactions. Military actions can require considerable alterationsfor proper conversion to sound sporting actions. However,thousands of top-flight custom rifles have been built aroundmilitary actions.

You must consider all of the bedding factors we’ve just dis-cussed before delving into the actual bedding process. Forexample, bedding styles may vary in accord with action stiff-ness. For example, the Remington Model 700 action is more

rigid than a Mauser 98 military action. The Remington hasonly two areas milled away from the main body, one for thebox magazine and the other for loading cartridge and theejection of spent cases. These cuts are minimal.

There’s sufficient remaining metal in the Model 700 actionalong its sides to maintain stiffness between the front andback tang screws. In contrast, the military Mauser Model 98action has a magazine box opening, and an ejection andfeeding port, plus a deep notch cut along the left-hand sideof the action for clip loading. These features reduce actionrigidity from the standpoint of stiffness between front andrear tang screws.

Target shooters seek stiff action for reasons of rigidity and topromote precision. A rigid setup will react much the samefrom one shot to the next. Ultimate accuracy also demands acomparatively short and rigid barrel in accord with the rules ofthe shooting match in question. Barrels on most target riflesare free-floated. The sporting rifle demands high-accuracylevels, too, but not without consideration for overall weightand stock lines. However, a set of rules can be observed,along with a liberal dose of common sense, pertaining to bedding the sporting rifle for accuracy.

The Free-floated Barrel

Proper free-floating of a barrel demands solid action beddingplus contact of the barrel for the first inch in front of thereceiver. The remainder of the barrel lies clear of the channelin the stock. A single piece of typing paper will generally slideup and down in between barrel and the stock’s barrel chan-nel on a properly free-floated barrel. However, a sign of apoorly executed job is a gouged barrel channel that’s overlylarge. Free-floating is complete as long as the barrel doesn’tmake contact with the barrel channel in the stock—period.

The Pressure-pointed Barrel

To pressure-point a barrel, pads are devised during the bar-rel inletting process. The idea is to remove wood around theproposed pads, leaving the raised pads in place. In order toestablish a pressure point between the barrel and the barrel

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channel in the stock, two pads approximately 21/2 to 3 inchesfrom the forend tip of the stock are left high. The pads shouldbe equally spaced on each side of the barrel channel. Theyshould be roughly 1/2 by 1/4 inch long and wide. These pointsshould be just high enough to apply pressure upward on thebarrel when you tighten the front tang screw. To effectivelyestablish the height of these two points is to have about 1/32inch of vertical movement at the front ring when the fronttang screw is taken from a loose to a fully tightened position.This is one way of establishing built-in pressure pads thatare actually inletted into the barrel channel of the stock.

Another means of establishing a pressure point is to take afree-floating barrel to ensure there’s no contact between thebarrel and the forearm of the stock. Then, in the area wherethe pressure points are to be located, pour a small amount ofepoxy (enough to result in contact between stock and barrelwhen the barreled action is placed into the stock). The pres-sure point will form in perfect alignment with the forearmbecause the barrel itself, when returned to the stock, willform the epoxy into shape. Naturally, you must use releaseagent on the barrel so that the barrel doesn’t adhere to theepoxied area of the stock.

After installing the barrel and action back into the stock,allow the epoxy to cure for 20 to 30 minutes. After removingthe barreled action, there will be a pad of epoxy resting inthe barrel channel. Shape this pad of epoxy into a band ofabout 1 inch in length. The epoxy pad is reduced to correctshape using a gouge and chisel.

Next, place three layers of masking tape on top of the epoxypad. Cut the layered tape with a chisel, an X-acto knife, orother sharp edge to form two pressure points, one on eachside of the barrel channel just like the inletted pressure padsjust above. The pressure points in this instance will be pro-vided by the triple thickness of the masking tape. The barrelis glass-bedded in the normal manner. The raised padsremain in place providing two pressure points when the fronttang screw is tightened, because the liquid glass formsaround the barrel, but the glass doesn’t cover the pressurepads.

Using Glass

The purist will accept nothing other than a barreled actionbedded metal to wood. This bedding procedure is correct and prudent, but also time-consuming. The customer willingto pay for this particular type of bedding should have it.However, using epoxies or glass bedding is also perfectlyacceptable, less time-consuming, and it produces a fine fitwith top-grade products such as Brownell’s Acraglas.

Epoxy and glass aren’t a substitute for sloppy bedding. Theyfollow after a good bedding job has been performed and pro-vide that perfect fit between wood and metal with the actiontightly and accurately placed in the stock. The barrel channelcan also be “glassed in” for a perfect fit. Proper glass beddingdoes not show, or at least it takes a very close look to deter-mine that glass was used. Epoxies offer a 100% moistureseal, preventing the invasion of oil as well as water into theaction mortise or the barrel channel, wherever glass has been correctly used. Epoxies, fortified with carbon fiber orpowdered metal, are definitely justified on heavy-recoil rifles.That is, on rifles where a perfect match between the recoillug on the receiver and the stock is necessary to avoid split-ting out of the stock.

Furthermore, epoxies and fiberglass provide fine accuracy.Many benchrest rifles now have their actions literally gluedin place to perfect the fit, of course, but also to add to thestiffness of the entire barrel/action fit, as alluded to earlier.Glassing in the barrel/action of a hunting rifle is never amistake from this standpoint. Accuracy has never been knownto suffer from a properly executed glass job. Therefore, theproper use of epoxies and glass is never to be considered ashortcut method in bedding the rifle, but rather a means to a specific end. While it’s true that glassing in can save time,the fact remains that using fiberglass or epoxy requires care-ful judgment and skill. Glass isn’t an amateur’s tool. Nor isglass ever a substitute for good wood-to-metal fit, a pointpreviously made that deserves restating. Finally, using glassand epoxy can result in a long-lasting job because of theirstrength. Note: The glass bedding process will be detailed in alater study unit.

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The Pillar-bedding Method

We use the pillar-bedding system with wooden stock riflesand synthetic stock rifles where there’s a chance of compres-sion or shrinkage. One half to one inch lengths of aluminumor steel provided with a hole that will accept tang screws arecut to the exact length. The length spans the bottom of theaction and the portion of the trigger guard that the guardscrews pass through. A hole slightly larger than 1/2 inch isdrilled through the stock and these pillars are epoxied intoplace. This type of bedding is necessary for wood and syn-thetic stocks that can be compressed from overtightening thetang screws. Pillars prevent such compression.

Extra Bedding Reinforcement

Heavy-recoil rifles on the order of the 375s, 416s, and 458soften demand reinforcement in the stock area where therecoil lug fits into the stock. The bedded recoil lug can splitthe stock at this point. One approach to reinforcement isinstalling a crossbolt. The crossbolt fits completely across thebreadth of the stock, making contact with the recoil lug onthe action. This installation requires a drill press to preciselylocate the bolt. Large flat-headed nuts with spanner wrenchholes in them are used to hold the crossbolt solidly in place.Ideally, the crossbolt will be wedded to the stock with epoxyto anchor it in place solidly and permanently. If the crossboltshould ever loosen, the rifle’s accuracy could suffer.

Another approach to reinforcement concerns using threadedportions of brass rod that are inletted directly in back of therecoil lug and in front of the lug. These rods extend nearly tothe outside edges of the stock. The rods are also epoxied intoplace to permanently hold them where they belong. For suchan application, use high-quality epoxy fortified with carbonfiber or powdered metals.

Finally, it’s correct to add an extra recoil lug onto the barrelto ensure that the barrel and action remain intact with thestock. The added recoil lug helps to distribute the shock ofrecoil. Such a lug can be fitted in place on the barrel forwardof the standard recoil lug on the action.

Another action you can take to fortify bedding concerns thearea directly in front of the trigger guard. This particularlocation is a thin web of wood that holds the stock togetherin this region. To help support this area, you can fit athreaded brass rod into place. This requires taking a piece of brazing rod and running it through a threading die, orbuying prethreaded rods from distributors such as Brownells.A hole smaller than the threaded rod is first carefully drilledthrough the stock at the previously mentioned point, withcare not to chip wood out on either side. Use high-speeddrilling (high RPM) for this process, but with slow feed of thedrill bit (high speed–slow feed method). After you drill thehole, run the threaded rod through the drilled hole by hand,or use a variable-speed drill to perform the same function.The brass pin will show as a tiny dot on either side of thestock. Or, to avoid exposure, use a shorter brass pin, and thetwo tiny holes on either side of the stock can be camouflagedwith inlays, one inlay set into place over each hole. You mustfinish the inletting for the inlays before you put the pin intoplace.

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Self-Check 2Fill in the blanks with the word or phrase that best completes the statement’s meaning.

1. _______ is the wood most often used in laminated stocks.

2. Good gun stock wood has an absolute minimum of _______, if any.

3. Because _______ walnut is often grown in California, it’s often referred to as Californiawalnut.

4. _______ maple is ideal for making a black powder long rifle stock.

5. _______ is a reddish wood, harder than rosewood, and is also useful for grip caps andforend tips.

6. Attributes of the synthetic stock are _______, _______, and stability.

7. _______ is a means of control in regard to barrel motion due to heating.

8. Early _______ actions weren’t properly heat-treated and can be brittle.

9. A _______ rifle stands a good chance of shooting well when the barrel is free-floated.

10. Heavy-recoil rifles often demand reinforcement in the stock area where the _______ fitsinto the stock.

Check your answers with those on page 101.

MAKING A GUN STOCK FROM A PLANK

So far, we’ve covered design, style, wood types, and otheraspects of the stock. So, the basics of making a gun stockfrom a plank are in order. The apex of working a stock is taking a carefully dried hunk of wood and turning it into auseful and beautiful stock. One that carries all of the propermeasurements for a given shooter—a custom piece of work.Once the plank has been quarter-sawed, it’s ready for working.

Hopefully, it’s a good piece of wood that will serve its intendedfunction. You must carefully examine the wood before youstart any work. Even though you studied the wood before thepurchase, you must study it again. Check to see if the woodhas undergone any changes since you first saw it.

The first consideration is to study the stock plank for grainstructure. Look for straightness of grain from the side of theplank and from the top where you’ll eventually bed the barrel/action into place. If the wood has a curved grain pattern andis crooked in any area, that’s where to expect movementshould the wood absorb moisture at any time.

When you remove wood from a curved or crooked grain area,changes can occur in its behavior. For lack of a betterdescription, think of removing the wood as removing a stresspoint. A heavy plank of wood is one thing, but once you trimdown that wood to a much narrower dimension, its originalbulk no longer serves to control rigidity. It’s comparable to an arrow shaft. When the arrow shaft was part of a large bil-let of wood, it was easy to maintain straightness. When youtrim the arrow shaft down to only 11/32 inch, warpage is farmore possible.

