First custom gunstock

[brettman]

A good friend taught me a lot about stock making some years back. He gave me a few walnut blanks he called utility grade but I thought they were gorgeous. Never worked any completely from a blank though. Friend knew a full time wood worker that had some kind of old pattern machine with 5 spindles on it. We'd take our factory stocks and build them up where wanted with Bondo to make a custom pattern, i.e. palm swells, raised combs, beavertail forends, vertical grips, etc. Then the wood guy w/ the pattern machine would chuck our pattern up, lay a penny between the tracer end and our pattern and rough out blanks for us. Pretty cool to watch. Tons of work left for us after the roughed stock came out.

 

[30calyooper]

Just a quick thought - stay away from Oak! No doubt it makes some good-looking furniture but the wood itself take a lot of painstakingly slow labor to work it, especially for finishing details. And while nothing is impossible, the tendency for oak lumber to sliver, 'check' (meaning spit at the ends etc.) and/or warp before the project is completed can drive you nuts...and lead to issues with overall stability even after it's done. There's a reason you won't see it out there for gun stocks from the major producers! I've seen a couple of examples where it was used for custom laminates and even a forend tip but I'm guessing the cost was noteworthy...and IMO did not look as impressive as the decent grades of walnut or sugar maple.

 

[SierraTwo]

Lee, my best advice to you would be to pick up a copy of "Professional Stockmaking: Through the Eyes of a Stockmaker" by David L. Wesbrook. It covers everything from choosing a blank to layout to checkering to carving a shadow line cheek piece to final finishing. It's usually considered a "must have" for anyone interested in stock work. Previously out of print and only available for up to a few hundred dollars used, it has recently gone back into print and is available from Wolfe Publishing for $54 new in the plastic.

 

[Locknload]

There are several good inletters around that will work your blank for a price. For years I used Ed Shulen out in CO until his death. Ed was the stock making instructor at the CO school. I rarely buy wood from premade folks. I have had decent luck with Richards and Show Me. I guess I have had customers buy about 5-6 dozen stocks from Richards. Richards guarantees their stocks, do not mess with it, not happy, return it and they will replace it. Now I bought a half dozen 510 Boyd's stocks from Gun Parts when they were moving them out for about $36 each. I was restoring a dozen 500 Remingtons at the time, Boyd's makes a decent utility grade plane Jane stock.

If you want to build a stock for a rifle, first time out of the barn, I suggest you buy a Richards "second" to practice on. Then buy a minimum AA class stock for the real project. In the US Claro walnut is the standard and is cheap in CA because it is grown in orchards for edible nuts.

Show Me cuts 391 forends by the way. This is one of my collection of exhibition blanks that I had Show Me cut for my personal Beretta 391 sporting gold silver side gun, I did the final fit and finish. The finish is a sanded in finish of about 23 coats. I have that 391 gun set up to shoot fox at night and crows during the day, with its short barrel and #3 buck for fox. That is a 24 inch barrel. Since I retired and moved, a lot of my stuff, parts, tools, etc is still packed up and stored in my shop.
Oh, when done, that is a $2,500-$3,000 wood set at Cole's in ME. They do a good bit of custom Beretta work. iPhone picture.
Ed

 

[Michael Souther]

Try the internet for wood and stocks. Brownells web site loads of tools and information. also Midway has a lot of stuff. Calico hardwoods has lots of different grades. Just looking at Firearms news and found some companies in there. sounds like fun. I used to do a lot of stocks and had nice time and still have several rifles I built including my main hunting rifle.

 

[G. Neely]

Royalarms.com out of El Cajon, CA sells a pretty nice line of semi-inletted stocks in different types and grades of wood. Bought one in 1982 and they're still in business. As for tools, a barrel channel scraper/rasp and a set of scrapers took care of most of the fitting. Finishing properly takes quite some time, but as long as you concern yourself with a good job instead of time, it'll work out beautifully.

