quote:

Originally posted by montea6b:
Vaseline will degrade some kinds of rubber. I've used a spray silicone for the purpose of reducing scuffing od the screw holes.

Must be millions of people around the world who's bums and other essential parts have been degraded by mums using petroleum jelly on them as babies

For the short time vaseline is on the recoil pad I've never noticed any problems but it does prevent the sort of scuffing noticeable on Austin Hunters pad.

Paste wax also works, both to reduce abrasion of the rubber and to reduce the screw torque required.

Looks like a nice rifle! thanks for sharing!

Looks like the blonde has enough "butt stock" for two!

Great. Time to start a new thread when the project is finished so I can share with my friends.

AH don’t get too uptight when a bit of light banter comes up on your thread, this happens often and is what I think makes for developing relationships amongst forum members while we discuss the serious stuff, no different than if we were all round a campfire together. I have learned lots of tips and other information from many of the ‘off thread’ posts that happen on this forum.
I own a 404 myself hence my interest in your project and have offered my experience in terms of fitting recoil pads and avoiding scuffing of the screw holes. Montea6b and I just have different views of products to use based on our individual experiences. I’m sorry if you felt we ‘hijacked’ your thread.

It's not the banter, it's the photo.

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Part 3:

Now I need to find a big ass recoil pad.

Yep well to counter ill feelings I've deleted my post with the 'offending' photo. Sometimes though words say as much too!

To more serious stuff AH, nice work so far on your build, are you going to have a go at the checkering?

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Part 3:

Now I need to find a big ass recoil pad.

Yep well to counter ill feelings I've deleted my post with the 'offending' photo. Sometimes though words say as much too!

To more serious stuff AH, nice work so far on your build, are you going to have a go at the checkering?

I'm afraid my checkering skills are in line with the GEICO caveman, or gecko, take your pick.

I use:Custom Diamonds

Well at least you are honest, after all the good work it can be undone by a botched checkering job. Custom Diamonds looks to be doing some good work, I'm not a fan of Fleur de lis but the standard panel stuff looks well done. They should nicely finish your gun.

Custom Diamonds did the checkering on my 8x57: 8x57 Checkering

Things are paused right now on the rifle since I'm having feeding issues.

I've been working on a pattern stock for a 9.3x62. Almost done. When I get the barreled rifle back from the gunsmith (he's rechambering from a 9.3x57, bluing, and putting a handle on), I have to fill in some extra space around the barrel and then it's off to the duplicator. Going to use some simple walnut, nothing fancy. Goal is <8lbs with scope, ammo, and sling. The stock came from some unknown M98, but had good lines: schnabel, cast-off, and toe-out; so I decided to use it as a pattern stock.

Well, looks like I'm back in business. The feeding issue were fixed by by one of our fabulous AR members and it's on the way back.

Here's a pick of the cross bolts ebony plugs finished from a few weeks ago.




Here's a picture of the ebony tip being glued up. I placed the rifle and tip on a piece of granite to ensure an absolutely flat, square surface.

Still looking good. Keep us posted.

Got some more work done tonight.

Just need to bed now and finish off the ebony tip shape. Then sand and finish the stock.

Initial shaping



After blending in




Stopping point

dang ! thats pretty sweet

coming along nicely!

Here is the latest work. Finished cutting in the cheek piece and shaped the tip. I still have some work to do inside curve at the rear or the cheek piece and need to sharpen the edges. I wiped in mineral spirits to show the grain.

Wow. Great work.

It is coming along nicely.

Would like to see some photos of the 9.3mm as it progresses too.

Cheers, Chris

Looking good young man!

Thanks. I can't wait until I do the mesquite stock for my wife's 35 Whelen 1917. I have the semi-inlet stock now and oh man I wish I had that grain on the 404.

There is a very nice mill at Tumacocori,Az that deals strictly in Mesquite. Have no idea he has any stock blanks but he is able to handle any size lumber. He mostly manufactures tables and other furniture with some of the most beautiful inlay work I have seen. He also handles Burls which is where the real beauty is in Mesquite. Only mill I have seen that only handles Mesquite.

Southwest Trading Post outside of Austin Tx does the same. That's where I got the wood from.

http://www.swtpinc.com/index.html

Pics of stock sanding to 400 grit today prior to sealing with 50/50 mix of mineral spirits and spar urethane. You really can't see the grain in the picture, gets bleached out in the photo for some reason.

Well, the mixture went on heavier than I expected, but it dried pretty darn quick. I cut it back to the wood tonight with a scraper. Going to let it dry for a while now.

Here are some recent pics from the weekend. The first is an older pic showing the gap around the front of the bottom metal that I had to fill with some pieces of mesquite from the stock (used wood from the tip that I removed). I had originally intelleted it for straightened factory bottom metal, but Duane made me a deal on one of his bottom metals, so I had to do some additional work including filling the gaps. You can see them in the later pics filled.




The next three pics are of "bedding blocks" I made for the rifle: the recesses of the bottom metal and for the trigger.








