quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
Roger sent pics of the right side for 101 A and 101 B. I've posted them above. I'm not in favor of 101A any longer.

Geez, why not? That forend would be the perfect place to put a nice brass plague with everyones name on it!

quote:

Roger sent pics of the right side for 101 A and 101 B. I've posted them above. I'm not in favor of 101A any longer.

Me either...

Forrest, you are right, you do pay a premium for all that pretty. I also agree on the less desirability of 101 with the new pictures, but I still like #2A and #2B. The Denli (SP?) blanks are super nice as well, but these two just “talk to me†more. Wood is kind of a personal statement. I admit that I do like fiddle but concede that not everyone does. The blank chosen should have the widest appeal to the majority of prospective ticket buyers. I know what I like and that may not have the widest appeal. While I have my partialities, I agree that perhaps Duane should get final say. Layout is vastly more important than a little bit of character.

Forrest:

My choices, for what they are worth in order of preference, are 310 and 148. I am one of those wierd individuals that think 310 will be a spectacular stock when finished.

I like both 310 and 148 enough that I would be interested in purchasing either or both of the blanks personally, if they were available.

Dave

I still don't like any of them for this project. shoot me if you want to.
This project is being billed as a petite stalking gun. Its being built on a small mauser action. Too much figure is going to overwhelm the piece as a whole. Is gaudy still a word?

BANG

ForrestB, just work out the details with the g'smiths. We know, that you know, what a high class rifle needs and looks like. The only thing this thread realy needs is a lock. The project only needs $$$$, as input from the rest of the posters.

We await the unveiling.

Hog Killer

I am still with 148...

Forrest, can you post a pic of your pettite 7x57 with that high grade piece of english, please.. if not for anything but for me to drool over
jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by Hog Killer:
BANG

ForrestB, just work out the details with the g'smiths. We know, that you know, what a high class rifle needs and looks like. The only thing this thread realy needs is a lock. The project only needs $$$$, as input from the rest of the posters.

We await the unveiling.

Hog Killer

Get ready to duck! I said exactly the same thing a couple weeks ago and got told I was being too “negative†and was “ruffling too many feathers.â€

We've received several checks in the last few days but haven't had the time to catch up on the accounting and get them posted. I'll try to get everything posted this weekend if not before. If you haven't seen your screen name posted, don't start worrying just yet.

I just love the process of building a custom rifle. I'm completely unable to do any of the real work, but I'm infatuated by it. The design and planning part of it are as close as I'll ever come. For that reason, I don't mind at all the discussion here with regard to the rifle project.

We've had several people donate $400 to $1,000 each and only a few of them have posted here. We've had a few people not contribute a single dollar but offer their opinions here. Whether it's in charitable endeavors or business, it seems to invariably work that way. I've gotten used to it and gave up long ago trying to change human nature. If some want to exchange ideas publicly or privately, I'm all for it if it makes them happy. If some want to sit back and wait, I'm all for that too if it makes them happy. So long as we're making real progress and the discourse is civil, we'll all be pleased in the end.

So many of these efforts get launched only to fall flat right out of the chute. Ours has not and will not because the cause is worthwhile and our donors are motivated. If we keep in mind the cause we'll stay positive and motivated. I'll say again, this is not about building a rifle; we're building a teacher. Most importantly, we'll need a very special teacher in order to fill the shoes of the one we just lost.

Keep the faith.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Forrest, can you post a pic of your pettite 7x57 with that high grade piece of english, please.. if not for anything but for me to drool over
jeffe

At your service, but we can do better than this.

Forrest,
Sometimes it's hard to imagine just how a particular blank might look as a finished article. Do you happen to have any before pictures of any of the blanks used on the rifles you have posted? I think a lot of us would be interested to see what the blanks looked like before heading off to Duane's workshop.

- stu

quote:

Originally posted by 577NitroExpress:
Too bad this is $1700.00 on Denli's website. Something along the lines of this blank would do this project justice:



Even this one for $1300 is nice:

Why are they using an M1 carbine stock profile to do layout? Might be deceiving as to actual length as well - will those blanks be long enough?