Even though you take steps to avert warpage from moistureabsorption, including sealing and applying a good finish,severe weather conditions and time can attack the beststock.

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Using the plank wisely in terms of grain structure can helpavert warpage. Straight grain equals strength. Very fancyplanks, such as feathered crotch American black walnut,may have the most beautiful grain structure and color imagin-able in the buttstock, which is acceptable. If the wood’s wavypattern persists through the wrist area, the resulting stockcould be weak in that region. If you encounter a piece ofwood that has wavy grain throughout the buttstock and into the wrist region, perhaps you could use that plank for a two-piece stock instead of a one-piece stock. Alternately,you could use such a plank of this nature to make a stockfor a light-recoiling rifle that won’t demand great strengththrough the wrist area.

Factory stocks are generally straight-grained walnut, quiteplain in appearance. Such stocks may not be the most hand-some, but they do achieve strength and a degree of reliabilityin terms of warpage. The custom stock maker must oftenwork with woods that don’t possess quite so simple a grainstructure because the client demands beauty along with util-ity. Now it’s time to progress to the mechanics of building astock from a plank.

The Tools

When we call a custom gun stock “handmade,” that term hastrue meaning. Much of the work is done by hand, althoughthe judicious use of power tools is a time-saver and takesnothing away from the stock maker’s personal touch. Toolsrequired for making a stock from a plank are relatively simpleand few (Figure 20). Of course, as with any tools, the betterthe quality, the greater potential for a speedy and accuratejob. Naturally, good tools are more expensive than poor ones.However, good tools last a long time and are, in the long run,a bargain. The following tools are prerequisite to making astock from a plank.

• 2 inch butt chisel

• 1/2 inch chisel

• 1/4 inch chisel

• 1/8 inch chisel

• 1/2 inch gouge

• 1/4 inch gouge

There are also tools required to keep the basic cutting instru-ments sharp. Good sharpening tools are a sharpening stone,diamond laps, Wichita, fine carborundum, or some other typeof stone for sharpening. Also consider a round slip stone tosharpen gouges.

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FIGURE 20—Shown here are basic stock making tools used to make a stock from a plank.

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Further tools include the following.

• Block plane, 8 inch

• Block plane, larger than 8 inches (optional)

• 12 inch cabinetmaker’s rasp

• 8 inch and 10 inch half-round bastard cut file

• 8 inch smooth mill cut file

• 8 inch bastard cut rattail file

• Block sander

• Hand drill

• Band saw (or access to one)—skip-tooth blade preferred

• Carpenter’s square

• Compass

• Stick pencil and eraser

• Rubber mallet

• Inletting black plus a black brush

Other Tools

The following short list includes tools that aid the processand are desirable to have.

• Inletting guide screws (of the proper size)

• Drill press

• 12 inch disc sander

• Selection of files to include various cuts and sizes

• Various sharpening stones of at least three differentgrades

It’s imperative to keep all cutting instruments as sharp aspossible. Dull tools can cause wood chipping. Sharp tools aidin the precision of the work with clean cuts, especially inhard woods.

And so are the tools of the stock maker. They’re necessary tothe trade and the prospective gunsmith should keep in mindthat the old adage about a worker being no better than histools applies doubly in stock making.

Select good tools. Chisels and gouges should have long handlesfor better control. Ordinary chisels and gouges normally foundin the hardware store will suffice, but we don’t recommendthem as ideal. Such tools were designed with the carpenterin mind, not the stock maker. They serve well in house build-ing and general repairs, but not in the hands of the gunsmith.You’ll purchase your best gunsmithing tools from specialtyhouses, such as Brownells and Jantz Supply. They cost con-siderably, but pay for themselves. It’s not rare for good toolsto last through a half century of use. A cheap tool that youhave to replace is no bargain.

The Particulars of Stock Making

I designed the stock we’ll use as our model for a customernamed Ned. Ned ordered the rifle for his work as a govern-ment hunter. He’ll carry the rifle on a daily basis. Ned istotally familiar with firearms. His order is clear. He knowsjust what he wants and what he wants the rifle for. Suchfacts made designing the stock and executing its completionless difficult.

Furthermore, Ned is available for consultation. I was able totake measurements in person rather than long distance overthe phone. The measurements included length of pull, pistolgrip length, drop at point of comb, and drop at butt of stockas discussed in the previous section. I employed a standardrifle as a “try gun.” Ned mounted the rifle to his shoulder andaimed it as I observed and took notes and measurements.

The specifications of our model rifle include

• Bostogne walnut

• Classic style

• Length of pull: 13 inches from center of buttplate to trigger

• Pistol grip length: 31/2 inches

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• Pistol grip cap angled off of parallel with the bore pur-posely designed to extend slightly below the toe line

• Pistol grip width: 11/4 inches at center of grip

• Jerry Fisher pistol grip cap

• Neidner steel buttplate

• Drop at comb: 3/4 inches

• Drop at butt of stock: 3/4 inches

• Cheekpiece designed to flow into pistol grip with shadow line

• Small forearm with Schnabel forend

• Ribbon checkering pattern

• Overall stock dimensions: refined, modestly sized

First Steps

The plank must be trued-up. For a right-handed customer,the right side of the stock is planed true and straight. Use acarpenter’s square to check for plank straightness. Employ aplaner, or a dimensional sander, to provide stock straight-ness. You can use power tools; however, an 18 inch blockplane will do this job to perfection (Figure 21).

Naturally, using a plane requires handwork. If the customeris left-handed, then true up the left side of the stock.However, you take the same measurements using the sametools, the goal being to provide a perfectly flat and true sur-face on one side of the plank.

The following instructions apply once again to the right-handed shooter. Once you plane true the right-hand side ofthe stock plank and it’s straight, you plane the top of theplank straight and at a right angle to the right-hand side ofthe plank. Use the 12 inch try square to check yourprogress. Once you plane the top of the plank straight and ata right angle to the right-hand side of the plank, you planethe left side of the plank smooth and clean. If possible, it’sideal to plane the left side of the plank at a right angle to thetop of the plank. But this factor isn’t absolutely necessary to

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achieve. You use the left side of the plank for layout. Theplaned right side of the plank serves as a true and flat sur-face, which you’ll place face-down against the table of theband saw and use to establish all center lines and lines ofreference. Because this side of the plank is true, all followingmeasurements as well as functions will follow true.

Our model plank used has good grain and color; however, its left side is so irregular that I can’t plane it sufficiently toachieve absolute straightness without it becoming too thin.I’ll keep this factor in mind at all times. I’ll accomplish allreferencing off the right-hand side of the plank.

Laying Out the Plank

Once you properly square up the plank, the next step is tolay it out. First, draw the future rifle stock out on a sheet ofwhite paper. Locker paper works well for this task. Lockerpaper (freezer wrap) comes in large rolls and has one waxedside that adheres well to the workbench or table withoutsticking (Figure 22).

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FIGURE 21—This is a block plane squaring up the top of a plank.

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Consider this initial layout a practice run. It’s far easier toerase lines than it is to put wood back on the plank! Use acarpenter’s square in this trial run, along with a 12 inch try square with removable blade, a compass, pencil, anderaser, the identical tools necessary for laying out the plan(Figure 23).

The following layout process pertains to Ned’s bolt-actionrifle, a Ruger Model 77 action. However, it also applies toother bolt actions such as the Winchester Model 70, pre-64and post-64, the Remington 700, Springfield, Mausers,Enfields, and nearly all other bolt actions. The only differenceis which tang screw or screws you can or can’t use for theguide screws (Figure 24).

FIGURE 22—Shown here is a sample layout for a stock, plus the barreled action and a practice layout on locker(freezer) paper. The paper at the bottom of the photograph contains information taken from the customer concern-ing the measurements for the personal stock.

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FIGURE 23—This is a stock plank with basic layout tools as described in the text. Note the eraser (shaped like aminiature light bulb) to the left of the square.

FIGURE 24—Shown is a stock plank along with the metal parts necessary for laying out a stock.

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The model for our trial layout is the exact barreled actionused for the custom rifle. You lay out the barreled actionwith the tang screws threaded into place on top of the sheetof paper. Situate the barrel and action so that the center ofthe bore is in line with the edge of the paper. This makes theedge of the paper correspond with what would be the centerof the bore.

It might seem at first that the barreled action is misplaced onthe paper because it’s half off the sheet. However, its exactlocation is perfect because the edge of the paper is from hereon out a steady reference point. You take all measurementsof drop in the stock from the center of the bore and you’llquickly recognize that line as the edge of the paper. The lineis a constant and permanent reference point recognized byall professional stock makers. When the barreled action isproperly bedded in the wood, the center line of the bore willbe halfway into the stock.

You can make another important measurement at this junc-ture. With the try square held on the bottom of the actionimmediately behind the recoil lug, you can make a measure-ment halfway up on the action. Then transfer this exactmeasurement to the paper to establish where the halfwaypoint of action depth into the wood will go. Holding the bar-reled action in place on the paper, mark the center of thetrigger. This is a vital measurement because you’ll lay outthe buttstock section of the rifle from this point in relation tothe length of pull and the length of the pistol grip.

Next, carefully and accurately locate the tang screws andmark them on the paper. These important lines of locationwill establish where to drill the holes for the tang screws(Figure 25).

You’ll initially use the holes for the inletting guide pins. Theinletting guide pins align the action for fitting. If you don’taccurately mark and drill the holes, everything can bethrown out of alignment when you inlet the barreled actioninto the stock.

Also at this time, you can pencil in the bottom of the actionas well as the extreme front of the action. These lines arealso reference points. Draw another important line now.Using the top tang as a guide, place the pencil against thecontour of the tang and trace a line onto the paper. The lineis, of course, the exact location of the top tang, since youused the top tang as a guide in drawing the line.

Now use the square as a ruler to measure the length of pullin the stock from the center of the trigger to the center of thebuttstock. Lay out the carpenter’s square across the top ofthe paper as if it were the plank of wood itself. Mark astraight line downward on the paper along the downwardedge of the square. On this line, measure down and mark thedrop at the buttstock. The drop at this point is 3/4 inch, aspreviously noted.

At this time, it’s also possible to establish the drop at comb,although there may be a slight necessary alteration in thisdimension later on. As previously noted, 3/4 inch is the dropat the point of the comb. Using the square, lightly pencil inthe prospective top of the comb. You’ll darken this line laterin the final layout.

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FIGURE 25—Shown is the location of the tang screws in relationship to the stock blank. The barreled action atthis point is simply resting upon the outline of the stock blank.

