Here are some photos I took during Steve Hughes' custom gunmaking seminar held in his shop from September 2nd-6th of this year.

I brought my Winchester 70 .270 with an English walnut semi-inlet stock from Shane Thompson to work on, Jim from California had a 1909 Mauser custm with a Claro walnut semi-inlet, and George from Oregon had another M70 with an English walnut semi-inlet stock from Dressel's.

Steve covered stock drawings, layout and dimensions, wood blanks, pattern stocks, and we made scrapers forged from drill rod- and that is just a few of the topics. We spent a fair amount of time working at our benches daily and each made good progress on our stocks. Oh- we also saw and raccooned several fine rifles and shotguns, inside and out. Every day there was something new.

Steve was an excellent instructor with a LOT of great information and answers for our myriad questions. Bolt action rifles may not be his specialty but he was able to help guide each of us through the tough spots we encountered with our projects and provide some direction for the work we've got to do at home now. It was great to be in his shop and see what tools a real professional uses and how, not to mention look over what Steve is working on now too.

Thanks again to Jim and George for being fun guys to learn and work with, and Steve for giving us his time, shop, and knowledge. I have been messing around with stocks for a few years and this was my first taste of an education on gunmaking. I'm very glad I made the trip!

Anyways- on to the photos.

Examining Jerry Fisher's impeccable inletting work:


Close-up of that stock (for a Winchester 70):


Pre-WW1 Mauser sporting rifle:


Jim contemplating his next move:


Roughing in the barrel channel:


George applying inletting black to his barreled action:


His first stock project... lookin' GOOD:


Steve demonstrating a cut on my stock:


Yours truly scribing around the bottom metal before digging in:


Making progress, with Stella the shop dog supervising:


Forging:


The scrapers, nearly completed:

Just because Montana is a beautiful state, here's some photos I took during the 1000 mile drive as I camped and fished along the way.















Thanks for looking!

Nice stuff. Thanks, Evan. I am envious of all able to attend these seminars. When does the movie appear?

Stephen

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Frith:
Nice stuff. Thanks, Evan. I am envious of all able to attend these seminars. When does the movie appear?

Stephen

Heh no movie, just photos- thanks. It was a big decision for me to head to Steve's seminar in Montana and I'm glad I did.

Evan,
You were a great person to have here and I really appreciate the quality photos. What a good group with great projects!
We got a lot done and with the addition of the three custom Mausers and Fisher M-70 we got to see what some custom rifles look like on the inside, and outside.

(I'm starting a list for 2014 Seminars, please email me at www.sdh@finegunmaking.com Very limited attendance..)

Best,
Steve

Inspecting original Mauser inletting


M-70 class project on office wall


Graduation Photo, Congratulations Guys, from Stella the gunshopdog..!

Great thread!