 

[Msgt William Toprock]

Ok so i want to preface this by saying that i have zero experience taling apart a rifle, as in ive never pulled and action. I have considered bedding my stock but have never commited and done it. I know it is not difficult and i am generally abke to figure stuff out well.

Alright, i got a ruger american ranch. 5.56 and a 16.5 barrel. I want a wooden stock. I have thought hard about buying a boyds pro varmint because i want a vertical grip. That being said, i want the satisfaction of making my own by hand and fitting it to this specific gun.

Now i am no wood smith. I have chisels that are sharp, a dremel, and the will to try. So my questions are this. I have lots of old 2x4s from a house project that are very hard, snap a 3in screw half way in hard, and i was wondering if i could use those if the action bed and top of butt is one 2x4 and the bottom of the butt is a seperate piece glued on. Will this hold or is this a bad idea? I think they may be oak. If that idea is fine, then how to i protect the wood from the possibke shrinking and expanding with the temps? If there a paint or do i need to soak it in something? I do not have a planer or any tool to sand out a flat surface. Is it possible to make a good stock without something to flatten or do i need to invest in a machine. Im totally fine investing, just wondering.

Thanks for readin and appreciate any advice

 

[Msgt William Toprock]

A few months ago while crusing a local sporting goods store I came across a rifle that had just been traded in. It is a Remington 700 BDL in .270 Winchester. The pain point being the stock. It has a fiddle back maple stock with beautiful figuring. I pretty much fell in love with the gun at first sight. After a little modifying, ie, a Timminey trigger and glass bedding, it turned out to be a very special rifle.

 

[Swiftkill]

I agree with everyone telling you not to try to build a stock from scratch. You will be miserable with the results, if you even get that far. As a great American, Dirty Harry Callahan once said, "A Man's got to know his limitations"!. Check out Stocky's. You can certainly Glass bed it yourself. You said you have sharp chisels? You may need them if you screw that up! LOL. Good lkuck.

 

[Ckgworks]

I don't have many pictures, but here's a couple of the first stocks I did.....Maybe someone will be encouraged to try it themselves......... The only one of these I still have is the middle Remington, the stock on it is cut to youth dimensions, and is my starter gun for the children.....My first way a lefty, so it's got a cheek small cheek rest on both sides. I do checker some, but not on stocks I'm going to move, It just takes me too much time to do! These are the first three stocks I made from blanks first one starting on the left to the 3rd one on right.....I know they aren't perfect, and the next one usually turns out better than the last one. These were all built with a few chisels, files, a barrel channel scraper and a hand drill, but the general shape cut out on a bandsaw. I also built a jig that turns my wood lathe into a Horizontal Drill for drilling the through hole on the shotgun stock...... I guess I'm in the minority when it comes to advise on the internet......I say if it interests you, TRY IT! the only thing that you will lose is some time and possibly a block of wood, and if you do enjoy it, maybe you can help carry on the dying art of stock making! The only way to find your limitations is to try! Don't let anyone set their limitations on you! Someday I would like to find a duplicator, but for now I just slave away on my own stuff which doesn't really matter how long it takes.
The 10/22 stock was a practice stock to work on checkering and carving before I tried the 1911 grips......The AR grip was another one I made just to try. It's hard for me to practice on a block, so I usually try find something to make even if I'm not going to use it myself. Most of the items in the pictures were dumped on Ebay and I made about $.01 per hour, but it's an outlet for me, and the only way to get better is to keep trying and practicing.
I know these may not be up to professional standards........This is strictly a hobby for me, and I have along way to go before I'd try sell myself as a "Stockmaker"

 

[Gcan]

Ok so i want to preface this by saying that i have zero experience taling apart a rifle, as in ive never pulled and action. I have considered bedding my stock but have never commited and done it. I know it is not difficult and i am generally abke to figure stuff out well.