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Next, assemble the magazine box, trigger guard, and floorplate to the barreled action. Place the barreled action back inposition on the paper once again, using the edge as a pointof location.

Align the barreled action with the magazine in place at theproper point using the tang screws, bottom of the action, andtrigger guard as guides. Draw a line along the bottom of thefloor plate where the wood line will end up. Carefully markthe back of the trigger guard where the tang screw is located.This will become another important reference point.

Next, turn your attention to the back of the buttstock. Usingthe buttplate you’ll place on the finished stock, mark thelength on the buttplate line. Then, connect the bottom of thebuttplate with a straight line drawn to the mark made at theback of the trigger guard, a point that we previously located.This establishes the toe line of the stock. Draw this line quitefaint up toward the pistol grip.

You must still draw the pistol grip on the paper. You can stilldarken all the lines later, after the layout is complete andsatisfactory. This practice layout is useful because you canalter it. When you make the layout on the plank, it will be a completed set of figures determined first on paper. Theblank itself won’t have a spiderweb of erased lines coveringthe surface of the wood.

Set the pistol grip length on your compass. Using the centerof the trigger (a point that you marked at the beginning ofthe trial layout), swing an arc (Figure 26).

The rifle has a 33/4 inch pistol grip length, so set the compassat 31/2 inches. Any point along this arc will be the correctdistance for the point of the pistol grip. Reset the compass to the length of the pistol grip cap you’ll use. In this instance,recall that we chose a Jerry Fisher pistol grip cap. Fromsome point on the arc, mark the angle determined for thepistol grip cap. The angle can be anywhere from parallel tothe bore to a graceful angle back toward the toe line, or awell-defined pistol grip cap line lying below the toe line of thestock. Imagination and good taste serve well in determiningthis angle. The line of the pistol grip cap should be pleasingto the eye and it should also fit the unique lines of the stock.

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Using a freehand method, smoothly draw the front of the pis-tol grip to finish its dimensions by connecting the front of thepistol grip cap with the back of the trigger guard. Don’t makethis line dark or permanent at this point because you mightneed to change it later.

Locate the exact center of the pistol grip cap with the carpenter’s square resting on the top of the paper—the pre-established center line, as you recall. Lightly pencil in a lineup from the center of the cap to the top of the comb. Thepoint of the comb is established at the intersection of thisline. You can vary this point somewhat before or after to balance the point of the comb with the pistol grip so that the two features complement each other instead of detractingfrom each other’s line. As a general rule, however, the pistolgrip layout and point of comb will be quite close to their cor-rect locations using the layout procedures described above.

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FIGURE 26—Establish the pistol grip length using a divider to swing an arc.

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It’s important to check for bolt clearance at this time. Ensurethat the bolt won’t strike the point of comb when you drawthe bolt to the full extent of its rearward travel. If the boltwon’t clear the point of comb, you must lower the comb lineto allow for clearance. If you don’t, later when you shape the stock out, you’ll have to remove wood from the point of comb.

Ideally, the bolt will clear the point of comb sufficiently.There’s usually some lateral movement potential, and some-times vertical looseness, in the bolt as it’s drawn to its farthestrearward travel. Therefore, if clearance of bolt and point ofcomb isn’t ample, contact may result along with abuse to thewood as the bolt slams into the stock.

Note: When the stock is built but not yet finished, it’s wise to work the bolt in slow motion to check for contact with thecomb. At this point, you can further alleviate the problembefore the stock receives its final finish. Define the pistol gripwith smooth and symmetrical lines as opposed to ragged orjumpy lines and an asymmetrical and unbalanced look.

The buttstock is now laid out. It’s time to move the forearmfor the final layout. The overall style of the stock will ofcourse determine the forearm design. Forearm length is opento interpretation by the stock maker. However, there areparameters to consider. A good rule of thumb is to design aforearm that’s about one half the length of the barrel, consid-ering barrel length from the ring of the action to the muzzleof the barrel.

Some stock styles, like the European rifles, demand a shorterforearm. However, building a forearm much longer than thehalf distance of the barrel figure usually puts the forepart ofthe rifle stock out of visual balance.

Draw a line from the bottom of the floor plate to the end ofthe forearm. Leave 1/8 inch thickness of extra wood from thetrigger guard forward on the lower portion of the stock as asafety margin. You can remove this extra wood during theinletting stage (but growing wood back on the stock hasproved impossible so far!) Leave about 1/16 inch thick extrawood over the top of the pistol grip where the tang will end up.

With the major outline now completed, you can pencil in thecheekpiece, if there’s to be a cheekpiece. At this point, thepencil goes to work drawing a Monte Carlo, rollover, or what-ever cheekpiece style is appropriate to the overall design ofthe stock. There are many variations in cheekpiece design, ofcourse, but first attempts should be toward simple andstraightforward styles.

First attempts at stock making have many potential hazards.That’s why simple designs are best to start out with. The initial goal of stock making is to produce a usable product:

• Correctly designed

• Properly inletted

• Conducive to accuracy

• Strong in all areas

• Correctly shaped

• Recognizable as belonging to one “school” or another,classic or contemporary, but not a mixture of both

Outline evaluation is next. Recheck all required dimensions.Look for proper location of every detail. Is the pistol grip wellproportioned? Is the angle of the pistol grip correct and fittingto the demands of the customer? A critical view is essentialat this point because mistakes on paper are easy to correct,whereas mistakes in wood are often permanent (Figure 27).

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FIGURE 27—The final layout on the plank of wood was made with pencil highlighted by a white grease pencil forphotographic purposes.

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When you deem the paper layout satisfactory, turn yourattention to the plank of wood. Recall that you alreadysquared and trued the plank of wood. Now the paper layoutis, for all intents and purposes, laid out on the wood, at leastin terms of transferring each dimension and measurementfrom the paper to the wood. You can put away the paper lay-out for the time being. Take it out again when stock shapingcommences.

Cutting the Plank

Now it’s time to reduce the plank to a manageable and work-able size. You use a band saw to cut away excess portions of the plank (Figure 28). Naturally, you could use a handsaw, but that would be a lot of work. Use a skip-tooth bladeon the band saw. It will leave a rather rough cut, but fine-toothed blades tend to wear out quickly on hardwoods, especially considering the thickness of the stock plank. You’ll smooth all rough edges later anyway. So these roughedges pose no problem.

Before turning the saw on, check it carefully to ensure thatthe table is at a proper angle with the blade to execute aright angle cut. If the blade is off-angle with the table, theresulting cut will be equally off-angle, contributing to troublelater on when you must square up the rough-cut plank forinletting. This is where the bit of extra wood on the bottom of the stock comes in handy, as well as the extra woodallowed at the top of the pistol grip area.

If, for some reason, you make a slightly crooked cut here,there should be sufficient wood remaining to allow compen-sation for the mistake. In other words, the stock blank isn’truined.

Warning: Before using the band saw, check it for every safetyprecaution. It must have the safety covers in place and mustpossess all safety devices prominent on an up-to-date pieceof machinery. Power equipment has no conscience or anyeducation. The power saw doesn’t know the differencebetween flesh and wood and doesn’t care what it cuts. Safetywith all tools is of utmost importance. A professional observesall safety precautions for the obvious reason of avoidinginjury, but also for the fact that injury can cost time andtime is money in all trades.

FIGURE 28—The band saw is in usehere sawing out the blank.

With all pertinent lines drawn on the wood plank, the sawblade has a guide to follow. However, the blade must remainoutside of all lines on the plank. Cutting too close is askingfor trouble. Use scarfing cuts (Figure 29) in areas that theblade can’t negotiate due to the sharp radius required of thecut. Scarfing cuts are many closely sawed cuts that go in atan angle toward the cut line. When you direct the blade oncemore to the cut line, there will be adequate clearance and theblade won’t bind (Figure 30).

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FIGURE 29—Put scarfing cuts at the point of comb as described in the text.

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Now the blank is cut out of the plank. You must againsquare up all lines. Square up each line cut on the saw tothe right-hand side of the stock, which you could do withfiles and a try square. A disc sander makes the task easierwith speed and accuracy. Of course, check the table on thedisc sander to ensure that it’s square to the disc before sand-ing. You square up the curved areas around the pistol gripwith files. Which files to use quickly becomes evident as youattempt to match files to specific situations. For example,when there’s a lot of wood to remove, a rasp is ideal, not asmooth mill file.

After you square up the blank, the next step is to establish acenter line completely around the stock. The center line willbecome one of the major reference points from this stageuntil you complete the final shaping of the stock. It’s neces-sary to place this line carefully and as accurately as possible.If the stock has been planed square in the rough plank stageprior to layout and cutting the blank, all steps are nowenhanced.

FIGURE 30—This photograph illustrates how scarfing cuts allow the blade of the saw to negotiate a tight radius.

Using a try square, find the center of the blank by measuringfrom side to side. Then, hold the pencil on the edge of thesquare’s blade with the square on the blank, and mark thecenter line completely around the entire blank. Be certainthat you make this mark in a permanent fashion. It mustn’trub off later or wash out. If the line disappears, so will theability to use that line as a reference point all the way to finalshaping.

Using the square, locate the tang screws on the top of theblank, always placing the try square on the right-hand sideof the blank. Mark the intersection of the center line and thetang both on the top and on the bottom of the blank. Use asharp center punch. Accurately locate the holes so you candrill them with precision. The exact action will dictate whichtang screws you’ll use for guides and how many you’ll use.Below is a partial list of the tang screws you could use. Acomplete list would be inappropriate at this time. The criterionfor judging which tang screws to use is if the tang screw is ata right angle to the bottom of the action, it can be used as aguide screw for inletting. Here’s the partial list to consult.

• Winchester Model 70: Use front and rear tang screws.

• Remington Model 700: Use front and rear tang screws.

• Sako: Use front and rear tang screws.

• Mauser actions: Use front and rear tang screws.

• Ruger Model 77: Use two rear tang screws.

• Springfield 1903 and 1903-A3: Use front screw only.

• Enfield Patterns 14 & 17: Use front screw only.

In some instances, using one inletting guide screw is appro-priate, preferably the front screw. An exception is the RugerModel 77, where the rear screw hole is best for the guide pin.In drilling the tang screw holes, a drill press is advisable withthe blank held in a drill press vise. The stock blank will holdsecurely in place in this manner, and leveled (using a level)prior to drilling. The alignment and drilling of these holesmust be accurate, and you can’t use guesswork in this operation.

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If a drill press isn’t available, use a hand drill. The key tosuccess in using a hand drill is to drill the hole halfway fromthe top and from the bottom as follows. Start at the top care-fully holding the drill at right angles to the top of the stockblank and drill halfway through the blank and stop. Turn the blank upside down and drill carefully from the bottomuntil the hole from the bottom meets the hole from the top.Surprisingly, you can drill an accurate hole in this manner.