Just playing devil's advocate... it IS beautiful wood though!

Okay...I'm a sucker for perfect wood..the 1700.00 blank is about as good as it gets...If the fund can pay for it, I'll donate all stockmaking labor. I would like to make one change, however...that is to install a steel buttplate..solid or skeleton..my reason is to use up all the available figure...perhaps make the LOP 14-14 1/4...that way, if the winner just can't live with that length, I can always shorten (easy to make a long sausage shorter)...(Better believe, I
ll buy a many tickets as I can afford)

Duane, that is an incredible offer on your part. That blank is gorgeous and it would be a superb start to a wonderful rifle. My hat is off to you.

quote:

Okay...I'm a sucker for perfect wood..the 1700.00 blank is about as good as it gets...If the fund can pay for it, I'll donate all stockmaking labor. I would like to make one change, however...that is to install a steel buttplate..solid or skeleton..my reason is to use up all the available figure...perhaps make the LOP 14-14 1/4...that way, if the winner just can't live with that length, I can always shorten (easy to make a long sausage shorter)...(Better believe, I
ll buy a many tickets as I can afford)

Forrest, if the committee goes for this, you can count on another donation from me to help make this a reality...

Come on guys, let's see who will support this VERY worthy project...

Forrest,

If we end up with a duplicate of your rifle (the upper one in the picture) with maybe better wood , I will be more than satisfied!

I'll make another donation toward the cost of the wood, if we go for the Denli blank. I personally would rather Duane not donate all of the labor. But we certainly know how much he likes that blank! I would love to turn him loose on it.

Well, If Wiebe is in for the labor, the least I can do is donate another $100 to help pay for that Denali blank.

Anybody else????????????????????????????

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
Well, If Wiebe is in for the labor, the least I can do is donate another $100 to help pay for that Denali blank.

Anybody else????????????????????????????

I will play follow the leader, add another $300....who is next????

We're checking on the Denli blank.

Guys, Duane would normally get paid about $4,000 for this type of stockwork. That's a huge sacrifice. We owe him.

Forrest, you have an email.

Forrest (and the rest of you yahoos):

My check is in the mail. If only the anti's could see how a bunch of cold-blooded, murdering, slaughtering, Bambi-killing, no-good, low-down, SHOOTERS/HUNTERS/GUN NUTS have responded to the most unfortunate death of a single teacher, mother, wife,....loved one....maybe, just maybe, they'd get off our asses for a minute or two. I cannot begin to express how proud I am of my brothers and sisters of this forum. Forrest, after viewing the pics of your rifles a while back, I jokingly asked you to adopt me. After THIS, hell, I'm adopting YOU!

MKane160

My son-in-law Eric is developing the website for the rifle project and needs digital photos of previous projects done by each of the four craftsmen. It would be preferable for the photos to come from the men themselves. However, some of you (like Forrest) may have a photo of one of these guy's work that you might like to share.

Pictures of both work-in-progress and finished work are desired, as are those actually showing both the man and the work. We will give each of the four an opportunity to see and approve the pictures of their work before we put them up. If you know the photographer's name, let Eric know so he can give them credit.

Please email the pictures and as much info as possible to Eric Anderson at <eanderson@houston.rr.com>.

Glen71,

It may take me a while to produce the digital photos. My main computer crashed a while back and I lost all of my photos as well as my email addresses, both personal and business. I have heard that the files can be retrieved, but I have yet to find a local business that can do it. The search goes on.

Scrollcutter

Do you have a company called The Geek Squad there where you live. They can do just about anything there is to do with computers.

quote:

Originally posted by Scrollcutter:
Glen71,

It may take me a while to produce the digital photos. My main computer crashed a while back and I lost all of my photos as well as my email addresses, both personal and business. I have heard that the files can be retrieved, but I have yet to find a local business that can do it. The search goes on.

