I'm now working on a very nice english walnut stock for a Mauser. It is my first stock from Great American Gunstocks. Very nice, great wood; it is a 'second' with a small knot in the forearm, but otherwise exhibition quality. The knot doesn't distract from it in the least, if you don't mind such things.

On to the questions. This stock is very THICK. When you look at it from the top, the part near the action tang is probably 2" and the thickness at the cheekpiece is about the same. From the side, the lines look great. I can't say that I've ever handled a really high grade gun, so I'm wondering if it should be this thick, or needs to be shaved down.

The second thing I'm wondering about is the pad on the toeline for the sling swivel base to be inlet. I've seen enough of these in pictures to get the basic concept, but have never seen this up close. Anybody out there have a rifle like that, who could send me a close-up pic or even describe how it's shaped?

Thanks,
Todd

Of course I will post pics when I get it shaped and finished.

[ 01-23-2003, 08:40: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

Todd,
The thing to do is to measure some stocks which you find dimensionally pleasing to get an idea of what you want to end up with. Most people seldom slim them too much though it can happen. The important thing is the stock has to fit the rest of the rifle so that the stock on the slender barrelled 7mm is slimmer than the one on the somewhat stout .375. One the average most of my sporting rifles end up between 1 3/4 and 1 7/8 thick at the receiver. Regards, Bill.

Thanks Bill. Since I posted, I have been browsing through pics on my computer, of various people's rifles that I have saved. There is a lot of variation. The barrel on this one is fairly heavy (24" and .650 at the muzzle), so a hefty stock will look okay.

Todd

Todd, are you talking about a pedestal to inlet a 2 screw sling swivel stud into? If so I would wait until you get some experience. It is a giant pain in the ass during sanding and finishing. You have enough problems without adding to them.

Chic,

That is exactly what I'm talking about. I'm trying to figure out how much bigger than swivel base it should be. Finishing stocks is a PIA, but it's fun and relaxing when it isn't making my blood pressure high.

Todd

Todd- I inlet my two screw sling swivels from Dakota by first outlining them on the stock and then cutting very very carefully inside the lines with a sharp inletting tool. I also had some success using a small carbide burr in a Dremel tool and being incredibly careful with how close I got to the borders. I then used inletting black and the chisel to carefully work the stud down to depth while keeping the edges sharp. It's very tricky and time consuming. I also found that the screw slots were rediculously narrow and I had to enlarge them. Once blued they look beautiful.-Rob

I recently did this for my first time and was reasonably satisfied. I went in blind and did it while I was waiting for the sealer coat to dry. I outlined a Dakota Ken Howell base as already described and sure enough peeled a sliver of wood outside the line on the practice stock. After that I made a sharp cut just inside the scribed line to prevent the same thing happening again. Once I got a little depth I used a small scraper to gently enlarge to the proper width/length. I was actually pleasantly surprised it came out pretty decent. Maybe it was like a blind squirel finding a nut or the stars were in perfect alignment

[ 01-24-2003, 10:20: Message edited by: dempsey ]

Todd,
Regular 2 screw inletted swivel bases are not hard to inlet, they just require care. Bad place for a dremel in that slot. Within 5 feet of a stock is too close.

What I was talking about is the pedestal. The toe line has to be straight and you are erecting a barricade to getting it right. There are ways to do it once you have some experience but I would suggest you save those little items for another time. Just a thought. If you are dead set on it, I will measure some of mine. I make the pedestal a lot bigger to begin with and then inlet the base and then shape it to the width that looks good to me.

Keep your chisels sharp.

I think this little detail is a lot of trouble and rather on the fragile side- more for a show gun. You would think these raised pads would catch on everything like the bench, the rest, the edge of the case, et al. and quickly show damage.

Several things come to mind, one being these pads do not catch on anything and are not easily breakable if done properly and not to much is left exposed....

Inletting a rear swivel swivel is pretty easy and quick for me..I mark them out on the pad with a pencil and chuck the stock in a drill press and cut inside the marking with a small end mill cutter, then finish by hand with enletting tools ans lamp black, in other words inlet it, but be carefull with the end mill cutter as the swivel has a draft to it..I always glass the swivel in with very thin glass compond to preserve the wood, and protect the inside of the inletting, gives it a beatifully clean look....

Thanks for the responses.

I am quite intent on doing this; you never advance unless you push yourself. If it's ugly, I'll sand it flat!

I have inletted several two piece swivel bases, achieving very good (or good enough for me) wood to metal fit. I won't say how exactly I did this, but it may have involved a dremel tool and a 1/8 spiral cutting carbide straight bit . It does require a very steady hand, and I would not attempt it after caffeine or a long working day.

If anyone has a close up picture of a swivel base set in a pedestal, that would be very cool.

Thanks,
Todd

Todd,
Okay we have that out of the way, you want to proceed. The pedestal mounts are easier to inlet than just a straight toe slope. If you have a slight gap you can just inlet it a tad deeper and voila it is gone. If it isn't, wet the wood at the gap and press it against the base and let it dry. One of those tricks to make your errors go away. Rays method on a drill press with a xy table is one of the safe ways to do it under power. But if you understand how to inlet them forge ahead.

Get the pad located where you want it along the toe. If you are working from a blank make the toe line about 3/16" lower than necessary. Then cut the slope down the 3/16 on either side. The flat on each side can be wider than finished a nd you can shape it back to what is pleasing to your eye. The max I end up with is around 1/8 of an inch on either side. This item should be subtle. Remember that you can use this on curved bases as well as flat ones. The curved ones create a nice touch in that the pedestal is a mirror image of what the toe line would have been below it. Use a small round file to create a radius at the intersetion of the stock on the sides.

When you are shaping the toe line down to grade ( and leave some material on both end of the pedestal before you do this, once the pad is installed and shaped on top, get the toe line right first. Otherwise you will mess up the ends of the pedestal with your file or sanding block.

Make a small jig that spans the pad so the you can eyeball what needs to be taken down by sliding it along the stock with you looking at the gap above the pedestal. If the gap disappears and appears under one of your end blocks, you have just screwed yourself and you will have created a new depth below the pedestal. Do the same thing when sanding, at least for a check.

Carry on and have fun. If you start screaming, remember I told you so, lol.

Chic,

Thanks for the how-to. I have both flat profile and rounded profile swivel bases -- it never occured to me to have a pad that was radiused instead of flat. I like that idea, and will probably do that.

Best,
Todd

Todd if you need some more help, my phone # is on my web site.