With the holes now drilled, check each for alignment andstraightness. If the holes require a bit of straightening, youcan do it with a bastard cut rattail file.

Next, install the inletting guide pin or pins in the action.Check to be certain that the pins are at right angles andsquare with the bottom of the receiver area. Here again, youcan use the try square to set the bottom of the action andthe pin gauged with the blade of the square. The next phaseof building the stock is inletting, which we’ll cover in the nextsection.

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Self-Check 3Indicate whether the following statements are True or False.

_____ 1. The first consideration in selecting a plank for a stock blank is to check its grainstructure.

_____ 2. Locker paper (freezer paper) is good for laying out an initial stock drawing.

_____ 3. Chisels and gouges should have short handles for better control.

_____ 4. When a barreled action is properly bedded in the wood, the center line of the borewill be halfway into the stock.

_____ 5. Once the blank is squared up, the next step is to establish a center line completelyaround the stock.

_____ 6. Factory walnut stocks are generally straight-grained.

_____ 7. European-style rifles demand a longer stock forearm.

_____ 8. When we refer to a custom gun stock as “handmade,” no power tools have beenused in its production.

_____ 9. You should use a round slip stone to sharpen gouges.

_____10. The line of the pistol grip cap should fit the unique lines of the stock you’re making.

Check your answers with those on page 102.

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INLETTING THE BARRELEDACTION

A good attitude is an essential starting point when inletting a barreled action into a stock. The job requires patience andcare. The tools required to accomplish this task are few andrather simple. Inletting is where you’ll exhibit your skills.

Basic inletting tools include

• Gouges: 1/4 and 1/2 inch

• Chisels: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 inch, and 2 inches (The 2 inch chiselis useful, but not essential.)

• Sharpening stones for chisels and gouges

• Rubber or plastic mallet

• Inletting black

• A brush for applying inletting black

• Pencil and/or sharp scribe

• Bench vise and block of wood made into a bench jack

Using Inletting Black

Begin by placing about 1/8 of a teaspoon of inletting blackinto a pan. Add a few drops of light gun oil to the greaselikeinletting black and mix in. Jerrows inletting black is anexcellent product, but works best when thinned slightly with oil. A small bottle of this product lasts for a long time,especially when cut with a few drops of oil for each session of use.

Rub the brush around and around in the vessel containingthe thinned inletting black to ensure that the brush is wellsaturated. Then, apply a light coating of inletting black to therecoil lug of the rifle’s action. Securely clamp the blank intothe bench vise and block the rear of the butt with a benchjack. This will support the blank for work. If the blank movesduring inletting, imprecise cuts can result. Carefully slide the guide pin through its hole in the blank that you drilled

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earlier and lower the barreled action down onto the woodenblank. If you use only one inletting pin, ensure that the bar-reled action is in line with the center line that you drew onthe full length of the stock blank.

It’s imperative that the barreled action rest precisely uponthe stock blank at this point. It must start precisely in linewith the blank or the stock/barreled action will be thrownout of line. If it’s out of line, inletting the trigger guard andmagazine box will prove exceedingly difficult. Furthermore,you would have to adjust the stock shaping to accommodatethe inaccurate location of the barreled action in relation tothe stock. Obviously, all time spent here to obtain a perfectlystraight and accurate fit between the stock blank and thebarreled action will pay off later.

With the action resting on the wood, use the rubber mallet tostrike the action exactly above the recoil lug. Use a smart rapin doing this. Remove the barreled action from the vice andexamine the location of the black spots that resulted fromthe impression of the recoil lug and its coating of inlettingblack. Using chisels and gouges judiciously, remove theblack spots, keeping all activity within the boundary of themarks—not outside them.

Carefully measure the depth of the recoil lug. Then continueto inlet the recoil lug recess that you started with the chiselsand gouges. Work the recess down to a point that allows theremainder of the action to make contact with the stockblank. Use a method of removing very little wood and tryingthe fit over and over until the action touches down upon thewood. Finally, the bottom of the action will rest flatly uponthe blank of wood. Furthermore, keep a constant watch tomake certain that each time you place the barreled actiondown upon the wood, it remains true with the blank—straight, never crooked. Corrections in this stage of the inlet-ting process are much easier to execute than alterations at alater point in the work. Reapply inletting black periodically tothose portions of the barreled action that make contact withthe wood. A thin film of inletting black is a visual blueprint ofhow the barreled action and the stock blank come together.

What amount you use is the key in using inletting black. We noted previously a thin film because this allows greateraccuracy than a thick layer. Too heavy a coating begins to

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give false clues to the stock maker. It smears and spreadsand starts to tell lies. A thin layer of inletting black is vital,especially in the latter stages of inletting when you’ll onlyremove minute bits of wood. It’s obviously important not toremove too much wood at any point in the inletting process.

As the action progressively makes more and more contactwith the wood, continue the process of rapping the actionsmartly with the mallet to impress the inletting black ontothe wood. Don’t drive the mallet with powerful strokes. Rap it only. The idea is to transfer the inletting black to the woodevenly. A heavy blow isn’t conducive to doing this accurately.Continue inletting by removing the black marks until youestablish a full outline of the action on the wooden blank.

As an alternative, some experienced stock makers will care-fully scribe a line around the bottom of the action when theaction makes contact with the wood. This is a good proce-dure, but best left to stock makers who have built a numberof stocks. First time out, patiently working the barreledaction down into the wood is the preferred method, using the techniques just described.

If you aren’t sure whether to use a chisel or a gouge forremoving wood, confine the gouge to rounded surfaces andthe chisel to flat surfaces. Learning to read the marks left byinletting black is a key to success in the process of inletting.As the action literally sinks downward into the wood duringthe inletting process, a point will come when the barrelbegins to touch the top of the stock blank. Once the barrelbegins to make contact with the wood, use a pencil to drawlines along the edges of the barrel. Angle the pencil slightlyinward to establish lines that you can use as guides for chiselwork. Wood will be initially “hogged out” for the barrel chan-nel to hasten the inletting process. However, never go beyondthe lines established by the pencil marks until the barrel iscoming right down to those lines. Only at that point will it bepossible to know how much wood to remove without leavingan unsightly gap between the barrel and the barrel channel.

Moving back to the action, use a try square for the nextfunction. Set the try square to half the depth of the action.Rest the try square on the top of the wood blank and let theblade of the try square protrude downward into the stock

mortise. Then you can tell when the bottom of the action hasreached its full depth (Figure 31).

For the barrel, set the try square so the blade and body forma perfect right angle (Figure 32). Place the point of the trysquare down into the barrel channel. When the point of thetry square touches the bottom of the channel and both sidesof the try square also make contact along the barrel channel,the barrel channel is inletted to half depth. This is thedesired depth of the barrel into the channel.

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FIGURE 31—Use a small trysquare to check the depth ofinletting under the front ring.

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If you want a free-floating barrel, you can carefully removeadditional wood down the forearm. Naturally, continue to use inletting black in bedding both the barrel and the action.Inletting of the barrel continues with removing all of theblack spots transferred from the barrel onto the wood.Remember that desired barrel depth is halfway into the woodso that half the barrel sinks into the barrel channel while theother half lies above the barrel channel.

Inletting black will indicate all points of contact with the barrel and barrel channel. As noted earlier, you must removemore wood for a free-floated barrel. In this case, the object isto take away only that amount of wood to allow a thin pieceof typing paper to slide between the barrel and the barrelchannel. More than this makes for an unsightly gap and isn’tnecessary (Figure 33).

As long as the barrel doesn’t make contact with the barrelchannel at various assigned points, it’s free-floated. If pressure-pointing is the object, then you establish two points, one oneach side of the barrel channel placed about 21/2 to 3 inchesback from the forend tip. These points are approximately 1/4 inch long and 1/4 inch wide.

FIGURE 32—Use a small trysquare set at a right angle tocheck the half depth of a riflebarrel inletting as described inthe text.

The goal in using these two locations is that a miniature V-block arrangement, as described earlier, will constitute thepressure points. When the tang screws are snug, this forcewill exert upward pressure on the barrel, causing contactbetween the two pads and the barrel. If you use a forendpiece or tip, you can install the two pressure-point padsdirectly behind this tip. You shouldn’t install pressure pointsin the forend tip because this will bring undue pressureagainst the tip. The tip is only glued in place or epoxied onto the forend (Figure 34).

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FIGURE 33—Use a white pieceof typing paper insertedbetween the barrel and theforearm to confirm a free-floated barrel.

FIGURE 34—Shown are pres-sure points within the barrelchannel near the forend of thestock.

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The process we’re describing here, combined with patienceand careful work, will result in a quality bedded barrel andaction into the wood. Naturally, first attempts generally fallshort of perfection. In time, inletting becomes familiar. You’lllearn to handle chisel and gouge professionally. You’ll alsolearn to read the inletting black so that you’ll know howmuch wood to remove as well as when to stop removingwood.

Inletting black can give a false reading because it may spreadbeyond the actual point of original contact between metaland wood. When this happens and when you follow the erroneous lead, you’ll remove too much wood or take woodfrom the wrong place, leaving gaps between the metal andthe wood.

If you’re going to bed the action in the wood without usingepoxy, it’s essential that you bed the recoil lug with extremeprecision, or that area may split out one day from recoil. Thebottommost portion of the action, especially immediatelyunder the front ring and in back of the recoil lug, as well asdirectly beneath the rear tang screw, must fit flush and withnear 100% exactness. An accurate rifle requires a solid plat-form to anchor the action on to secure uniformity from oneshot to the next.

If possible, study the original stock from which the actionwas taken. The original stock can offer considerable informa-tion concerning how the bedded barrel/action behaved.Factory stocks generally have excessive amounts of woodremoved for ease of manufacture and because the factorystock was machine-inletted. Speed and efficiency demandthis approach to building rifles on an assembly line basis.Careful hand inletting should produce a more exactingmatchup between barrel/action and wood. The time investedin hand inletting grows shorter as the stock maker gainsexperience. The procedure we just outlined is generally aday’s work for the professional.

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Cutting the Mortise

The time has come to cut the mortise for the magazine box.This step depends on what box you use. With a pencil, markalong the inside of the action in the area that will contain the magazine. These lines traced upon the wood will indicatethe interior dimensions of the magazine box. If you inlettedcarefully and achieved a good fit, the outline of the mortisewill be evident. If possible, check the original stock to seewhere the mortise was placed for the magazine box. Locatethe mortise precisely on the wood by using the inside of theaction as a guide.

