Sling Swivel Stud Mounting

holdingfast

holdingfast

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Super GunNutz
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Hey there,

I just recently acquired a gorgeous Cooey Model 60 .22 Cal bolt action. :dancingbanana: I love "Lori" very dearly, but I strongly desire to put a sling on her as I am a mammy pammy and I don't like carrying my rifle in search of the ever elusive gopher. I tried installing swivel studs on a Browning .22 Mag that I acquired last year, but as I threaded the studs in, the wood splintered and it caused a minor blemish in the stock. The sling got installed but that eye sore makes me want to cry.

I was wondering if anybody out there had any tips for preventing the wood from cracking or splintering while driving in the stud? Even then, can anybody offer insight on how to properly find and center my mark for drilling the pilot hole?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Where are you planning on putting the front swivel? There are bases that install on the tube. It is also possible to use a machine screw type with a thin nut on the inside, but there isnt much wood, so you have to be careful.
The pilot hole in the butt needs to be two diameter. The smaller has to be the correct size for the threads to cut into. Right at the surface, there needs to be an enlarged portion, 3/16" in diameter, and about that deep, for an Uncle Mike's stud. It is also an idea to taper the transition from the larger to smaller diameter. In addition, the tip of the stud can have three or four notches filed into it, sort of like a tap, so that it will cut its way in, rather than wedging and chipping or splitting the stock.
You can even buy a step drill for drilling the hole.
 
For the wood threads on the stock the trick is to predrill a hole that is sized to be a hair larger than the minor diameter of the screw. The minor diameter is the size of the "core" of the threaded part that is between the bottoms of the thread when looked at from the side. If you don't pre-drill or drill too small a hole then splitting is a very real danger. A very small amount less is often OK but if you just drill a little pinhole and try to wedge in a big screw thread then there's a big risk of splitting the stock.

To avoid surface splinters from starting the screw after you drill the pilot hole drill in for a very short distance with a drill bit that is very close to the major size of the thread. That being the diameter between the thread peaks from side to side. This drill will want to suck itself in with great gusto so you'll want to wrap the drill bit with about 8 turns of masking tape so that only about 1/16 inch of the tip is exposed. That's all you need.

Also when doing this drilling the stock should have a good tight wrap of masking tape over the drilling spot and extending up and around the sides quite a way. This will help prevent the drill bits from lifting a sliver of wood out of the surface. Once taped mark the hole location on the tape and then center punch the mark so the drill bit doesn't tend to wander. If you don't have a center punch a big nail will do. It just needs to be about 1/16 deep to help the drill stay centered until it's in the wood.
 
Thanks for the tips guys! I really appreciate it. On a side note, my grandfathers Cooey Model 60 came from the factory with a flat-base sling mount on the butt and fore stock. They are secured with two screws each and handle 1" slings. Either way, I'm really excited to do this, thanks once again for all the insight!
 
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