A discussion at the rifle club I belong to, got me thinking.

It should be possible to have a wood laminate stock checkered - the type made up of 1/16 th inch strips.

However, others thought, because of the resin component and the 'gaps' between strips, the checkering cut diamonds would break or fall out along the boundary between strips.

What is the consensus here?

The wood laminate target rifle stocks I have seen have the dark grey stippling on the forend and pistol grip instead of checkering.

all i've ever read is that the epoxy will eat checkering cutters completely up and need carbide. otherwise no, the diamonds will hold up just fine. remington checkers their VLS or whatever stocks. besides, the epoxy is a lot stronger than the parent wood. that'd be like saying diamonds wouldn't hold on plastic pistol grips. or ar15 grips. or old stevens tenite stocks. or remington nylon 66's. etcetc.

Some diamonds may pop off, but you get the desired effect. Can't hurt the looks much

My old version Rem custom shop ABG has a laminated stock with all sorts of checkering. As of yet, none of the checkering diamonds have popped off, and it looks and feels just like checkering on any other wood riflestock.

there really shouldn't be any gaps between layers. if so, it wasn't done right. and the epoxy itself impregnates the wood and essentially becomes part of it.

gixxer - i'm guessing you ride a suzuki?

I fitted and checkered a Fagen laminated stock for a Pre-64 375 about 17 years ago - did it to preserve the original stock and to have a more weather proof varient. The stock has seen a lot of use since then, the checkering remains very functional and looks "OK". That was 20 line/ inch spacing and courser would have probably been better for a laminated stock. I got the impression my checkering tools lost some of the edge, but did another stock in pretty good walnut a few years later and they still worked.

Emory

I have a laminate stock that I would like to have checkered. Does anyone know who will do this?

Geronimo

Sherry Abraham does all types of checkering does excellent work. Her web site has Info. about checkering lamilated stocks

www.checkering.com

got a new wenig's catalog today by coincidence. they offer checkering on their laminates. no mention of it being fragile.

I called Ahlman's a while back and asked about checkering such a stock, and the reply was, "no problem".

I have checkered several of them without a problem and no popped off diamonds...Like Claro or black walnut I soak the checkering area with hot stuff glue and checker...It works like a charm...

I also have a Dowtin rifle thats a laminated Turkish bland and it has a different and very neat pattern, the borders are mullered and the checkering is all in one direction only like you expect a half finished checkering job to be but its extremely tough and functional and it darn good looking...

Most commerical blanks are bonded with urea formaldhide,same stuff as plywood.That's the stuff that does in tool edges,not epoxy.In fact epoxy would be great glue,just very expensive.Seringti stocks use PVA glue which is easy on tools.

Ray, that is an ingenious idea using the C/A to harden the wood. I take it you have no problems with the glue crazing and making a crust from using so much at one time. The fumes bond to anything, even fingerprints show up in the immediate area if you arent careful...

Thank you all for your replies. I thought it would be possible, but then, to those who do not know, everything seems easy!

I have a left hand Win Mod 70 in .375H&H, which startred out as a .300 Win Mag. Think Johnny Cash / One bit at a time. I have replaced the bottom metal with a Williams unit, the bolt stop obviously had to be changed.

The result is I have a barrelled action that does not really fit its' old stock. So I am looking for an affordable replacement / upgrade.

I like the look of the Richards Microfit old Classic Model 102 stock but the pistol grip looks a bit thin / vulnerable. The new classic is thicker but not so classy in my opinion.

To get around this, I thought I would get a rose wood laminate stock. They are stronger than traditional wood, so I have less worries about having the "102" stock for a heavy kicker like the .375.

What do people think about Richards Microfit stocks? Please keep in mind, I am in England, Europe if there is a problem and the rifle is left handed.

Robthom,
you could try Callum Ferguson at Precision Rifles. I understand he is doing laminate stocks.
Ed

Gixxer,
that is a trick I learned from an old time stock maker...He used it to checker black walnut and Claro and any other cork wood that has a tendency to fuzz up like rabbit hair..It works...I hit it a lice on the top with with wet sanding very fine after a soaking then checker it, add a little as you go..It will take a little time to get the hang of it, but you won't hurt anything as you learn how much to use...the thin diamonds take a lot of glue but its not on top of the diamonds, its in the wood..that stuff is water thin...

that lick on top!

You are absolutely correct about the water thin part... You know, all this talk about checkering laminates is making me want to spend some money and get some niceities added on to my laminated stock. A rosweood rimmed checkered grip cap would be pretty nice... The talley skeleteon is pretty nice, but I saw @ the Serengeti site that they take a ring of rosewood or ebony, and checker the middle wood around it on the grip. Maybe not as durable as the Talley, but still nice.

Edmac,

I shoot at Bisley and a member of our club is having an accurate varmint / target rifle built by Callum. It will have, if I remember correctly, a thumb hole stock. He wanted to have it checkered but could not find anyone who would do it.

When I last spoke to Callum, his stocker had just quit to join Boss. He told me this was going to delay his stocking work. I had phoned him to ask about fitting a semi inletted stock blank etc. This was before Christmas 2004, about September. Things may have changed now.