At this point, the lines you just drew on top of the stockblank will form an accurate outline for the future placementof the magazine box. Of course, you must remove all of thiswood to make a place for the box to fit. A drill press can savetime if you take care to hold the blank square in the drillpress vise. Using a 1/4 inch drill bit, drill a multitude of holesalong the lines established by the previous pencil tracingusing the action as a guide. The holes must remain withinthe lines, or the magazine box mortise will be too large. Drillthe holes closely together, almost touching.

After drilling all around the perimeter of the magazine boxmortise, it’s a relatively simple matter to chisel away the bulkof wood in the magazine box area of the stock blank. This iswhere the two inch chisel comes in handy. It cuts a wide andstraight swath down the sides of the magazine box. You canalso use a fine-toothed rasp to help speed this process.

When final dimensions for the magazine box are near, use afile to further complete the job. Use the file to work woodaway all the way to the pre-established magazine box pencilline. Be careful not to remove too much wood here.

Caution: Check the bottom of the stock before going all theway through with the box to ensure that the dimensions herewill match the floor plate that you’ll install later. If you movethe magazine box mortise too wide at the bottom of the stock,there will be a gap around the floor plate when you fit it.

With actions like the Mauser and Springfield, you inlet thetrigger guard using the front guide pin to align the floor plateas it’s inletted downward to meet the action (Figure 35). With

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actions like the Ruger Model 77 and Model 70 Winchester,you’ll have to carefully cut the mortise through the stock byfitting the trigger guard to the action and inletting it downjust as you inletted the barreled action. This process isn’t asdifficult as it may seem. You must accomplish it in a mannerthat doesn’t leave gaps around the trigger guard. Using guidepins while inletting helps direct the work, correctly locatingthe parts in relation to the stock.

With the Ruger Model 77, you can locate the trigger guardand inlet down into the stock before the front part of thefloor plate is inletted. You put the front tang screw on theModel 77 at an angle. Once the trigger guard is in place inthe stock, the guard will act as a reference point to line upthe front part of the floor plate.

The trigger guard is inletted until it will hold the magazinebox firmly in contact with the bottom of the action. You canleave a very slight gap, approximately 1/32 inch, for compres-sion when you install the barreled action or for any futurewood shrinkage.

FIGURE 35—Align the inletting pins on the stock plank to show the relationship of the action to the stock.

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Tang screws should fit without binding. You can use the tangscrews for leverage to pull the trigger guard down into placethe last 3/16 inch or so when inletting.

Another tool that promotes stock work is the T-wrench. A setof hand T-wrenches with the guard screw size attached to theopen end speed up the work. They’re faster to use than tangscrews, plus their use prevents wear and damage of the tangscrews. Furthermore, considerable pressure can be exertedwith the T-wrench. It’s important to remember this whentightening down each time so that you don’t do damage. Ablank is difficult to break in this manner, but you can breaka semi-inletted stock by such pressure. Brownell’s Catalog isa good source for T-wrenches.

Assembling the Rifle

The time has arrived to take the barreled action out of thestock and assemble all of the parts that will constitute therifle. This includes the trigger, bolt stop, and ejector, as wellas any other parts that haven’t yet been inletted into thewood.

Once more, the drill press comes in handy in quickly drillingholes through the stock for the trigger and to remove otherbulk wood rapidly. Then it’s back to work as usual. Continueto blacken, remove wood, and fit, blacken, remove wood, andfit, until all parts are inletted so you can place them into thewood without undue force.

Note: With trigger safeties, such as those found on theRemington Model 700, Sako, and Interarms Mark X actions,be certain that the safeties will function properly afterinstalling. They mustn’t bind. Bolt stops must be free tomove when the stock bolts are properly snug. A free-movingbolt stop can suddenly come to a halt in motion when therifle is fully assembled. You can now inlet the bolt handleand you can hold this step until the stock has almost com-pletely taken shape.

Inletting stocks remains interesting because there are a mul-titude of makes and models to deal with. There’s alwayssomething new to learn. Every stock-making job becomes ateacher. Speed, of course, comes with experience. You can

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gain experience rapidly by association with an expert. Ifthere’s a skilled gunsmith in your area willing to share withyou information and knowledge, you can escalate yourexpertise more quickly. Sometimes part-time work is avail-able in an established shop. At one time, the gunsmithingtrade was learned essentially by a newcomer hiring on with a master.

Fitting Attachments to the Blank

With all inletting done, it’s time to fit the pistol grip cap orcap pattern, forend tip, buttplate, recoil pad or buttplate pat-tern to the blank. If you’re not using a regular steel pistolgrip cap, you should cut out a template of the pistol gripusing sheet metal. Then, attach it to the pistol grip so thatyou can use it to shape the stock. The same goes for thebuttstock. Plastic buttplates from factory rifles soon pile upin the shop of a custom stock maker, as leftovers when therifle receives a recoil pad. Semi-inletted stocks are also sup-plied with plastic buttplates of various sizes, which you caninstall on the buttstock temporarily as guides. If you can’tget a plastic buttplate at the local stock maker’s shop, andyou usually can, make a template of sheet metal. Attach thetemplate to the buttstock and use as a guide. Of course,when you use a steel buttplate, you must fit it before anyshaping starts.

Steel pistol grip caps have one or two screws to secure themin place. Caps with only one center screw may revolve as thestock maker works on them. Secure these caps in place sothat they don’t revolve during installation. Some pistol gripcaps have holes drilled in the back of them; others are con-cave. So caps do differ. You should prepare the base that thecap will rest on (the bottom of the pistol grip). Shape the areaby sanding or filing so that the cap fits flush on the grip areaof the stock. Install the cap with the screw(s) provided to seehow it fits. Then, remove the cap and apply a coating ofpaste wax or release agent. Mix a small amount of five-minute epoxy and put the cap back into place on the grip.The epoxy will find any and all irregularities that lie beneaththe cap, filling these areas. This will provide a perfect basefor the cap to rest upon and it will never again slip or turn.

Consider now if cast-off or toe-out is in the plan. Or, at thistime fit the steel buttplate or a template to the stock on thecenter line.

Installing the Forend Cap

The forend cap also receives attention. If you use a piece ofcontrasting wood for the forend tip, fit it now. You may fit thetip at an angle to the forestock or mount it squarely with theforend. If you use an angled cut, you must first decide uponthe length of the forend cap or tip and mark the proposedangle on the forestock of the blank. You don’t make cuts inthe wood at this time. A 45 degree angle is acceptable andprudent if you desire an angled forend tip. Using a try square,you lay out a 45 degree angle on the blank. Support theforend cap with an additional wooden dowel that fits betweenthe forend tip and the forepart of the stock. A 3/8 inch hard-wood dowel is good and a 7/16 inch dowel is even better. Thesize of the forend cap determines which to use, as well as the maximum drill bit size allowed by the stock maker’s hand drill.

Locate the dowel hole and drill into the forend of the stock.You can control the depth of the drill hole as follows. Takethe length of the dowel and make a mark on the outside ofthe stock to correspond with how deeply the dowel will enterthe forestock. Drill another hole in the forend tip itself tomatch the hole drilled in the forend of the blank. Measurefrom the top of the stock downward to the dowel hole drilledin the forestock. Then, use that same measurement to figurehow far down in the forend cap to drill. This will allow theproper placement of the dowel hole in the forend cap.

A band saw is a good tool for the next maneuver, but a handsaw will do. You cut the desired angle into the forestock. Cutthe same angle into the forend tip so that it will match theexact angle cut in the stock blank. Both the surfaces of theforend cap and of the stock blank are now trued up withpower sander or files and sandpaper. If the hole in the stockand the hole in the forend cap aren’t deep enough to acceptthe dowel, you can make them deeper at this time. The holeshould be large enough for a slip-fit of the dowel. Youshouldn’t have to force the dowel into place.

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Using top-quality epoxy such as Brownell’s Acraglas, affix thecap to the forend of the stock blank. A high-quality woodglue will also work for this task. However, epoxies seem tohold best, especially with woods such as ebony and rose-wood. These woods are somewhat oily and can be difficult tobond. One means of improving the bonding quality of thesewoods is to wash the areas that you’ll join using acetone justprior to adhesion.

Warning: Follow all safety precautions described on the container when using any solvent, including acetone.

You should clamp the forend tip into place for curing.Maintain both vertical and horizontal angles or the tip willend up askew. The forend cap may show a tendency to slipaway from the stock when pressure is applied from a clamp.A long furniture clamp and C-clamp work well to hold theforend tip in place on a section of two-by-four while theadhesive is polymerizing. You can heavily wax the two-by-four so that epoxy won’t stick to it, or you can cover it withwaxed paper. The process can be messy. We suggest a dryrun before you use adhesives to ensure that you arrange theclamp/two-by-four properly. Then, you apply adhesives andset the clamp/two-by-four arrangement into place again.

Next, you put your inletting black and brush, along withgouges and chisels, into action again. You must properlyinlet the forend cap to match the established barrel channel.

Attaching the Pistol Grip Cap

You can install the pistol grip cap, if there’s to be one, at thistime along with the template. Attach the pistol grip cap inthe same manner as the forend tip. Instead of clamps, pre-pare a long rubber band by cutting a tire inner tube andusing it to hold the cap in place while the epoxy is setting up.

Stock Shaping

Now that everything is inletted and the forend tip and gripcap are in place, you can begin to shape the stock. Beforestarting this process, make certain that a previously estab-lished center line remains visible. Re-establish any lines thathave rubbed out (Figure 36).

Remember that the centerlines are reference points that dic-tate how you’ll shape the stock (Figure 37).

Mark the top of the blank with bevel lines that help preservethe symmetry of the stock. Bevel lines correspond with theside of the stock at the edge of the buttplate; then they taperto the point of the comb.

Establish another line along the top of the stock blank toshow the outside width of the stock from the buttstock allthe way to the forearm. Draw this line on both the top of thestock blank and bottom of the stock blank. On the bottom ofthe stock, draw toe line bevel lines from the buttstock to theback of the pistol grip. These lines serve as reference pointsfor the removal of wood and they speed that process. Also,draw the cheekpiece in to establish its location on the butt-stock portion of the blank. Familiarity with the contour of astock will help the stock maker immensely in placing all ofthese lines.

Rough Shaping

Rough shaping is the next process. As the name implies, thisis a process of removing wood quickly and in comparatively

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FIGURE 36—A centerline is established on the bottom of the stock.

FIGURE 37—Reference linesare established on the stock.These lines are used for guide-lines for rough shaping.

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large parcels. The guidelines that you drew on the top of thestock and bottom of the stock ensure that you’ll remove theright amount of wood and no more. A band saw is helpfulhere by slab-sawing the sides of the stock, which quicklyremoves wood. Don’t saw the area around the pistol grip and the area of the buttstock that will end up being thecheekpiece.

