Hand made rifle stocks

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RocketBoy

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Surrey, BC
Hey all, I'd like to try my hand at making some rifle stocks. I know my way around a woodworking shop (I have a small one) but don't know where to start. I'm looking for web links, books, verbal advice, or even better someone in the BC Lower Mainland who would be willing to show me how they do it.

Troy
 
Well I messed around a bit with it, and for blanks,their is an ebay seller that has some fine looking wood. Do a search. Also their are folks that will inlet the blank to what ever action you got , like a copy machine(don't know where) :D Then all you gotta do is get the measurements correct, cut and carve her out to a fancy design. Good luck, it will be fun.
 
I'd like to take it one step back and make the blanks myself. I've got all the toys to do it (I think) table saw, band saw, thickness planer, router, drill press, laminate press in the works. Anything I made would be "one of's" so I don't need to get into the duplicators. I think I need to get started with which wood types work best and if laminating are there any tricks with the grain patterns. I even know enough about composites that after I have few under my belt I'll try a Carbon fiber/Kevlar one. :D
 
I just put a rifle together with a unfinished stock from Boyds.

Not sure I would have wanted to start from stracth though - good luck with that!
 
Splatter said:
Somebody on this site made a stock out of birch cabinet plywood, it turned-out very well.
Click to expand...

I think that was Mysticplayer and his "FrankenStock" sure looked nice after he painted it up.

Splatter said:
The problem with making your own blanks is that it takes literally years for the blank to dry properly.
Click to expand...

Pre-seasoned wood can be purchased at a specialty wood store. Justs needs to be cut to shape. I can buy an 8' 2x10 and get a few blanks from that. It may need to be wider than 2" but I guess I can just measure a manufactured one and go from that.
 
i built a thumbhole laminate from MB oak and MB ash using 1/4" thick laminatations after the Remgton 673 style stock. It was a 2 piece stock for a break open 22 hornet on a 16 gauge shotgun action. It looks nice but is heavy and was a bunch of work.

Good luck trying to get a plank from the lumber store and turning it into a stock for anything larger than a .22 without laminating.

Also bought a mrytle blank off ebay. Like it says above it might take years for the sucker to dry and cure. It was so wet when i got it that it was not even funny. I have had it curing for 10 months and maybe in that much more time i will be able to use it unless i get it into a kiln first.

I think that there is a specific reason why this type of stuff costs money.

Get a plain blank from a supplier and start there. If you get something low quality it will likely be less expensive than your 8" 2x10.

But hey that is just my 2 cents on the matter.
 
Splatter has posted the thread describing the stock I made from laminated Russian Baltic birch plywood. Its a perfectly good stock. I cut the laminations to rough out the inletting. A blank could have been just as easily glued up solid, if it was desired to cut out the inlet.
Years ago, when we were manufacturing reproduction trade guns, we were able to buy 8/4ths roough sawn planks from specialty lumber yards in the Toronto area. Check the Yellow Pages. They would let us pick through the planks. If you want figured wood, its possible to find planks of fiddleback maple. Look for "select and better" grade. I have a stack of walnut planks that I bought at an auction at least 10 years ago, and it had been air dried under cover for at least 5 years before I got it. Unfortunately its all straight grained; clear sound wood, though.
 
Thanks guys, gleened a lot of useful information from that post.
I wouldn't use a lumber store grade wood for anything other than trying out any new ideas before tearing into a good piece of wood. I don't think I have the patients to wait for a fresh piece of wood to dry.

Tiriaq, that stock is beautiful! I will be more than happy if I come close to making one that looks that nice. You mention using 'barrel channel tools' are these someting you bought or made yourself?
 
The barrel channel can be done with your router. But do a net search for stock making books first. Stock blanks are expensive, but Epp's likely has 'em. The hard part is the butt and the internal routing in the receiver area.
A buddy of mine cut up a 2' diameter walnut tree that dropped across his driveway this past Wednesday. I've been gently suggesting a portable saw mill. Relax. It's in London, Ont.
 
The barrel channel tools I use are the Gunline set, Brownells 364 700 000. A router can certainly be used, although it is better to make jigs to guide it, rather than working freehand. A lot of wood can be roughed out of the inletting with a drill press and Forstner bits.
 
Making stocks from a blank is easy - just remove all the wood that doesn't look like a stock.:)

Seriously though, you should start with a lot of reading. There are some excellent books on the subject.

Some are:
Modern Gunsmithing(1933) by Clyde Baker. It was modern for it's day. It's a good reference for layout and the use of specific handtools. Ebay

The NRA Gunsmithing Guide. Out of print. Ebay

Riflesmithing by Jack Mitchell. Ebay

Do a 'gunsmithing' search on Ebay. You'll get a lot of hits. Also, Amazon.ca and chapters.ca are good sources.

I use the following power tools
drill press with Forsner bits for hogging out the magazine mortise

band saw for trimming the blank

router for more hogging for the action and barrel channel. Be very careful with this tool as it can get away real fast and cut where you don't want(ask me how I know).

cordless drill

Dremel with sanding drums and wood bits

Hand Tools

a set of gouges I got from Brownells years ago. A better source is Lee Valley. My favorite gouge is a Lee Valley 3/4" #3. I use it to clean up the mag mortise and to do the barrel channel. If you read Modern Gunsmithing, you will see how it's done.

cabinet file and cabinet rasp from Lee Valley.

block plane.

micro planes from Lee Valley

plastic or wood mallets

sandpaper. from 60 to 600 grit

inletting screws, stockmakers screws and inletting black from Brownells

steel ruler 18"

I'm sure there's other tools but most of all you'll need:

LOTS OF PATIENCE

Sources of decent and dry wood

Dressels.com (They're having a sale on some of their English walnut)

Goby.com

Here's one I did from a blank

DSC00623.jpg
 
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