The pictures below are the stock with the initial heavy coat of Velvit Oil. I originally sealed with mineral spirits and spar urethane and then cut back to the wood with a scraper. Once this is dry, I'll wet sand with 320, leaving "mud behind" to dry, and then move up to 400 and 600. You can also see the dark grey Brownells steel bedding. I wish I would have with brown Arca Glass.

A quick sneak preview. Installed the scope tonight.

Still need to:
1. Do 1-2 more wet sandings of stock
2. Install rear sling swivel even with rear of cheek piece
3. Install permanent pad. Current one is temporary. I'm doing a red pad quick lock/release pad from NECG.
4. Checker
5. Finish grip cap

The bottom metal is also temporarily finished with Blue Wonder. Going to Rust Blue in September.

Sorry for the pic quality. I'm going to have someone that knows what they are doing take pics when done.

Running test ammo through it this weekend. 430 gr NF FPS and 380 gr NF SS.

Outstanding! That is coming along great.

Jeremy

Austin Hunter

I have heard it said that making a second stock will take half as long as the first one did because the maker now knows what not to do!

I don't know if that is correct or not, but I think it would be interesting to hear from you more thoughts on this overall process that you undertook, whether you are completely happy with what you are ending up with, whether you would like to make it even better by doing it again (in half the time), and any other interesting tidbits that you would care to offer.

Another thing that is interesting is whether, were you to do this again, would you have had the rear tang altered to more of a mauser configuration so that the grip did not have to take such a dramatic angle downwards right away. Also, I notice that you chose to have the comb nose relatively further back than the center of the grip cap, and whether that was chosen specifically or whether it worked out that way based on other parameters.

Either way, Lovely work!

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
Austin Hunter

I have heard it said that making a second stock will take half as long as the first one did because the maker now knows what not to do!

I don't know if that is correct or not, but I think it would be interesting to hear from you more thoughts on this overall process that you undertook, whether you are completely happy with what you are ending up with, whether you would like to make it even better by doing it again (in half the time), and any other interesting tidbits that you would care to offer.

Another thing that is interesting is whether, were you to do this again, would you have had the rear tang altered to more of a mauser configuration so that the grip did not have to take such a dramatic angle downwards right away. Also, I notice that you chose to have the comb nose relatively further back than the center of the grip cap, and whether that was chosen specifically or whether it worked out that way based on other parameters.

Either way, Lovely work!

Here are my thoughts:

1. I don't know if I would use mesquite again, but dammit I have two more semi-inlet stocks in mesquite! One for a 1917 Enfield 35 Whelen and one for a 7 Mag FN Mauser!

2. I get the semi-inlet blanks in my wood from Al Lind, so the comb nose is relatively set. I really don't care if it's centered over the grip or a bit further back. There are historical and current product rifles that have them both ways.

3. I considered having a complete rework of the rear of the rifle - Ed LaPour safety and recontoured tang, but like the look of the Enfield and was trying to replicate what someone might have built in the 20's or 30's. Go look at some of the Griffin and Howe rifles from that time built on Enfields during this time.

4. I was in a real hurry to get this stock done, so I didn't pay as close attention to the inletting as I would have liked and had to use a fair amount of epoxy. Turns out I had plenty of time due to feeding issues. Which BTW, If I did it again I would have done in a 416 Taylor. Much easier all around and 5 rounds down instead of 4.

And given everything else I have going on at work and home, probably just should have had AHR do me a rifle!

Excellent results at the range today. Details over on AR's Big Bores forum.

10.8 pounds with Leupold 1.5-5x20mm scope and Trader Keith Sling

I'd like it about a pound lighter, but the mesquite added quite a bit of weight.

Recoil Pad Install

I put the final recoil pad on today. I went with a pad from NECG. They have a nice red/orange pad. You can also install their pads in a quick-release snap on manner as an option. This is what I decided to do. As you can see below, I created a jig to hold the Gracoil recoil pad grinder upside down so I could use against a sanding belt and easily see the scribe line (which I filled with yellow crayon). This resulted in a recoil pad with zero holes in it. I then did final sanding on the stock and finished with 400 grit paper. I may cover it in leather later.

Finished stock - except for checkering - getting that done first week of September.

Here's everything together! Just need the checkering done. I also plan to rust blue the grip cap and the bottom metal; and then maybe the barreled action at a later date so it all matches.

Very nice work and of course in one of the best cartridges

Just wondering where the front lenses on your Leupold are in relation to the front ring, Nakihunter who posts here damaged his Leupold front lenses with a similar setup (crushed enough to bubble the lense coating). Hopefully you will avoid this.

Recently fitted a Pachmayr Old English red pad to my Mauser without showing any sign of the screw penetration through the pad, can be done but the NECG system looks quite crafty.

Thank you.

I've read different takes on what is/isnt safe for ring placement on a Leupold. On my 458 Win Mag I have the same scope and it's actually forward.

My LOP is so long that I need to get scope as back as possible. We'll see what happens!

Beautiful! Congratulations!

I never posted proper pics of the rifle checkered and in the field, so these are about 13 months late:

Absolutely fantastic!

How satisfying that must be to build your rifle from scratch, and then take it on safari.

I admire you.

Great rifle in a classic caliber. Congrats all around.