The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Custom Built Rifles Skeleton/Cutout butt plate...Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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A recent Rifle Magazine had this really neat custom, built on an OM70. The gunsmith had taken a steel butt plate and cut out most of the inside. It looks as if he had put a coating of Dykem Blue on the outside, and then taken a scribe and laid out a .200" (?) rim. Then two thin lines from top and bottom to encircle the screw holes. Everything inside the line gets cut out. Then, it's time to fit to the butt stock. Purpose: dykem the inside once there is a rough fit, and tap, tap, tap with the wooden mallet. The dykem will leave blue on the wood where the butt plate touches. The stocker then shaves a little of the high spots off. Repeat the process until there is a slight, maybe .150" high raised wood area where the cutout areas are. Then the raised walnut area gets a tidy checker, maybe 32 lines per inch. I know I am not explaining this very well, perhaps someone can post a picture of one. Anyway, I called about four machine shops that have plasma cutters to discuss doing this to a butt plate I have. They would not even talk to me. Finally, a shop in nearby Caldwell said to bring it over. This is a neat third generation family shop. It's really neat, the owner's wife does not mess with a computer, old school. All paper records. Their son went over the idea, and agreed to take a whack at it with their plasma cutter. As soon as he finishes it, I will post a picture. He thinks it should be less than $100. Just a neat little custom touch you will not see very often. Rich | ||
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Skeletonized butt plates are a very nice custom feature which really dress up a nice fancy wood stock. IIRC the metal can be purchased as such and save the custom cutting. That said, yours sounds like a fun project - waiting now for pix. | |||
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yes, but I already had this one... | |||
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Rich, I thought you'd been around the block a few times... You describe it like it's the first time you've ever seen this feature on a custom rifle! I'm anxious to see photos. I did some plasma cutting years ago, and while it's cleaner than a cutting torch it seems like there will still be a lot of detail work required to smooth the cuts and make it worthy of a custom rifle. Also curious how close he can get to the edge. No knock on your decision, but if it were me I would save the $100 and do it myself with drill press and files. | |||
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Coping saw with a metal cutting blade: $15. Dakota skeletonized buttplate: $250 Rich's free buttplate after run thru a plasma cutter: Priceless! Sorry, Rich. Couldn't resist. I'd think if anything like that would work it would have to be a water jet cutter. Expensive to set up for a single piece. "Experience" is the only class you take where the exam comes before the lesson. | |||
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Heck I did mine with by drilling a few holes and getting into it with a hack saw and then files.  | |||
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Brownells has one for $125 Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Von Gruff, that is great work. What peep is it? Yes, I could have gotten after it with my drill press and file work. One teensy oops and I get to buy another butt plate and take a second whack, though. Clean forgot to check Brownells. thanks guys, Rich | |||
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Rich look here for the peep http://s61.photobucket.com/use...sofrontleft.jpg.html Or http://forums.accuratereloadin...1043/m/862103346/p/1 | |||
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Yes J_Zola. That is the one. Rusty is good to deal with and makes a beautifully machined sight. Product of Rusty's Action Works Owned and operated by Rob Zimmerman AKA Rusty Marlin | |||
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Haha! I hate it when people say that - "oh, I just hacked it up at the kitchen table" and the end result looks better than anything I could ever attempt. Beautiful work, sir!  _____________________________________________________ No safe queens! | |||
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Yeah Von Gruff, that is nice work! I reprofiled a Mauser milsup buttplate to the same approximate teardrop shape, polished and blued it and the results are quite nice considering the humble origins. The thing I don't care for is the more centralized location of the toe side screw hole, but now I'm thinking I could just skeletonize this part right out and place a new hole where I want it. Hmmm... Thanks for the idea! | |||
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They sure are pretty when done right, and show the stockmakers skill. As for me, I use a rifle too hard to use that option, the checkering took a lick on the one I built for myself.. I need a smooth or checkered steel, or leather covered buttplate and my guns. I have a really fancy one I made if anyones interested. I will never use it. I can send pics to your email and I won't break the bank on you.  Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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HA!! Duane. Now we know why the checkered area on your butt plate design is as it is. A Trap door would be fairly easy to make using the cut out checkered area. | |||
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Many years ago A.O. Niedner knew what worked best. | |||
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Don't know if he can do it or not but the guy doing the plasma cutter has to put some draft into the cutout; very important. Jim Kobe 10841 Oxborough Ave So Bloomington MN 55437 952.884.6031 Professional member American Custom Gunmakers Guild | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Custom Built Rifles Skeleton/Cutout butt plate...
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