I'm finally beginning a long awaited stocking project. 375 Whelen AI, nice VZ, #3 Shilen. I have a plain but nicely laid out (good quatersawn, straight grain, some mineral streaking) piece of Bastogne. I really want this one to turn out well.

I wanted to do a trim Schnable forend, no cheekpiece, steel butt plate. However, I began to lay things out last night and found that the blank is too short to use without adding a forend tip. It seems that I have seen Schnables done with ebony but it seems like it could look a bit corny. I could use a less contrasty piece of dark walnut to lessen the effect or forgo the Schnable and just do a real trim forend. I measured some of Fisher's a couple of weeks ago and some of his recent ones went as thin as 1 1/8.

Does anyone have suggestions, or better yet, pics of stocks done this way to help me lay this out? The goal is to keep this light and trim (think early M54's...) Thanks for any help you can provide.

Jay, I could not find much of a picture, but the old Steyr Mannlicher Luxus (with half stock) had some of the most elegant forearms I have ever come across. That particular model used a contrasting foreend with a schnabel... Hope this is not too "Continental" for you, no need to use the hogsback rear stock if you don't like that style...

Here is a poor picture I found on the net...



One alternative to ebony would be something like ironwood. It will still contrast with the walnut, but not be quite as "massive" as the ebony. One can find pieces with a lot of nice figure in them...

- mike

P.S. Ah here are some more pics, although I find the Classic Luxus above far better executed. These schnabels are almost overdone...

I did an ebony schnabel one time to salvage a to short stock. I think it looked just fine. It was a very shallow trim forend, much like the first picture above, but not cut at an angle.

John

Here is a picture of a stock based on the old Mauser Pattern B stock with Schnabel forend. This one is being made by Gary Stiles of Homer City, PA. It is light & trim. The tip looks great as well. I am planning on having him make me one in 30-06

I think it looks kinda nice Jay, but your judgement is certainly a heck of a lot better than mine. If anyone can do it I know you can.

mho-thanks a million for the pics. I am definately going with the ebony schnable but need to decide whether to attempt the 45deg cut or go with the 90. I guess its just a matter of dowling deeper than normal and cutting after.

Ironbuck-
Very nice stock, just great. It's remarkable how similar my blank is to that. Beautiful rifle.

fla--
I am going to attempt the a widow's peak now. Beautifully done. Is that tip cut at an angle? It's difficult to tell from the pic. My mentor does those routinely (and complains about them routinely) but I wonder how combining the widows peak and an angle cut would complicate both the lines and the execution. I hate to continue to impose but would you possible post a profile shot of that tip fo me to use as a pattern? Sincerely appreciated.

Bob! Great to hear from you. 37 below here last weekend, how's Florida?

Fla3006.
that looks very very nice !
I think sucha stock on a .257 ronerts woudl be wonderfull...tj3006

Jay, beats 37 below but cool, getting down to mid 30s at night but 55 to 70 during the day. Doing a lot of shootinghere, just found a new club that is great, concrete benches and all. I hope your taking good care of that beautiful new wife of yours. Thak care and keep up the good gun work, I expect some day when your famous to be able to say I knew him when.

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:

Fla3006.
Beautiful work. I am contemplating something very similar for my Borchardt.

Any clues about how that ebony is fitted? Were the cuts made with a bandsaw or is this all chisel work, and what about the pinning?

Nice. Very nice.

Brent

Here's one I did to salvage a warped semi-inletted fore-end. Notice the scarf joint instead of a butt joint.







Hope this helps

Elmo

Snowcat & Brent, it is 90 degrees then the widow peak is formed. My gunsmith did it, not me, I'm not sure how he does it but I think he uses a scroll saw, I can only do simple stuff.

Elmo, I like that, different.

Here's another he did for my 416 but it is not a schnabble:

quote:

Originally posted by elmo:

That looks great Elmo.
- mike

Cabela's