After you remove the excess wood, the 1/2 inch gouge is putto work around the outline of the cheekpiece (Figure 38).Remove wood from that section of the buttstock that will end up being the underside of the cheekpiece.

A gouge can take wood away in a hurry, but it will leaverough surfaces. Set aside the gouge when the guidelinesdrawn on the stock are approached closely.

Trade the gouge now for a cabinetmaker’s rasp for smoothingrough places left over from the band saw and the gouge(Figure 39). There’s a realistic danger at this point of toomuch wood being removed, but wood must be removed if the stock is to take shape.

There’s inherent danger of possibly ruining a stock duringthe shaping process. So, don’t use the thousand-dollarEnglish walnut plank until you obtain hands-on experience.

FIGURE 38—Shown is a cheek-piece roughed out of a blankwith a rough gouge.

There’s another trade-off in tools when the coarse rasp workresults in clear-cut stock contours. Now a bastard filereplaces the coarse rasp. Half-round files of many sizes areespecially useful in shaping the stock at this point. Also use-ful are rattail files with a bastard cut carefully shaping thecontour of the cheekpiece (Figure 40).

The bastard cut file removes wood at a more modest rate. Ifyou desire a shadow line on the cheekpiece, leave a provisionfor that line now by leaving extra wood all along the bottomof the cheekpiece itself. Study examples of rifle stocks forcheekpiece features, including the cheekpiece with shadowline before plunging in. Take note of where to remove woodand where to leave wood in place.

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FIGURE 39—A cabinetmaker’s rasp is used here to rough-shape the forearm of the rifle stock.

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FIGURE 40—A rattail file is used to shape around the cheekpiece area.

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Timing is important, too. The professional stock maker haslearned when to execute a certain procedure in terms of whatshould come before and after each procedure.

Now, remove the blade from the try square and lay the bladeon the stock to see how straight and true the surface of thewood is, the eventual object being a ripple-free surface. Youmust smooth hills and valleys in the stock surface.

Experience and talent merge eventually in a stock maker whobecomes a true professional. Straight lines are straight. Curvedlines are graceful. Transitions from rounded contours tostraight lines are smooth, never abrupt. Contemporary-stylestocks have well-defined and prominent lines that clearlydepict that style.

Once again, studying existing stocks helps to give theprospective gunsmith a feel for style differences. Then, youput to work the right tools to create a properly designedstock. For example, you use a block sander with 80 grit gar-net paper to produce a flat surface. A small block plane ishelpful in developing proper lines where the plane can beused, such as on the forearm area. You must exercise care in using the block plane with the grain of the wood and notacross the grain. Going across the grain with a plane can digchunks of wood out of the stock. A knowledge of wood prop-erties is also helpful here. Knowing, for example, that certainfancy-figured woods and birds-eye maple may damage easilyfrom planing is useful. Severe digs in the stock may make itimpossible to shape the stock correctly.

Final Shaping

You accomplish final shaping with files and rough sanding. A sharp mill file will make smoother file cuts. Be certain thatyour files are of high quality. Buy new ones and take care of them. Don’t mix files used for metalwork and woodwork.Files used on steel dull faster than files used for wood. Storefiles where they won’t rub against each other or fall to thefloor, as both actions can damage a file.

With smooth files, a block sander, and 80 grit garnet paper,final shaping takes place. The object now is to get all of thelines straight, smooth, and correct. The coarse-sanding pro-cedure won’t only remove some wood, but it will also reveal

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imperfections in the stock that need correction. After thisrough sanding process, you won’t remove any more woodfrom the blank in an appreciable quantity. Stock blemishesmay show up, which will need repair. A crack may appearthat was previously hidden in the wood. A loose knot in thewood may surface. Such problems occur most frequently infancier woods with a good deal of color and figure. You canuse epoxies to repair minor flaws.

You can color epoxies with burnt umber, carbon black, orcolored pigments from stock stains. Such pigments are avail-able from Brownell’s Catalog. You can also use stick shellac,which comes in various colors. Once again, Brownell’s offersthese shellacs in kit form and in many colors.

To apply shellac, first you heat a pallet knife. The shellacmelts on the blade of the heated knife. Then, you spread the liquefied shellac over the blemish and let it cool. Coolingtakes place quickly. You file off excess shellac and then sandit away until the surface of the wood is once more smooth.

Recoil Pad

You fit the recoil pad, if there’s to be one, at this stage of theoperation. Using the thickness of the pad as a guide, markoff the length of buttstock that you’ll remove to achieve aproper length of pull for the finished stock. You can use asharp hand saw to cut away this excess length of wood.Naturally, leave a little extra length on the buttstock for thepurpose of truing up with a sander to the correct finishedlength. A disc sander works well for this task. A band sanderalso does the job.

You sand the buttstock true and smooth and also the padbecause the pad isn’t always perfectly flat. The pad isscrewed or glued in place on the buttstock. At this point, youonce more carefully sand the excess pad away to make thepad match the contour of the buttstock. The toe line of therecoil pad must match the existing toe line of the buttstock.The pad fits the stock, in other words, matching all existinglines. You don’t alter the stock to fit the pad. If, during thesanding of the recoil pad to stock dimensions, you touch thestock with the sander, you can fix the blemish with files andblock sand by hand.

Now, inspect the stock for any areas that may require furthersanding with 80 grit paper. You must remove all file marksfrom the surface of the wood. Perform a final checkup with astraightedge to ensure that areas are correct. You may haveto perfect an area or two with a few strokes of coarse sand-paper. Be certain to keep all lines and edges sharp. Don’tround off areas that should have sharp lines.

The final form of the stock is close at hand at this point.Dampen the surface of the stock with water. This will “raisethe grain,” bringing “whiskers” to the surface of the stock.Furthermore, small dents will also rise from the water treat-ment. Such dents are a common occurrence during woodshaping. After the stock is thoroughly dry, switch over to 120 grit garnet paper and resand the surface of the stock to remove the scratches left there by the 80 grit paper. Asalways, be especially careful to preserve all lines. It’s possibleat this point to actually sand lines away by blending the linesin when they should remain sharp and distinct.

Caution: Don’t oversand around the recoil pad because youmay remove too much of the plastic plate, leaving the rubberportion of the recoil pad higher than the plate. If sanded toomuch, the recoil pad will have to be power sanded again totrim off what will now be excess material.

Since you’ve been hand sanding to this juncture, it’s awkwardto return to power equipment. The power sander could strikethe wood, causing a repair job on a stock that’s not yet com-plete. If the power sander strikes the wood in the buttstockregion around the recoil pad, you’ll have considerable extrahandwork. Final sanding and maintaining original and properlines won’t be a problem if you chose a simple stock design.Of course, all stock work by hand takes time. However, intri-cate stock designs that may have detailed cheekpieces, forexample, have tight corners that you must sand around carefully so that you don’t destroy the edges and sharp lines remain intact. After this sanding session, once againdampen the stock surface with water.

After the stock dries, use 220 grit paper to continue thesanding process. After you thoroughly sand with 220 gritpaper, wet down the surface of the stock once more. Usingthe same 220 grit paper, lightly sand to remove any further

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whiskers of grain that have risen to the surface of the wood.You can repeat this step—dampening the stock and sandingwith 220 paper—to remove even more of the whisker grain.There’s a point where no further whiskers will come to thesurface. Further sanding also removes scratches made in the wood during the shaping process.

Staining

If you’re going to stain the wood, this is the time to applystain. You employ staining only when necessary. Stainingindicates that the figure of the wood needs help. It’s moreideal to select a piece of wood that satisfies stock maker andcustomer with its natural character, rather than compensat-ing later. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong withselecting an affordable “stick” and using stain to highlightwhat features that plank has. Brownells sells a good selec-tion of water-soluble stains in powder form, which you mixaccording to the instructions.

Another reliable stain is potassium permanganate, a restrictedchemical that you must sign for and purchase from a phar-macist. Potassium permanganate comes in crystal form,which you mix with water for application. A little potassiumpermanganate goes a long way. It’s a natural stain for walnutand is useful in matching colors in wood.

After staining the stock, take care in the final sanding not toremove wood down to the stain level, or you’ll remove theadvantage of the stain. Even the best of stains doesn’t pene-trate very deeply into the wood. Stains are especially usefulin refinishing old stocks that have considerable sapwood,which leaves areas that require coloring and matching.

Stock Finishing

To begin the stock finishing process, tape off the recoil padso that it remains free of finishing agents such as a coatingof oil, filler, vehicle, or other substances. Use a couple layersof tape, and tape to the end of the rubber. Apply the tapetightly so fluids can’t sneak under it.

We’ll now describe a basic oil finish. You must first seal thewood, both inside the inletted regions and on the outer sur-face of the stock. For 100 percent sealing, include sealerunder the recoil pad and pistol grip cap to avert moisturefrom penetrating the wood after the stock is finished. FlectoVarathane oil (No. 66) is thin, penetrates well, and providesan excellent seal of the wood. It’s compatible with oil finishesand does a better job than linseed oil. Tung oil is anotherworkable sealer.

Apply sealer generously and allow it to work its way into thewood. The first application of sealer gives you a chance to see what the finished product will look like when the stock is completed. Penetrating sealers bring the wood to life, high-lighting otherwise hidden colors.

Apply subsequent sealer as the stock requires. Watch thewood for dry spots that indicate the sealer has penetratedand more is required. Apply sealer until the wood builds up a sheen and the wood seems incapable of absorbing moresealer.

Then, set aside the stock to dry for 24 hours. A drying box is helpful in areas of high humidity to speed up the curingtime of oils. After the sealer dries, you apply a stock filler. Anatural color commercial paste filler from the hardware storeis acceptable. Follow directions. You apply filler only to thesurface of the stock, not to inletted portions. The wood mayfill with oils alone, but a paste filler saves time and the endproduct looks the same.

The time has come to apply the first light coating of oil. Tru-Oil from Birchwood Casey is a time-tested product trusted bythousands of stock makers. Light applications are necessaryfor best results. Numerous light applications of oil are betterthan fewer heavy applications.

Allow ample drying time between oil applications. It’s best toapply the oil with your fingers alone.

Tip: After closing a bottle of oil, place it upside down on thebench. This helps to keep the contents from drying out andgetting thick. Standard baby oil applied to the hands aftercontact with the oil will help wash the oil away with soap and water.

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After the stock dries, you must cut back the oil, sealer, andfiller to see how much filling of the wood has been accom-plished. You’ll start with 320 grit sandpaper and a vehicle.