Roger - We found a few pictures on AR of your work on the Ottmar-Worthing rifle, so we won't be totally lacking.

I found some photos on an online photo album and forwarded them to Eric...Thanks,Rog

More blanks offered by Roger Vardy:

(Edited to show prices for single blanks or pairs. Roger is offering us a $1000 credit towards individual blanks or pairs. The prices shown do not reflect that credit.)

MPR 3B - $2500 for pair



MPR 16A - $2200 for pair



MPR 18B - $1000 for single blank



MPR 30B - $2400 for pair



MPR 36A - $2000 for pair



MPR 53A - $2200 for pair



MPR 55B - $2000 for pair



MPR 86B - $3000 for pair



MPR 87B - $3500 for pair



MPR 89A - $5000 for pair



MPR 98B - $2500 for pair



SR 320 - $1500 for single blank



SR 295 - $1500 for single blank



SR 433 - $1500 for single blank

IMO, none of the Vardy blanks are quite on par with the $1700 Denli. However, I like most of the Vardy blanks very much. In fact, they are more to my liking than super fancy wood and in all likelihood will probably finish up about as well as the Denli. If Roger is offering to donate one of his versus $1700 for the Denli then I would give him serious consideration.

Those are some VERY nice blanks! I want to hear Duane's opinion of them. While I like the Denli blank, Mr. Vardy is making us a very generous offer.

FLA, our tastes are similar in that I'm not a fan of gaudy wood either. The Denli blank will make for a stunning rifle. Personally, I don't want my rifles to be "stunning" but a wild stick of wood might garner greater interest when it comes time to sell the Scholarship Rifle.

The economics between the blanks would be similar. Vardy is offering us a $1000 credit and these blanks run $1500 to $2500. Some of these are matched pairs ("MPR") and Vardy doesn't want to break the pairs, so we'd have that issue to deal with. I've only posted a pic of one of each of the pairs.

Denli's offer is not final yet, but I'm hopeful it will be in the same ballpark.

If any of you like one of these blanks enough to want to purchase a matching blank, let me know. It would help us work a deal.

I just wish Vardy's warehouse was close by, I'd like to spend a day looking over these blanks.

quote:

I just wish Vardy's warehouse was close by, I'd like to spend a day looking over these blanks.

Ditto! Might justify a trip to Oz!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ForrestB:
More blanks offered by Roger Vardy:

These are all pretty nice..You guys decide, but my original offer stands

Well I'm Back.... From the NRA Convention in Milwaukee. Got in late last night. From Seattle, it's a tough trip to Milwaukee, of course no one has a direct flight.

I got to meet the writter from Precision Shooting, he thinks that perhaps a 2 part article might be in order, he need to check with his editor before he can say for sure. It was a good meeting and I told him that we would keep him in the loop for information about this project.

Milwaukee was a great place to hold an NRA Convention, usually at these events on Friday us vendors are talking to ourselves and walking the show. But last Friday might be the best day I've ever seen at an NRA Convention, lots of people showed up.

Before I left town yesterday, I had time to tour the Krieger barrel making plant in Richfield. Interesting place, every WWII cut rifling machine must be there. It's good to see a gun company doing well.

I also did a tour at Harley-Davidson, I'm a stock holder and I just wanted to see what they were doing with my money. It was the Engine and Transmission plant. Great tour...

Mark, I talked to Bill Hull from Shilen and he said that some of the vendors couldn't get in. He said that there was not enough space.
Butch

Hi Butch,

You mean a vendor couldn't rent a space in Milwaukee? I know that the NRA gave a space to the Gunmakers Guild, that space could have been rented to a paying customer. If there is one thing about the NRA, they do like to make money. Next year the show moves to St. Louis and the Guild was the last in line to choose space, and there was a few spaces left. Milwaukee was a great show, I got to meet people I've worked for but never met face to face.

After talking to Robb Lucas, the writer for Precision Shooting, I think he's going to help us out with our custom rifle project, and give him something interesting to write about.

