Latest Rifle Stock

We all make stuff other than pipes, so here's a place where "anything goes" as far as showing off some of your projects and other hobbies.
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AlfaDog
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Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

Newbie here. I finally found a discussion on how to upload pictures so I'm practicing here because I haven't made a pipe yet. Anyway I built this rifle from an old Mauser action. I polished the bolt raceway, lapped the bolt locking lugs, modified the feed ramp for longer cartridges and polished, new barrel chambered in .35 Whelen (30-06 case necked up to .35 cal.), set headspace, new trigger, cut, reshaped and rewelded the formerly straight bolt handle, reshaped the military trigger guard and I made the stock from a walnut blank. Steel grip cap, ebony forend tip. The only machine tools I used on the stock was a bandsaw to cut the rough shape out of the blank, and a drill press to drill the action screw holes and to hog out the magazine well undersized. The rest was rasps, carving tools, chisels, spokeshave, etc, general pipe making tools. Anyway I got all my personal guns restocked and I want to try a new hobby. So here I am. Please critique as you would a pipe. I need to start getting used to it. Thanks guys.
P.S. - I finished right before deer season which ends Jan. 31 in Alabama. After season I will checker or stipple the grip and forearm.

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Image
Last edited by AlfaDog on Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:48 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

OK finally. But why is the screen so wide now? Do I need to resize the photos? I'm using photobucket for the first time. What size do I edit them to?

Update - I've made them smaller three times in photobucket and replaced them in the post with the smaller size but the size in the post hasn't changed at all. WTF?
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RadDavis
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by RadDavis »

Very nice. Do you use it to shoot pool? :twisted:

Rad
The Smoking Yeti
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by The Smoking Yeti »

Post look good to me. Love the grain on that stock- super sexy!
My pipemaking stream of conscience/ website:

http://yetipipe.tumblr.com/
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

Thank you. It was cut from the crotch of a walnut tree. It's called feather crotch. I'm hoping some of the techniques will transfer over to pipe making. I got my new chucks and jaws on my lathe today. Still waiting on briar and ebonite.
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

RadDavis wrote:Very nice. Do you use it to shoot pool? :twisted:

Rad
Nine ball left and right corner pockets. 8)
Last edited by AlfaDog on Fri Jan 04, 2013 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
wmolaw
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by wmolaw »

Flat out gorgeous. Understand why you would want to checker, but it's a shame to lose the grain! Do you think it really provides that much better grip?

Love the caliber as well. I have a restocked 03-A3, and it shoots like a dream, but kicks like a fricking horse compared to the original stock. It was my dad's gun in WWII.
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

wmolaw wrote:Flat out gorgeous. Understand why you would want to checker, but it's a shame to lose the grain! Do you think it really provides that much better grip?
I do keep wavering back and forth about the checkering for that very reason. I really don't have a grip problem, it was mostly for ornamentation, but you're right, with this grain it may not need it. Thanks for the input.
As for the kick I named the gun Thumper. From both ends!
caskwith
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by caskwith »

If you don't need the grip then leave it, looks beautiful as it is.
Bryan Johnson
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Bryan Johnson »

For what my opinion's worth, I figure that anyone who can do the intricate work on making a new rifle stock should have a leg up on the woodworking skills involving pipemaking. (I'm speaking as a guy who has to think a moment before remembering which side of a sheet of sandpaper to use.) I'm still in the kit stage of pipemaking -- and from the way things are going, I probably will be well into this decade -- so I'm impressed as heck with your abilities. I 'spect that you'll be uploading photos of your new pipes pretty soon.

I vote not to checker the stock. The grain is too beautiful and the extra grip you'd gain just isn't worth it. I hauled an M-14 around for a long, long time, all day, every day, and it didn't have an inch of checkering.

Never fired a .35 W. How does it compare to a 7.62/.308?

Good luck with the deer season.

Bryan
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Duane
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Duane »

WOW! That's beautiful! But, where did you ever find a briar that large???

Duane
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

[quote=I vote not to checker the stock. The grain is too beautiful and the extra grip you'd gain just isn't worth it. I hauled an M-14 around for a long, long time, all day, every day, and it didn't have an inch of checkering.

Never fired a .35 W. How does it compare to a 7.62/.308?

Good luck with the deer season.

Bryan[/quote]

Bryan -
Factory Hornady Superformance loads
35 Whelen 200 gr.
2920 fps
3760 ft/lb muzzle energy

.308 165 gr.
2840 fps
2955 ft/lb muzzle energy

I have a Springfield M1A1 loaded that is a civilian semi auto version of the M14. It's a fine rifle and every squad should be issued at least one M14. Thank you for your service.
Wallace


Duane - Mimmo :D
Bryan Johnson
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Bryan Johnson »

Hey, Duane,

Thanks, but no thanks necessary. All I did was just show up. It's always just a matter of showing up. (And, yes, the Springfield M1A is a nice piece. I have a scout version, myself. As for the M-14, it does add an extra element to a unit's firepower, which everyone is for -- so long as someone else is hauling the heavy piece. Thank God I wasn't the M-60 gunner...)

