Custom stock?

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TrxR

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Hypothetical question: if you were going to build a custom stock for a say f-class project, what material would you use and why? Would plywood sealed and painted be a good choice or not? I would think solid wood would change too much from different humidity.

What would you use and what sort of design consideration would you look at?

Thanks
 
I just made one out of a 2"x6" solid piece of maple, we'll see how it works. Would like to try and do another with what I learned from this one, not sure of the material yet though.

The way I see it, is the only change in wood that would effect anything is, changes is pressure on the action, whether it's humid and "spongy" or dry. I don't think I'll have a problem with that as I inletted a 2" square solid piece of aluminum inletted for the action to sit on, so the action doesn't actually touch the wood, so therefore any changes in the wood shouldn't hurt it as much. In my theory anyway....we shall see.
 
laminated hardwood.

Laminated hardwood has the engineering advantage of fibres in different directions, an adhesive matrix to stiffen and provide directional strength, and the fact that it is very strong!

One of my shooting partners had a composite stock strapped into the rifle holder on his range cart, and the pressure from thea velcro strap in the hot day, caused the stock to warp and put pressure on the barrel.

Solid wood runs the risk of checking and cracking, and shows weakness about the palm area.

Many high-end composite stocks are very good.

I prefer the finish and workability of a wood laminate, however that is only a personal preference. Robertson Composites makes some damned fine stocks.
 
Just to be clear when your talking laminated hardwood are you talking about ripping thin slices from a large piece then gluing them together with a good adhesive with the grain going in opposite directions. The only reason I ask it there are different terminologies out there. Also how thick of slice would you use to glue together.
 
TrxR said:
Just to be clear when your talking laminated hardwood are you talking about ripping thin slices from a large piece then gluing them together with a good adhesive with the grain going in opposite directions. The only reason I ask it there are different terminologies out there. Also how thick of slice would you use to glue together.
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The grain typically runs in the same direction, but it is also very common from an esthetics perspective to utilize different types of wood. Thickness of the laminates varies, but typically 2-5mm or so

Check out carlbernosky.com for some excellent examples
 
I was also thinking about laminating a bunch of 1/4" plywood which would would have less chance of voids. The only down fall with plywood is you would have to paint it as the end grain looks like crap.
 
Structurally, 1/4" ply will work, however because the grains DO run in different directions, you will tend to get end grains all along the stock, and it will require filling. When it comes to hogging out the barrel channel, scraping across the grain produces ugly results.

One of the crazy Englishmen I shoot with (gotta love the guy!!! He's great!) has unique stocks made from birch plywood and they are heavily laquered. They really look nice! He uses barrel blocks however. Quite a bit simpler than milling out an close fitting action inlet.

What I would like to know is what is used for dying the sheets of laminate used to make funky colored stocks like those used by Richard's, Bernosky et al. I would like to try experimenting with that
 
I was thinking about using an aluminum bedding block to simplify things a bit. But once you start looking at whats involved in making one you soon see why the charge so much for them. I was looking at a couple from sharpshootersupply that look good. I was trying to think of an easy way to mill out the barrel channel last night. Didn't really come up with much though. I would think plywood would work nice if you were looking at painting it anyways with a good epoxy sealer and paint.
 
I'm much more interested in the form of the stock, than ending up w/ a nice looking laminate stock. One I'm finished hogging, rasping and body filling, paint and epoxy can take care of the aesthetics.
 
I've made 2 stocks, both were maple and worked very well. Walnut is beautiful but costs about 4X that of maple, at least when I did mine. I've always wanted to do one out of laminated wood for stability but again $ were a factor. I didn't make them for beautiful hunting rifles, just for target guns. Warping wasn't a factor as I pillar bedded them with a generous amount of clearance under the barrel, both would maintain sub 3/4"MOA easily. I had a lot of enjoyment making them and when I get more time I'll make some more, most likely Maple. (I'm still cheap)
 
greenpasture said:
I'll bet you could use dried cow or horse s**t mixed with epoxy and it will probably hold up as well as a some of the backyard plywood stocks made by some guys. Pretty economical, why spend money on modern materials when any s**t will almost do - lol Couldn't resist...
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:agree: Also make sure that every single particle which can be re-digested is recovered from this s**t before epoxy is added. :D Couldn't resist either.

:cheers: Kazimier
 
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