Gentlemen, I've gotten way behind on my thank you notes and accounting. I apologize for that but here's a quick wrap-up of donations received since May 11th.

MKane160 gave us a nice cash donation.

T Carr comes through like clock work with a really nice donation.

Loud-n-boomer sent in his big check that will go towards our engraving.

22WRF gave us a nice donation to be used for everything involved with the bolt handle. He's also donating some valuable parts.

Sendero 300 gave us a nice donation. Thanks Terry.

El Caballero and Browning Guy conspired to give us a donation through the classified donations.

Rick0311's big check for the barrel arrived.

We got 577 Nitro Express' check for some brass I sold in the classified donation effort.

As if Glen71 hasn't sacrificed enough already, he's given us a big donation towards the effort.

The ever-charitable David W sent us a big check. It's probably stolen from a client account so I'd better get the money in the bank quickly.

J Bennett has given us a nice donation as well.

M1 Tanker found the time to send us a donation, which is somewhat meaningful since he's busy FIGHTING A WAR in Iraq right now. As soon as this project gets on auto pilot, we're going to have a little fund raiser to send M1 Tanker and his buddies a few needed supplies.

If you've sent a donation to me but don't see your name, please send me a PM or email. I know of one check that was supposed to come to me that has been misplaced in the mail.

Here's a synopsis of our fund raising efforts to date:

Direct Cash Donation Received $3,315

Parts Donations $1,290

We have additional pledges for cash and parts donations that total about $2500. So our total donations and pledges to date will total about $7,100 not including any donations yet to be received in the form of a stock blank, scope, or the labor of our craftsmen.

We're doing well thus far and all of you deserve a big pat on the back. $7100 sounds like a lot for a rifle, but we'll still need more money to build the type rifle we're trying to build and to advertise the raffle in a way that will maximize our receipts. My goal is to have the rifle and advertising paid for through donations before the raffle starts. For those of you watching from the sidelines, I kindly ask you to help us out in any way you're able - this is a very worthy cause.

Just as importantly as the money is the time and effort donated by several members here who are helping in this effort. There are many people who have taken the initiative to run with their ideas for donations and publicity. Their efforts coupled with our money are what will make this project a success.

A big THANK YOU to everyone. Especially to M1 Tanker for making us all look like slackers.

We have a stock blank. Thanks to the persistence and generosity of jjs and 577 NitroExpress, Denli is offering this beautiful blank to us at a bargain price.



Denli is also offering all of us a 10% discount off of the posted prices on his website for any stocks ordered along with this particular blank. Take a look at www.denli-gunstocks.com to see what he has in inventory. We owe many thanks to Ali for his generosity.

The only bad part about this project is having to make decisions about what parts to use and, on occasion, turning down very generous offers. Choosing a stock blank is the worst of these because the offers received were all so bighearted. Just take another look at the pictures posted here. Roger Vardy, Paul and Sharon Dressel, and several other individuals each offered many gorgeous blanks to us, but unfortunately we can only use one. I can't say thank you enough to each of you.

"...We have a stock blank..." might just be the whopper understatement of the year. "Gorgeous" might be another word for it. Way to go, fellas. When it's all done and I've won the raffle, you all are invited to East TN to drool over it. BBQ, sweet tea, cold beer in the back yard. How can we ever thank all those professionals who have donated time, materials, and special skills? I'd say, be customers.... Thanks in advance Duane, Roger, Mark, et. al.!!!

MKane160

Well...needless to say, I'm delighted! Thanks to all of you..This will be a real pleasure....If.. only I don't screw it up....................Duane

Duane, please don't feel obligated to follow the pattern drawn on the blank.

Stu C lives in Switzerland and taught me how to use PayPal to accept his donation to the Scholarship Fund. He sent us a nice big donation and it was a piece of cake for both of us. If there's anyone else out there who would like to contribute via PayPal, just send me an email letting me know how much you'd like to contribute and I'll reply with a PayPal invoice. This works especially well for anyone living outside the US.