This is my first attempt at restocking a rifle. It’s hard to find a good looking left handed rifle, so I found a used Winchester M70 Classic Sporter in really nice shape and decided it was easiest to re-stock it myself. This definitely wasn’t easy as a beginner, and I made some mistakes. But I learned a lot and am happy with how it turned out.

This started out as an unfinished Winchester Ultimate Classic blank from Midwest Gunworks. Here’s what I did to it:

-shortened and slimmed the forearm
-added ebony tip
-installed crossbolts with ebony plugs
-reshaped the grip for a more swept look
-added a Jerry Fisher grip cap
-re-cut the angle of the stock
-added and grinded a Pachmayr medium red pad
-inserted a wrist pin
-final inletting to get action to fit
-converted two piece bottom metal inlet to a one piece Williams inlet
-pillar and glass bedded the action
-finished and filled pores with Minwax Antique Oil
-installed Talley front swivel

Next up is checkering and having a few parts blued.





This was all done with pretty minimal tools. I can add progress pictures if anyone wants to see anything that was done to the stock.

Well done so far. Checkering is an art. Go very slow and don't overstroke the cutter like I did before I gave up. Short slow strokes and plenty of light are best. Rounding off the corners of the pad could make it look more custom.
Keep us posted. Nice wood for the money.
Got a picture of the other side?
CB

Good tip on checkering. I’ve got some more studying to do on that. Here’s the other side:

what happened to the cheekpiece?

The blank didn’t come with one.

Well, I ended up with some finger prints under the final coat of oil, so I lightly sanded and re applied the final coat. Ready for checkering now. The trigger guard, grip cap, and swivels are at Glenrock Blue. Should have them back in a few months.

Tell you what is wrong with that thing...:

Nothing. Absolutely lovely.

Got the trigger guard, swivels, and grip cap back from Glenrock blue. They did a great job. Everything is installed now. I’m going to hunt some with it and then will checker the stock.

I’ve been making some progress on the checkering. The forearm is up next.

I'm no great fan of custom rifle stocks as my hunting style would not be kind to them but I must say you appear to be making a first class job of your stock project. For a first - timer I would say you are achieving an excellent standard, in my unqualified view anyway. Bravo. You have every justification for a bit of self pride.

Looking good. Agree on reshaping and slimming the forestock.

Finally finished this projected up:

Awesome.

Really nice job, well done.

Congratulations. It looks great. Happy hunting / shooting.