17 replies to this topic

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Well, I decided against trying to shape a stock from a blank because I just don't have the time or adequate tools to do it in a timely manner. So I went and ordered a couple of Uninlet Boyd stocks today that I'm going to inlet for my Marauder rifles. I ordered the Ross Thumbhole Sporter stock (which is like the Featherweight Thumbhole Stock's appearance) and the Blaster Stock. Both stocks I ordered in the Pepper Laminate (see site pictures below).This is the Ross Thumbhole Sporter Stock:  FT_Pepper_Stock.jpg   11.27K   7 downloadsThis is the Blaster Stock:  Blaster_Pepper_Stock.jpg   14.61K   4 downloads I'm really hoping that there is enough meat in the Ross Thumbhole Sporter Stock to fit the action of the Marauder Properly because I really like the look of it. If not, then I'll put my .25 in the Blaster Stock after I do a little bit of reshaping to the fore end of the stock. Since I just ordered them today they should arrive Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Once I get them inlet for the Marauders I'll take a few photos. I'm estimating that since most of the inletting is going to be done with hand tools that it will take a couple of weeks to do each stock in my spare time, especially since I want them to be perfect (or as perfect as I can get them). I'm looking forward to seeing what they look and feel like in person.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

I got a message today that my stocks should arrive next Wednesday. Now I've just got to get all my tools together and I'll be ready to go.

[ratassassin]

Looks like a nice project. Good luck with it and look forward to seeing how it turns out. I like the pepper laminate stocks. I have one on my Savage .17 HMR.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

What type of stock did you order for your Savage?

[ratassassin]

I didn't buy one for my Savage 93R17 BTVS. It came with a pepper laminate thumbhole stock from the factory.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

The picture is a litte dark, but I can see that it looks great! I can't wait for mine to arrive now .

[ratassassin]

You're right, that's not a very good picture at all. I'll see if I have a better one.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

I wasn't complaining, just stating an observation. I think it looks good and it looks like the sporter style thumbhole stock like the one I ordered. I guess I'll definitely need to order or purchase some of that Tru-Oil to finish my stock because if mine will look that good with a finish then I know I'll like that better than spraying it with bedliner. I wouldn't want to cover up something that looked that nice . Thanks for putting up the photo.

[Brant]

I thought about the feather weight but wondered about how the air tube would work out since you need access to the back of it. Does it look like that will be fine?

[Air Rifle Hunter]

The Ross Thumbhole Sporter stock I ordered is similar, but slightly different than the Featherweight Thumbhole. I think it will work alright, but I'll know more when the stocks arrive on Wednesday. Even if it has to drop down and doesn't give me access to the adjustment port of the Spring Pre-Load or Hammer Stroke it isn't a big deal to me. I always remove the action from the stock when adjusting everything anyway since some of my hex wrenches have some fairly long handles. I'll let you know when I get it in.

[ratassassin]

Okay, here's some better pictures of the stock on my Savage 93R17 BTVS. Knew I had some around here someplace. No glass on it here because this was the day I picked it up.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

That is a very nice looking rifle!

[Air Rifle Hunter]

My two stocks arrived last week. They were pretty nice. However, whoever does the shaping and sanding needs a better eye. Both stocks had areas that should have been symetrical, but were not. So I'll have some sanding to do. The Ross Thumbhole Sporter stock is going to be inlet for a .22 Benjamin Discovery that I'm trading for and I've already started reshaping the Blaster stock for my .25 Marauder. I wasn't real crazy about some of the aspects of the standard Blaster stock, so as usual, I decided to shape it to my liking. Once I get it completely reshaped, sanded, inlet and finished I'll take some photos. I orderd two of the Tru-Oil kits the other day from Sportsman's Guide and hopefully they will arrive tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to inlet the area for the reservior tube. I can pretty easily do the area for the trigger guard and trigger assembly, but to inlet the reservior requires a lot of wood to be removed and sanded. I've looked into getting a 1 1/4" dia. round nose bit to use for the Marauder reservior inletting and a 7/8" dia. round nose bit for the Discovery reservior but will need to get an appropriate router to handle both and I'll need to create a good way to clamp the stocks while I route all that wood out. I'll figure it out, I usually do.

