This is the partly machined fore end after Charlie wiped it with mineral spirits.

I just heard from Charlie. He will be in Michigan and will bring me the completed wood next week. This week I need to clean out the deer blind and, the first sunny day, Glorya and I are going to take the Porsche (and our camera) on a color tour thru the boonies up here. Our leaves are just about at their peak color and we don't want to miss it. For the rest of the fall I intend to spend half my time whittling on gun stock and half of it in the woods watching the rut which is about to start. I will keep updating this as work progresses.

Chuck Grace delivered the stocks, fully inletted, to me yesterday. This is the gun, exactly as I received it plus the Unertl.

I'm very happy with the way the wood came out. There's way too much wood which is what I asked for.

A closer look at the show side of the stock.

This is just rough machined and I expect a lot more grain to pop out as the stock gets final shaped and well sanded. The McWilliams finish I used on the 17 HMR projects really enhanced the grain and color.

The cheek piece of the stock. This isn't as strong as the show side but my experience with the McWilliams finsh tels me that I will be pleasantly surprised when we get to that stage.

The ebony fore end tip as installed by Charlie. This is exactly what I asked him to do. I have no way to put the widow's peak in and he told me that he had made a special tool to do same.

I have found two rifles that have, what I feel, are perfect lines thru the grip area... one by Jerry Fisher and one by Don Klein. If you are going to try and copy someone else, you may as well copy the best.

This rifle was fully inletted when I got it. I was amazed when I found out how well Charlie can inlet with his Goens machine... there's really very little to do when it comes off the machine. I told him to go ahead.

Time is an issue for me. I will be eighty in the spring when this is done and I want to shoot it in our BR matches next summer. There was a time when I would have done more of this myself but that was forty years ago. Now I get to do what I really like to do... shape the stocks and try very hard to make them aesthetically wonderful.

No bars for Dick this winter. Tomorrow morning wood chips are gonna be flying.

For some reason or other this wasn't included in the last post... bad computer.

The escutcheon is fine. It just needs polishing. Bad reflection. Thanks Max.

photobucket.com

This is what I have after about four days work. I did the fore end tip, mounted the pistol grip cap and worked on the grip. Tons more to do.

This is the picture that was supposed to be on the last post.

Can't resist posting this... I had some BR stuff upstairs in the living room last night waiting to be taken down to my office to await next season. I put the rifle on the rests that will be its natural habitat soon. I'm planning on shooting this in matches next summer.

I've started re-shaping the stocks and have spent a lot of time just looking at it wondering what to do next.

In the background is Chubbs resting her head on my pal, Kyle's gun. It's here to get the trigger lightened up a bit thanks to Yo Dave.
Chubbs checks in at 18 lbs. and misses very few meals. I had to take this pic.

I'm starting to really like this wood.

That blank sure turned out nice, Dick. I'm looking forward to the "in progress" pictures.

Ed

There's a lot of figure in the fore end too... you can't see it in this picture. The blank for the butt stock was so big that we got both stocks from it.

Gotta quit playing computer and finish inletting the butt plate.

Yesterday I spent seven hours roughing out the cheek piece. Operative word here is "Rough". Lots to do and I'm loving it.

I said it was rough. So much to do... a long cold winter in which to do it. The shape of the cheek piece needs a lot of refining before I'm happy.

Several more hours into the project. I've never stocked a single shot before (always bolt actions) and it's another world. Trying very hard not to screw up.

Another view. Note the plastic tape I use to protect the metal whilst I take the wood down flush. Lots of sanding dust here.

That one is coming along fine, Dick. I can hardly wait to see how it turns out.

quote:

Originally posted by mightymouse:
That one is coming along fine, Dick. I can hardly wait to see how it turns out.

You and me both... It's 5:15 AM and as soon as I get my blood levels of caffeine and nicotine up to normal, wood chips are gonna be flying.

Getting closer to the final shape.

A close-up of the grip and cheek piece after several hours more work.

Each picture gets better....keep them coming!

More sanding and detail work is now done... lots more to do.

I've been playing with the iPhoto. Note the grain coming out in the butt stock.

This is the final shape and size of the fore end. Needs finish sanding, etc.

Still quite a bit of work left on the butt stock.