You make the vehicle by mixing linseed oil and turpentine (ormineral spirits) 50/50 in a wide-mouth container that has alid to keep the mixture from drying out. Use a piece ofwet/dry 320 grit paper about 31/2–4 inches long and 2 incheswide folded once and dipped in the vehicle (Figure 41). Sandthe stock, ensuring that the paper doesn’t dry out. Vehiclepromotes smooth sanding and continual oil application tothe wood. Vehicle with sandpaper helps remove minutescratches overlooked during sanding. Vehicle also helps toprevent scratches that dry sandpaper might make.

Use a rag from time to time to wipe the surface of the stockwhen you inspect the wood surface. Replace sandpaper asrequired. After you make the surface of the wood scratch-free, wipe the stock off with the cloth and set it aside to dryfor a while. Inspect the stock in a couple of hours to see howthe grain has filled. Apply two or three additional light coatsof oil by hand. Let the stock dry thoroughly in a dust-freeenvironment in between applications. After drying, sand thestock again with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and vehicle.Repeat the above procedure one more time with 600 wet/drysandpaper and vehicle, working lightly. Don’t cut too deeplythrough the finish you already applied to the stock wood.Continue sanding with wet 600 grit until you fill the pores inthe wood.

At this point you have to make a decision: high-gloss finishor dull-lustre finish?

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FIGURE 41—Here a stock is being sanded with wet/dry paper and vehicle.

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High-gloss Finish

Using a 50/50 mixture of Tru-Oil and Verathane oil No. 66clear, apply an extremely light coating to the stock, beingcareful to cover all of its surface. Then allow the stock to dryagain. Two applications will generally provide a glossy finish,especially if the stock dries in a dust-free place. If the stockshows streaking or dust, use 1200 grit wet/dry paper withvehicle to touch up the surface.

Dull-lustre Finish

At the end of the finishing procedure, a final sanding with1200 or 1500 grit wet/dry paper and vehicle (a 50/50 mixtureof linseed oil and turpentine) will cut the shine on the surfaceof the stock. Carefully accomplished, this final touch providesa dull and even sheen on the stock.

Fine sandpaper isn’t always easy to locate. Try auto bodypaint shop supply houses. Another means of cutting a shinyfinish is an application of rottenstone or powdered pumice.These cut the outer layer of finish mildly.

A forend cap, such as rosewood or ebony, might require extracare in finishing. To avert a problem, before you apply anyfinish, wash the cap with acetone, more than once if neces-sary, dry it completely, and then finish it with a fast-dryingoil such as Tru-Oil.

There are many ways to finish a stock. The methods wedescribed are workable and certain. However, in time, most stock makers end up with their own methods and finishes. Some stock makers prefer to spray on a high-glosspolyurethane finish. Polyurethane provides a good hard finish,but even application of the finish with a spray can requires a“good touch.” The wet sanding stages we described still applyto polyurethane finishes, incidentally.

Oil finishes are excellent when applied properly. An oil finishis easily cared for and it touches up readily, scratches rubout with wet/dry paper and vehicle, blemishes refinish like-wise with a minimum of effort. Polyurethane finishes don’ttouch up so easily.

Before assembling newly finished stock to the barreledaction, you must clean all metal-to-wood contact points toremove any buildup of stock oil and fillers that may haveaccumulated during stock finishing. After the stock com-pletely dries, apply a light coating of paste wax. Never rubregular lubricating gun oil onto the finish of the stock. Suchoil will only deteriorate a good finish.

With experience and experimenting, you’ll eventually comeupon the finish that suits you best. You can use small blocks of trial wood to test out theories, ideas, and differentfinishing methods, as well as different finishes to see howthey work. Experimenting avoids having to finish a stock only to find that the work is a failure, which means goingbackwards—cutting off the finish and starting over. Therefore,experimentation with stock finishes and methods is encour-aged, but only with judicious care.

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Self-Check 41. The use of _______ while inletting helps direct the work, correctly locating the part in

relation to the stock.

2. You should use _______ to fill any irregularities that lie between the pistol grip area ofthe stock and the grip cap.

3. When shaping the stock, the area around the pistol grip and that area of the buttstockthat will end up being the cheekpiece must _______.

4. Woods such as _______ and _______ are somewhat oily and can be difficult to bindwhen used as forend tips.

5. _______ works best when slightly thinned with oil.

6. A _______ angle is acceptable and prudent if an angled forend tip cap is desired.

7. Inletting a barreled action requires _______ and _______.

8. Oil finishes are best applied with _______.

9. When removing wood, use a _______ on rounded surfaces and a _______ on flat surfaces.

10. You accomplish final stock shaping with _______ and _______ sanding.

Check your answers with those on page 102.

ADDITIONAL STOCK WORK

Besides making custom rifles, other stock work of the gunsmith includes customizing a semi-inletted stock, stock refinishing, and repairs.

The Semi-inletted Stock

The semi-inletted stock is a perfectly acceptable way to builda custom rifle. Much of the stock work has already beenaccomplished, including rough shaping (Figure 42). However,as gunsmiths often say, “The semi-inletted stock is 90 per-cent finished with 90 percent of the work left to do.” Thisstatement results from the fact that to turn semi-inlettedstocks into works of art and function requires a reasonableamount of time and trouble. Nonetheless, this type of stockis already inletted for a factory contour barrel. An option is to order the stock with a very narrow barrel channel so thatyou can fit any contour barrel in the stock.

Gun Stocks92

FIGURE 42—This photograph illustrates two semi-inletted blanks. The one on the bottom is inletted for a factory barrel and no magazine box. The one on the top has a one-quarter inch barrel channel, which will be inletted for a custom barrel contour.

Gun Stocks 93

Dozens of different stock styles are available from companiessuch as Reinhart Fajen and Richards Micro Fit. These com-panies do good work. Their long lists of available stocksmake it possible to satisfy the needs of just about any cus-tomer who wants the gunsmith to do a professional job ofbuilding the rifle.

Compared with a full-blown custom rifle taken from a plank,the cost of a semi-inletted stock is less. Also, when properlyand professionally inletted and finished, the semi-inlettedstock can be a masterpiece (Figures 43 and 44).

FIGURE 43—Shown is a semi-inletted stock with metalwork and scope sight for a future custom rifle.

FIGURE 44—Shown is a custom rifle built from the semi-inletted stock and parts shown in Figure 43.

Gun Stocks

Oftentimes, when done correctly, it’s truly impossible to tellthe difference between two custom rifle stocks—one builtfrom a basic plank, the other from a semi-inletted blank.

All of the information we’ve already discussed concerningbuilding a stock from a plank will serve well for the processof building a rifle stock from a semi-inletted blank. The addi-tional information provided here is to inform and remind you that the semiprepared stock is an option. Of course, the semi-inletted stock is turned out on a production basiswith machines doing much of the labor. Careful individualattention isn’t lavished on these stocks until the gunsmithgets his or her hands on them.

Before starting any work on a semi-inletted stock, check theforearm to see if it’s straight along the topmost part of theblank and not twisted. Not often, but sometimes, there maybe slight warpage in the forearm area of the stock. You musttake warpage into account so that you can make the stocktrue. Also, check the bedding depth in its present conditionto see how much deeper you’ll have to cut the mortise toaccept the action and barrel.

The barrel channel may be slightly off-center for the smallbarrel channel, which is no more than a narrow channel inthe top of the stock. If you don’t take this factor into consid-eration, you may have a problem later for all the reasons previously discussed. Naturally, the finished barrel channelmust be straight and of the proper dimensions to accept thespecific barrel you’re bedding into the stock. Fortunately,there’s plenty of extra wood in the major areas of the semi-inletted stock that allows the gunsmith to accomplish allfinal fitting to a perfect wood/metal marriage. On the otherhand, it’s not impossible to encounter a semi-inletted stockthat will have a void or gap. A gap may be along the barrelchannel when a particular barrel is slightly smaller than thebarrel channel cut in the stock. In this instance, either youlive with the gap (not the ideal choice for a gunsmith), or youreturn the blank to the factory providing you’ve done no workon it.

The designers of semi-inletted stocks have, of course, takenall factors into consideration, and it’s not often that you wouldfind gaps. Usually, there’s ample wood to allow a perfect fitby the gunsmith. Remember, however, that in a semi-inletted

94

Gun Stocks 95

stock, you can’t alter certain dimensions. For example, youcan’t change the drop of the stock or add cast-off. On theother hand, you can work on the forearm to give the finishedrifle stock a unique appearance as well as individual fit to acustomer.

Another option for you to consider is the stock that’s turnedout on a precision stock duplicator. Several companies suchas Bob Allen and Hoenig Machine make stock duplicators. Thegunsmith trade has found these precision stock duplicatorsto its liking. The duplicator carefully and precisely makes aduplicate stock from a master stock. The master stock is theguide. The barreled action is already bedded into the masterstock, so the duplicator makes a copycat version that’s alsocorrectly inletted for the barreled action. The duplicator fol-lows the master stock in detailing a plank of wood. The endresult is so precise that to completely fit the barreled actioninto the new stock usually requires only a minor effort. Thereare a number of gun makers around the country who offerduplicated stocks. Duplicated stocks are more expensive, of course, than buying a semi-inletted stock that’s cut toaverage dimensions.

Since we’ve already discussed all of the tools and stock mak-ing methods, there’s no need to repeat them. The gunsmithwho can work a gun stock out of plank will find the semi-inletted stock or stock turned out on a duplicator a modesttask to accomplish in both fit and finish. It’s a matter ofapplying all of the steps that pertain to the semi-inlettedstock, and leaving out all of the steps that the factory stocksaves.

Stock Refinishing

The gunsmith can earn considerable dollars in the stock-refinishing area, and the work is rewarding. A stock, usuallyon a rifle dear to the customer, can be brought back from aused and sometimes even abused state to like-new condition.Sometimes these stocks are on rifles that have sentimentalvalue as well as practical value. Furthermore, there are anumber of instances where rifle owners wish to have thepolyurethane finish removed from their rifle stocks andreplaced with an oil finish.

Removing Old Finish

Touching up a stock is possible in a minor way, but to trulyrefinish a stock, you must remove the original finish. Removethe barreled action and all metal parts from the stock becauseharsh paint removers may harm these parts. Plastic parts,such as forend tips, trigger guards, and buttplates, mayespecially suffer from paint remover. So remove all of theseparts before going to work on the stock. Purchase a paint-stripping agent from the hardware or paint store. Today,there are strippers made for epoxy-based finishes as well asstandard paints.

Warning: Read all instructions and safety precautions beforeattempting to use any paint strippers, which can cause damage.