[Brant]

It sounds like you have the situation well under control. I got my bit from:http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/If I forgot to mention that. It was less expensive mail order. As I mentioned I borrowed a milling machine for the air tube groove but I dont see how they do that by hand.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

It sounds like you have the situation well under control. I got my bit from:http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/If I forgot to mention that. It was less expensive mail order. As I mentioned I borrowed a milling machine for the air tube groove but I dont see how they do that by hand.

Thanks for that link. I'm going to order my bits from there and I've figured out how I'm going to cut the tube groove. I'll take photos of my set up when I get around to doing that. Today I started the reshaping of the Blaster stock. I know some will say, "Why did you do that? It looked great the way it was!" The truth is that I wasn't crazy about the overall look when I ordered it and since I'm going to be putting the Discovery into the Ross Thumbhole Sporter stock that left me with using the Blaster for my .25 Marauder. After studying the stock I figured with a few minor changes I'd be happier with the aesthetics of my finished product. I've taken a few photos of the first part of the reshaping and posted them below. Above each photo will be a description of the photo. I'm still not quite done with it and have some shaping of the Fore End and final shaping of the butt.Side View:You can see in this photo the reshaping of the fore end of the stock and you can clearly see that I've taken off the slope at the area right in front of the wrist/neck of the stock.  BStock_SideView.JPG   45.95K   5 downloadsBottom View:In this view you can see that I've removed some material at the width so that the length was a similar width from front to back.  BStock_BottomView.JPG   31.16K   3 downloadsBack View:In this view you can see once again that I've removed material at the back end of where the back of the reservior will be and also on each side of the stock for a streamlined appearance.  BStock_BackView.JPG   26.54K   1 downloadsFront View:This just shows the stock from the front. You can see that I still need to round the side edges of the fore end and do some final sanding/shaping.  BStock_FrontView.JPG   19.43K   1 downloads Well, I can't wait to get the stock inlet for my action and put the finish on it.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Well, with taxes being paid, bills, the usual expenses and unexpected expenses, it looks like I won't be ordering any box core bits or getting a router to inlet my Marauder and Discovery into their Boyd stocks anytime soon . Instead I'm using a chisel, 1 3/16 diameter dowel that I had wrapped with sandpaper applied with contact adheasive and a lot of tedious, time consuming work. In reality, the chiseling doesn't take long, but the sanding after the chiseling is time consuming and I worry about chiseling too much material away at the depth. I suppose I should make a template of the tube area and use that to allow me to chisel out the majority of the material and then just fine tune with the sanding . I've got the Blaster stock for the Marauder drilled for the air gauge, the stock screw and inlet for the trigger guard. I have about 1/4"+/- more depth to get the reservior a proper fit in the stock and then I'll just have to inlet for the trigger assembly where it seats and drops through the stock and I'll be done (after finishing with Tru-Oil of course). While it is a slower process (much, much slower than with milling bits) it is cool to see it taking shape and getting closer to the finished product. I figure maybe another week of working on it in my spare time and I'll have it done (I hope) and then I'll take photos. I'm just really hoping that I've been measuring everything properly and get a correct fit when it's completed.

[Bisley]

Amazing how the right tools make it so much easier isn't it? Sometimes we forget how lucky we really are. Hopefully the extra work put into it will you just make you appreciate it that much more. Besides, just think of how much steadier you will be able to hold that thing with all those new arm muscles you will have . Hang in there. Patience is a virtue, and you have way more virtue than I do. I would have just hose clamped it to the top without inletting it until I got a router

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Ratassassin, I notice the peppered stock in your photos is actually very gray, like the stocks are when they arrive unfinished. Once I applied the Tru-Oil finish, mine got really, really dark. Almost a dark charcoal gray, closing in on Black . I followed all of the directions for finishing too. I wonder if the finish on your stock is something different, like perhaps a sprayed on finish. Once I finish mine, I'll post a photo so you can see the color my peppered stock came out.

Okay, here's some better pictures of the stock on my Savage 93R17 BTVS. Knew I had some around here someplace. No glass on it here because this was the day I picked it up.