- Location
- Saskatchewan
I started with a standard Savage 12fv in .243 and like most of you, I hated the stock so I promised myself that I would change that one day. Well, thanks to 4 wisdom teeth being yanked from my head, I found the time.
I started by spraying down the stock with electrical grade degreaser. Its used in engine compartments so its very good at getting everything off the stock but its used on plastics so it wouldn't melt the stock. Then it hit it with 80 sandpaper to rough up the surface.
Next was the bondo. After stripping the stock I found that when I removed the sling studs there was a hollow channel. So I went to WSS and their Archery Counter gave me a free carbon arrow for the project. I bondo'd it into place to take away that flimsy feel and movement when using a bipod.
Next, I fattened the forearm so it would ride the bags a bit better and took away any taper that there was. But I didn't go to overboard because I wanted to use it for hunting as well.
A word of advice here. Do it in three stages. Do one side then let it cure for about 5 minutes. Rotate and do the same to the bottom, wait 5 and then rotate and do the third side. This gives it time to set and it won't slop around and give you a lot of high a low places that you will have to even out later on. That extra 15 minutes would have saved me probably 30 while sanding.
My next problem was the grip/palm area. I have regular sized palms but short, fat, sausage fingers and this area was not comfortable for me. It also felt cheap and flimsy so I bubba'd a palm swell out of the bondo and covered the checkering on both sides.
So I let it set for the night.
12 hours later we started the shaping and sanding process. I used mainly a rasp with some sand paper for the initial shaping. GO SLOW. It you take off to much you'll have to do the whole bondo process again. A little here and a little there and I had the front looking like I wanted it to, including the barrel channel with the arrow inserted for strength.
Next was my bubba'd palm swell. I went real slow here and took my time to get it to fit my hand just right.
Now the final sanding and shaping before primer.
A good one of the new barrel channel.
So I primed it and let it set overnight. A quick sand the next morning and I used the finishing epoxy to fill the air/pin holes that appeared. I let that dry for the day and then sanded it with 120 sandpaper and it was ready to paint. I then taped off the barrel channel and the action area along with the trigger area and went to town. I used Krylon Make it Stone Granite paint. The key is thin layers and lots of them. The first layer and even the third layer you will still see primer but that's okay. I did about 6 coats to get it to look the way I wanted.
Now the can says to let it dry for 6 hours but it was still tacky after 12. So I let it set the rest of the night. The next morning I did a touch up and then hit it with Krylon Make it Last. A sealant made for the Make it Stone paint. It makes it water proof and "scratch" resistance. I say scratch resistant because I have yet to test it.
So after 2 hours of drying, we put it back together and this is what we got.
I like how it turned out and the bubba'd palm swell feels great in my hand. It looks slick and feels great with that stone texture.
Some final thanks to Mr. Hunter for the stock and to kf123 for the help. As well, thanks to all of you that have posted project like this before, it was great inspiration and reference.
Next its tp bed it and hit the range. Unfortunately the range was snow packed so we didn't get a chance to test it. So it'll be ready for the gopher patch this summer.
Cheers!
I started by spraying down the stock with electrical grade degreaser. Its used in engine compartments so its very good at getting everything off the stock but its used on plastics so it wouldn't melt the stock. Then it hit it with 80 sandpaper to rough up the surface.
Next was the bondo. After stripping the stock I found that when I removed the sling studs there was a hollow channel. So I went to WSS and their Archery Counter gave me a free carbon arrow for the project. I bondo'd it into place to take away that flimsy feel and movement when using a bipod.
Next, I fattened the forearm so it would ride the bags a bit better and took away any taper that there was. But I didn't go to overboard because I wanted to use it for hunting as well.
A word of advice here. Do it in three stages. Do one side then let it cure for about 5 minutes. Rotate and do the same to the bottom, wait 5 and then rotate and do the third side. This gives it time to set and it won't slop around and give you a lot of high a low places that you will have to even out later on. That extra 15 minutes would have saved me probably 30 while sanding.
My next problem was the grip/palm area. I have regular sized palms but short, fat, sausage fingers and this area was not comfortable for me. It also felt cheap and flimsy so I bubba'd a palm swell out of the bondo and covered the checkering on both sides.
So I let it set for the night.
12 hours later we started the shaping and sanding process. I used mainly a rasp with some sand paper for the initial shaping. GO SLOW. It you take off to much you'll have to do the whole bondo process again. A little here and a little there and I had the front looking like I wanted it to, including the barrel channel with the arrow inserted for strength.
Next was my bubba'd palm swell. I went real slow here and took my time to get it to fit my hand just right.
Now the final sanding and shaping before primer.
A good one of the new barrel channel.
So I primed it and let it set overnight. A quick sand the next morning and I used the finishing epoxy to fill the air/pin holes that appeared. I let that dry for the day and then sanded it with 120 sandpaper and it was ready to paint. I then taped off the barrel channel and the action area along with the trigger area and went to town. I used Krylon Make it Stone Granite paint. The key is thin layers and lots of them. The first layer and even the third layer you will still see primer but that's okay. I did about 6 coats to get it to look the way I wanted.
Now the can says to let it dry for 6 hours but it was still tacky after 12. So I let it set the rest of the night. The next morning I did a touch up and then hit it with Krylon Make it Last. A sealant made for the Make it Stone paint. It makes it water proof and "scratch" resistance. I say scratch resistant because I have yet to test it.
So after 2 hours of drying, we put it back together and this is what we got.
I like how it turned out and the bubba'd palm swell feels great in my hand. It looks slick and feels great with that stone texture.
Some final thanks to Mr. Hunter for the stock and to kf123 for the help. As well, thanks to all of you that have posted project like this before, it was great inspiration and reference.
Next its tp bed it and hit the range. Unfortunately the range was snow packed so we didn't get a chance to test it. So it'll be ready for the gopher patch this summer.
Cheers!
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