A small stainless-steel brush is handy for working the finishfrom hard-to-get-to areas of the stock, such as the recessesin the checkering pattern. You must exercise special carewith the checkering. Be careful not to cut it back, dull thesharp edges by sanding, or remove it in places—all of whichare possible.

Apply stripper to the stock. After the stripper has removed asmuch old finish as possible, a few areas will probably haveretained some stubborn finish. You’ll find this to be trueespecially when removing polyurethane finish. You’ll have tosoften these finished areas with more stripper. Remove theremaining stubborn finish by scraping and sanding. An oldmetal file with its teeth ground down makes a good scraper.Scrape with care. Don’t gouge the wood. Sanding can alsoremove old finish.

Making Repairs

Once you remove the old finish, you can attend to stockrepairs. Glue or epoxy cracks. You can replace chipped-outareas with new pieces of wood correctly shaped and carefullyfitted into the stock.

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Raise Dents

It’s possible to raise dents and dings in the stock wood to thesurface, at least to some degree. Wet a piece of terry-clothtowel or other clean, absorbent piece of cloth. Place the wetpiece of cloth directly over the dent. Then, use an old clothesiron, or buy one for this work, because the bottom of the ironwill probably become stained.

Place the hot iron on top of the wet cloth, which is obviouslya steaming process. The hot iron on the wet cloth providessteam, which in turn raises the dent to the surface of thewood. A large dent will respond only so much to this proce-dure, but smaller dents can be totally removed. The processrequires repeated steaming. Sometimes a little sanding of thedented area in between steaming helps to remove the dent tomatch the surface of the wood.

Replace Stock Parts

You would replace stock parts at this point. Removing oldfinish and steaming dents may alter the dimensions of thestock to a minor degree. So the stock parts may require refit-ting by sanding or careful file work. You must use your ownjudgment here depending upon the parts you’re refitting.

Protecting the Checkering and Recoil Pad

To protect the checkering from sanding, scraping, and filling,you should cover all checkered areas with masking tapebefore proceeding with stock refinishing. Place the tape overthe checkering and then push down around the perimetercarefully, as with the fingernail or butter knife blade, so thatnew finish won’t seep under the tape. With a sharp knife,carefully cut around the edges of the tape along the checker-ing pattern perimeter to remove all excess tape. This leavestape only over the checkering and not on the wood aroundthe checkering pattern. Protect the recoil pad by taping it offafter you finish sanding so that the sanding procedure canensure a good fit where the recoil pad joins the buttstock.

Finishing

Finish the prepared stock following the procedures we’vealready detailed. The only major difference is that you mayneed a stain to match any sapwood that has appeared on thestock wood, as well as light-colored areas.

When finishing work is complete, remove tape from thetaped-off areas of the stock. The edges of all taping will havea buildup of finish. Use a straight checkering tool to cleanthe borders. If the stock requires any recheckering, accom-plish that work now. After recheckering, clean the checkeringpattern with a brush. Then, apply a couple coats of sealer tothe checkering pattern. The sealer will color the checkeringand seal the wood.

The rubber recoil pad or buttplate will have a little bit ofgummy oil on it after stock refinishing. A rag saturated withacetone will remove the unwanted finish.

Excess finish may also have accumulated around mortisesand all places where a good wood-to-metal fit is necessary.You’ll have to clean this finish away carefully to restore aproper wood-to-metal fit when you return the barreled actionto the stock.

The rifle is reassembled fully now. You’ve renewed or at leastreturned the stock to its original condition as much as possi-ble. In many instances, the refinished stock will look betterthan it ever did because of the hand-worked care you’veapplied with that new finish.

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Self-Check 5Indicate whether the following statements are True or False.

_____ 1. Duplicated stocks are less expensive than semi-inletted stocks.

_____ 2. You should never use sealer on a checkering pattern when you’re refinishing astock.

_____ 3. When finishing, a small stainless-steel brush is handy for working the finish fromthe hard-to-get areas of the stock.

_____ 4. You can alter all dimensions of a semi-inletted stock.

_____ 5. Paint removers may damage plastic parts, such as forend tips, trigger guards, andbuttplates.

_____ 6. Prior to beginning work on a semi-inletted stock, check the forearm to see if it’sstraight along the topmost part of the blank.

_____ 7. Steaming dents in a stock with a wet cloth and hot clothes iron can raise thedents.

_____ 8. A rag saturated with acetone will remove the gummy oil on the edges of a rubberrecoil pad or buttplate after refinishing.

_____ 9. During refinishing, you should remove the buttplates and pistol grip caps whensanding.

Check your answers with those on page 103.

NOTES

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101

Self-Check 11. False. The old style stocks were uncomfortable to shoot

when the rifle had heavy recoil.

2. True

3. False. All of the buttplate should come into contact withthe shoulder. If it doesn’t, you measure so you can addmore drop in the buttstock.

4. True

5. False. Factory stocks are well made and designed for the“average” person, but should be fitted to accommodateany physical difference.

6. False. Toe-out is when you move the toe of the buttstockto one side or the other. Pitch is the angle of the butt-stock in relationship to the barrel.

7. True

8. False. Statistics suggest that we’re taller than our ances-tors (on the average), which means that the averagestock doesn’t perfectly serve taller shooters.

9. False. Synthetic stocks are strong, stable, made of high-grade materials, require very little maintenance, and willlast through several lifetimes of use.

10. True

Self-Check 21. Birch

2. sapwood

3. Claro

4. Fiddleback

5. Cocobolo

6. strength, durability

7. Bedding

8. Springfield

9. stiff-action

10. recoil lug

An

sw

er

sA

ns

we

rs

Self-Check Answers102

Self-Check 31. True

2. True

3. False. They should have long handles.

4. True

5. True

6. True

7. False. They demand short and small forearms.

8. False. Handmade implies that the stock maker performedmost of the work by hand, using power tools as a time-saver.

9. True

10. True

Self-Check 41. guide pins

2. epoxy

3. not be sawed

4. ebony, rosewood

5. Inletting black

6. 45 degree

7. patience and care

8. fingers alone

9. gouge, chisel

10. files, rough

Self-Check Answers 103

Self-Check 51. False. Duplicated stocks are more expensive.

2. False. You use sealer on a checkering pattern, as it willcolor the checkering and seal the wood.

3. True

4. False. You can’t change the drop of the stock or addcast-off.

5. True

6. True

7. True

8. True

9. False. You can apply tape to these areas to protect them.

Self-Check Answers104

NOTES

105

925 Oak StreetScranton, Pennsylvania 18515-0001

Gun Stocks

When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in this study unit, complete the following examination. Then submitonly your answers to the school for grading, using one of the exami-nation answer options described in your “Test Materials” envelope.Send your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it.Do not wait until another examination is ready.

Questions 1–20: Select the one best answer to each question.

1. Seals out moisture, penetrates well, and is compatible with oilfinishes are all characteristics of a

A. stock stain. C. high-gloss finish.B. dull-lustre finish. D. good stock sealer.

2. Scarfing cuts are

A. cuts along the top of the blank.B. cuts along the forearm.C. small cuts that go in at an angle to the layout line in the

tightly curved areas to give the blade clearance.D. any cuts along a curved line.

EXAMINATION NUMBER:

02530301Whichever method you use in submitting your exam

answers to the school, you must use the number above.

For the quickest test results, go to http://www.takeexamsonline.com

Ex

am

ina

tion

Ex

am

ina

tion

Examination106

3. To pressure-point a barrel, you establish

A. one point on the end of the stock.B. two points on the end of the stock.C. two points 21/2–3 inches from the end of the forearm.D. one point 21/2–3 inches from the end of the forearm.

4. Refinishing old stocks

A. is dramatically different form putting a finish on a new stock.B. can literally renew them.C. requires little work.D. isn’t really worth the effort.

5. All of the following statements concerning polyurethane finish are correct exceptwhich one?

A. Polyurethane finishes are tough.B. Polyurethane finishes are easy to remove.C. Polyurethane finishes are normally sprayed on.D. Polyurethane finishes are usually a bright finish.

6. What inletting tool do you use to mark the stock when you’re inletting a barreled action intoa stock?

A. A black marking chisel C. An inletting scribeB. A black inletting pencil D. Inletting black

7. How do you determine a person’s length of pull when designing a custom stock?

A. You measure the person’s height.B. You measure the bore line.C. You measure the person’s hands.D. You observe the person’s shooting style.

8. Semi-inletted stocks

A. have enough extra wood to make major modifications to the stock.B. offer few advantages to the gunsmith.C. can be very sophisticated stocks.D. rarely fit the rifle well.

9. Laminated wood stocks are

A. strong and stable.B. totally stable if they have a finish on them or not.C. as stable as fiberglass stocks.D. poor for checkering.

Examination 107

10. Factory stocks

A. are ill-fitting.B. are quite well designed for a mass-produced item.C. fit very few people.D. are normally of poor design.

11. When refinishing an old stock, the checkering should be

A. taped off and protected after stripping.B. ignored and just left alone.C. refinished with the rest of the stock.D. sanded off, as it’s unnecessary anyway.

12. When sanding a stock,

A. always use heavy-grit sandpaper.B. never use water to “lift” the grain.C. it’s all right to round off the edges of the cheekpiece.D. take care to maintain all lines sharp with nothing washed out.

13. Semi-inletted stocks

A. can be hard to tell from a stock cut from a plank when finished.B. require little work.C. have a limited selection of styles.D. are made by only one company.

14. From the following, choose the least important characteristic of a plank for making astrong, stable stock.

A. The color of the woodB. Grain structure on the top of the plankC. Grain structure on the side of the plankD. The way the grain will run through the pistol grip area

15. All of the following are correct concerning laminated stocks except which one?

A. Laminated stocks don’t need to be finished.B. Laminated stocks can be made from birch.C. Laminated stocks are stable.D. Laminated stocks are strong.

16. Stock bedding is

A. measuring the stock to fit the barrel.B. a way to control the barrel motion due to heating.C. a way to refinish the stock with a bedding material.D. a way to keep the barrel cool during firing.

Examination108

17. Where should the point of comb be located?

A. Most anywhere close to the pistol grip is fineB. Over the center of the pistol grip capC. Over the front of the pistol grip capD. Just past the rear of the pistol grip cap

18. What type of wood is best suited for building a fine gun stock?

A. Cherry woods C. Walnut woodsB. Mahogany D. Maple woods

19. Pressure-pointing a barrel

A. always makes a rifle shoot better.B. helps control barrel movement.C. can only be done on wooden stocks.D. will make a rifle shoot worse.

20. A good solvent to use to dry out rosewood before you epoxy or glue it is

A. turpentine. C. plain tap water.B. acetone. D. linseed oil.