What Old Guys Did In Days Of Old
Jun 1, 2017 19:07:12 GMT -5
Poohgyrr, Mister Coffee, and 2 more like this
Post by jaypee on Jun 1, 2017 19:07:12 GMT -5
In 1985 I lived in the northern Sacramento Valley, which is walnut country and abounds with small stock making companies that provide semi-inletted stocks to gunsmiths and hobbyists. So I took the plunge that year and with a little coaching and some Jim Carmichael books started inletting, glass bedding, and shaping my own stocks. I built around a dozen rifles from components for friends and I before Mister Arthur Ritis took away my ability to do the precise close work needed to make the wood look like it was growing out of the metal. Rather than botch up an otherwise beautiful hobby I quit doing it in 1997. Here are some photos of some of the stuff my rifle-nut friends and I used to do back then. This is a Mark X Whitworth action barreled with a Shilen short-chambered medium-weight barrel cut to 23" and chambered for the 6.5X55mm Mauser cartridge. My favorite handload pushes a 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip along at a chronographed average of 3100 fps with minute of angle accuracy. (Don't try this with a Swedish Mauser rifle in this caliber as it will ruin its soft receiver in a heartbeat and ruin the rifle for you.)
This stock sold for $125 in 1992 from a small stock making company and would have been a $400-$500 stock had the knot on the right side of the forend not been there. Shuckydarn! Please pardon the dings, she's been around a bit.The wood is English walnut, which is preferred to black or Claro walnut because of its tighter grain and superior strength....despite its considerably greater cost. English is always preferred to black walnut when building a magnum rifle for this reason.
The finish is unstained, Tru-Oil, about a dozen coats sprayed on and sanded between coats with 600 wet or dry, and finished out with 0000 steel wool and Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner.
This is the offending $400 knot. Actually I'm glad it's there because I wouldn't have been able to afford the stock if it hadn't been.
The two photos below depict the left side grain and the shadow line cheek piece. This type of cheek piece is especially handsome on a custom rifle with a classic style stock, but is an unholy buggernasty sonofagun to finish out correctly. Lotsa evenings there, boy!
The barreled action was a retirement gift from a government-coyote-hunter-former-gunsmith friend in Rock Springs, Wyoming. His name was Kent Robb and he was a wonderful friend and super craftsman in his own right.
So that's what us olpharts used to do in days of old. I had seven of these homemade Mausers when I moved to Tennessee in '96, some on military actions and some on commercial actions, but I sold all but this one when the aforementioned Mister Ritis also took my ability to deer hunt. Do it while you got it, boys.....once it's gone it's GONE!! Best wishes.
JayPee
This stock sold for $125 in 1992 from a small stock making company and would have been a $400-$500 stock had the knot on the right side of the forend not been there. Shuckydarn! Please pardon the dings, she's been around a bit.The wood is English walnut, which is preferred to black or Claro walnut because of its tighter grain and superior strength....despite its considerably greater cost. English is always preferred to black walnut when building a magnum rifle for this reason.
The finish is unstained, Tru-Oil, about a dozen coats sprayed on and sanded between coats with 600 wet or dry, and finished out with 0000 steel wool and Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner.
This is the offending $400 knot. Actually I'm glad it's there because I wouldn't have been able to afford the stock if it hadn't been.
The two photos below depict the left side grain and the shadow line cheek piece. This type of cheek piece is especially handsome on a custom rifle with a classic style stock, but is an unholy buggernasty sonofagun to finish out correctly. Lotsa evenings there, boy!
The barreled action was a retirement gift from a government-coyote-hunter-former-gunsmith friend in Rock Springs, Wyoming. His name was Kent Robb and he was a wonderful friend and super craftsman in his own right.
So that's what us olpharts used to do in days of old. I had seven of these homemade Mausers when I moved to Tennessee in '96, some on military actions and some on commercial actions, but I sold all but this one when the aforementioned Mister Ritis also took my ability to deer hunt. Do it while you got it, boys.....once it's gone it's GONE!! Best wishes.
JayPee