Back to pipes. I've been thinking about what you said about checkering as applied to pipes. I don't want to hijack this thread (y'all let me know if this subject deserves its own thread), but I've been wondering about rusticating/sandblasting finishes. Is that technique usually called into play when the grain on a nearly-finihsed pipe just doesn't have an interesting enough grain or if it's just has too many flaws (sand pits, etc.)? Or is it something planned from the beginning?

Before people start yelling, understand that I'm coming at this as a pipe consumer, only just recently starting on pipe making. Pipe makers (like most pipe smokers) seem to be a live-and-let-live lot, by and large, so if someone wants to smoke or make a rusticated pipe, that's fine with me, but it seems like a waste of nice grain if the briar would show a beautiful pattern if left smooth. This loops back around to your rifle stock, Duane: It seems a pity to add decoration to what is already naturally beautiful.

Any thoughts? (He says, ducking quickly behind cover.)
BATFE: It's not just a government agency, it's a shopping list!
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Sasquatch
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Sasquatch »

My thought is, beautiful or not, if the cross-checking makes for a "better" rifle, ie one that you hang onto easier with mitts on, for example, or if your hands are bloody because you were skinning a deer and a cougar attacked and you need a shot.... well, that cross-checking makes it a better gun.

Cutting a button on the end of a pipe stem breaks up the flow, but removing it makes most pipes absolutely useless. They are better pipes because of it.

I'm a huge fan of rustication, blasting, and texturing in general, and also a huge fan of wood grain. Guys like Cooke who are blast masters admit readily to taking perfect smooth pipes and blasting them, and... getting awesome blasted pipes out. It's not "wrong".

Rusticating randomly over a perfect straightgrain is dumb simply because people will pay more for the straightgrain. Personally? I have one smooth pipe and about ten blasted/rustic in my current rotation.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
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Sasquatch
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Sasquatch »

PS nice crotch Alfa
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

Sasquatch wrote:PS nice crotch Alfa
Sasquatch - I'm not in the picture but I admire your intuition. Uncanny.

Bryan -
I'm Wallace not Duane. I was responding to Duane's question, sorry about the mix up. As for the grip\ornamentation Sas is right function should come before form on firearms. A stippling technique I've been using lately will transfer nicely to the rustication of pipes. I use a single blunted nail and a small hammer. The nail must be blunted or it will separate the wood fibers rather than crushing them, if only sepatated the wood fibers will close back up later with moisture. I use a bouncing method with the nail after the light hammer blow and it goes pretty fast. Take your time around the edges. Here is a photo of a stippled grip on a 257 Roberts I made from English walnut. The grain will also actually show through this finish to some degree. Actual hand checkering without the electric tool (I've never owned the tool) kills my eyes and I'm getting away from it. The beautiful figure is mostly in the butt on the first rifle, if I stipple, the grain flow on the grip and forearm will show through but the rather plain forearm will have some ornamentation and the grip and forearm will not slip.
Wallace

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Bryan Johnson
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Bryan Johnson »

You know, I never thought about all this before. So, I lit a pipe and did an inventory: Of all my rifles and shotguns (Lord, that probably sounds scary to some folks), not a single one has any checkering. Only the single "black plastic" rifle I own has some sort of pebbly surface on the handgrip. When I checked my pipes (30 or so), only one is pebbled.

The odd thing is, I've always admired good texture on pipes and really appreciated different checkering on rifle/shotgun stocks, so I guess I'm not a complete barbarian. In fact, Alpha, the nail texturing you did on that one rifle stock is fantastic. Don't remember seeing anything quite like that before. Also, Sasquatch, I hadn't heard of someone sandblasting a smooth pipe simply because they prefer that texture (which answers my previous question).

So, I guess the answer to your original question at the beginning of this thread, Alpha, is, "Whatever you think is right." So long as you do it right, with good craftsmanship.

Well, solved that. Anyone for a beer?
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Ocelot55
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Ocelot55 »

This thread reminds me of one of my favorite pipes made by jogili:

http://jsecpipes.com/PhotoGallery/index ... e=80-5.jpg

I love that pipe!
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AlfaDog
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by AlfaDog »

Ocelot55 wrote:This thread reminds me of one of my favorite pipes made by jogili:

http://jsecpipes.com/PhotoGallery/index ... e=80-5.jpg

I love that pipe!
That is a wicked cool pipe. I would never have thought checkering would look good on a pipe, but it does on that one.
Cory
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Re: Latest Rifle Stock

Post by Cory »

RadDavis wrote:Very nice. Do you use it to shoot pool? :twisted:

Rad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_s6AtfO_Mk

Go to 5:15 and/or 8:51
The way to make people want to smoke your pipes is to develop a reputation for excellence in your work. This takes a lot of hard work and several years to accomplish, and there are no short cuts. You just have to keep at it. - Rad Davis
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