Alright, i got a ruger american ranch. 5.56 and a 16.5 barrel. I want a wooden stock. I have thought hard about buying a boyds pro varmint because i want a vertical grip. That being said, i want the satisfaction of making my own by hand and fitting it to this specific gun.

Now i am no wood smith. I have chisels that are sharp, a dremel, and the will to try. So my questions are this. I have lots of old 2x4s from a house project that are very hard, snap a 3in screw half way in hard, and i was wondering if i could use those if the action bed and top of butt is one 2x4 and the bottom of the butt is a seperate piece glued on. Will this hold or is this a bad idea? I think they may be oak. If that idea is fine, then how to i protect the wood from the possibke shrinking and expanding with the temps? If there a paint or do i need to soak it in something? I do not have a planer or any tool to sand out a flat surface. Is it possible to make a good stock without something to flatten or do i need to invest in a machine. Im totally fine investing, just wondering.

Thanks for readin and appreciate any advice

I might try a partially finished stock that needs final inletting and finishing. You might get more satisfaction from that and doing some checkering. Taking on a full stock from a blank might be more than you bargin for for your first project. There are some specialty tools you might find you need.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[tigerrose01]

Yes, the endeavor to build yourself a stock can be hugely rewarding if, like others have said, you're willing and able to focus yourself on the task. Even 'pre-inlets' are not generally quick or easy. I have worked on three of my own that were purchased from Richard's Microfit Stocks and I am happy with all of them. I bought exhibition grade, fiddleback walnut for two of them and one was a laminate. I do prefer to work with the walnut and I think the exhibition grade looks amazing. The laminate looks good too, but I didn't buy it for looks...it went on my old faithful varmint rifle. The laminate was about 30% of the cost of the exhibition grade walnut after I added several 'extras' to make my work a bit easier. The pic is my 30-06 which has taken several hogs and many whitetails.

 

[tigerrose01]

Btw, I had zero classroom training when I got started. So, I spent a few months working on old, horrible grade military rifles that I found for dirt cheap. I learned to clean wood, remove grease, remove dings and dents, and then practiced glass bedding and finishing techniques. It cost me very little...other than time.

 

[Lee Persons]

I don't have many pictures, but here's a couple of the first stocks I did.....Maybe someone will be encouraged to try it themselves......... The only one of these I still have is the middle Remington, the stock on it is cut to youth dimensions, and is my starter gun for the children.....My first way a lefty, so it's got a cheek small cheek rest on both sides. I do checker some, but not on stocks I'm going to move, It just takes me too much time to do! These are the first three stocks I made from blanks first one starting on the left to the 3rd one on right.....I know they aren't perfect, and the next one usually turns out better than the last one. These were all built with a few chisels, files, a barrel channel scraper and a hand drill, but the general shape cut out on a bandsaw. I also built a jig that turns my wood lathe into a Horizontal Drill for drilling the through hole on the shotgun stock...... I guess I'm in the minority when it comes to advise on the internet......I say if it interests you, TRY IT! the only thing that you will lose is some time and possibly a block of wood, and if you do enjoy it, maybe you can help carry on the dying art of stock making! The only way to find your limitations is to try! Don't let anyone set their limitations on you! Someday I would like to find a duplicator, but for now I just slave away on my own stuff which doesn't really matter how long it takes.
The 10/22 stock was a practice stock to work on checkering and carving before I tried the 1911 grips......The AR grip was another one I made just to try. It's hard for me to practice on a block, so I usually try find something to make even if I'm not going to use it myself. Most of the items in the pictures were dumped on Ebay and I made about $.01 per hour, but it's an outlet for me, and the only way to get better is to keep trying and practicing.
I know these may not be up to professional standards........This is strictly a hobby for me, and I have along way to go before I'd try sell myself as a "Stockmaker"

Very nice looking stocks my friend! Ill be honest and say that im feeling really stupid and just thinking of going full cowabunga and starting with a blank. But with my work situation i am far from being able to work any wood so that may change