Dick
Do you need a job and when can you start ?
D'Arcy

About forty years ago. Coming from you that's a huge compliment. Thanks.

I promised myself that, if this turned out good enough, I would have Chuck Grace checker it and rust blue it for me. So far it's looking good. He offered when he delivered the gun. We go back a long, long way.

Actually I'm just a hobbiest... I think I have a decent eye for line and am willing to spend the time to do it right. However, there's too long a list of things I can't do. So far, this is my best ever.

The show side of the butt stock. A few details remain but this is the final shape.

I am grateful to Winston Elrod for giving me the Neidner butt plate. I wish somebody would make these... exactly like to originals.

The cheek piece side of the butt. I'm going to have to do something with the top/rear of the cheek piece... not exactly the way I want it. The bottom line of the cheek piece also needs some refinement... I'm not quite thrilled with it yet.

I'm definitely going to replace the safety... a recessed one that's checkered on top would be best. Can they be made to work well?

This is the whole gun as it is today... pretty much the final lines but a lot of refinement needed.

This is the proportion I wanted. This gun is going to be shot to work up accurate loads and in 100 yd. benchrest matches next summer. It was surprisingly accurate when I test fired it in the pattern stocks. That Kepplinger trigger is the best accuracy aide you can get for a No. 1.

The original concept was a 60's varmint rifle. I'm thinking about asking the local rancher about hunting chucks on his property... Still, there's so few chucks around here that I would feel guilty popping one. There's lots of paper targets.

I'm going to have to make some decisions soon... I'm thinking about getting the scope bumped to 12X and having a half-minute dot installed. It's 8X now and 12X would help in competition.

I really want another safety. The lines would work better with a flush and checkered safety recessed into the tang...

The trigger is kinda fat and inelegant. I don't know how (and am afraid to try) to take it apart and file and polish it down to something that is a tad more elegant. This Kepplinger is more klutzy looking than the one on my .243. For $300.00 it would seem that Kepplinger would give you a better looking tigger.

That flat sided action begs for engraving but that's not in the cards.

Last year, whilst going thru "stuff" in my messy shop, I found two of these... In the 70's I had taken them to a guy in Cincinnati to be engraved. I also found a Neidner butt plate that had been there forever. I had totally forgotten that I had them.

Anyway, I decided this project would be a good place to use this one. It needs a little cleaning up but will work just fine. This, obviously, needs fitting better... will do.

I think the wood gods intended me to have this chunk of wood. When I took the fore end down to size I found this "W" for Wright. No marking pen here... just the mineral streaks in the wood.

Both these last two pictures reveal how much work there is to do before I can put finish on the stocks.

Very close to the final shape. This is a rare pic that I did absolutely no photoshopping.

Los of sanding coming up.

Another view. Things I see that need doing looking at these two pics...

I got another safety yesterday. I will cut aprox .090" off the front, file/grind off the bump, file flat and checker it.

The "sideplates" need a change in shape... put a more graceful arc on top.

The trigger looks clubby... need to find a way to file/grind it flatter in cross section.

Still lurking, Dick. You are doing a wonderful job!

I am very interested to see the stock with some finish on it. That has to be the most red walnut I've seen for a while. Also, What is the barrel contour?

The barrel is a number two right off Douglas' shelf. I didn't want a real big gun. Weight with scope is 8-1/4 lbs. It's a 14" twist for .22 benchrest match bullets.

There is some distortion in the colors shown... lights, flash, etc. Background wood is kinda pink although a friend told me that pink is too swishy. He said it's "Dusty rose".

The McWilliams finish I used on the one 17 HMR really made the grain and color pop out. Looking forward to seeing how this blank turns out. Getting closer...

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
Still lurking, Dick. You are doing a wonderful job!

Thanks, Butch. So far I'm very happy. I really wish I could get this engraved but it ain't gonna happen.

I soaked the stocks with mineral spirits to remove finger prints, etc. This is the first good look I've had of the grain and color.

The fore end with the mineral spirits. This stuff soaked in faster than I could put it on.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:

Your project is looking really good. How did you get the shapes cut at the tip, and how did you get it to fit so well? Also, what are you using for glue here?

The safety seems to stick out a bit. I seem to remember seeing pictures online of a No1 that had the safety sunk into the receiver with some mill work. I don't remember who did it though.