This is a fabulous thread!!!

This is perhaps one of the best single threads I have ever seen. Sir, thank you.

quote:

Michael Kokolus in PA

Les, do you have contact informayion on Michael Kokolus in PA?

Thanks, Jim Berry

Jim, I don't know Kokolus and only know what I read on the forum. I understand that he is not answering to anything.

Hope you luck,

Les

I received Les' thumb drive with all his gunsmith and stock making tips and hints........Truly amazing piece of work. Well worth the few dollars....

Thanks Les for doing this for us....It's appreciated!

Les,Thank you for this, it's amazing. I would like to buy a thumbdrive also. I'll PM My info,please respond with where to send the funds. I had the good fortune to look at buying Mr. Shellhammers (the stockmakers) home in Dowagiac. It was awesome to be in his workshop,which was very simple & most or all the tools still there. The owner gave me 2 dovetail wooden boxed of big bore ammo which I will always treasure. I'm in awe of men like you who are true artist. Thank you!

awesome build

Thanks for taking the time. You are a true craftsman!!!

Health reasons has kept me from finishing this rifle. I am hoping to get this done soon, but now the hot weather is here. My New Mexico annual summer stay has falling behind this year. We still would like to go to Ruidoso.

I didn't know so many people had an interest in this project. I will post a picture of where the work stopped so you can see the latest. The bluing is not completed. The angle of the picture makes it seem larger in size.

Here is close up of the action to show what has changed. I fitted a single set Canjar 98 trigger from my 17 Rem Mini Mauser. Now if I can get to a range on a calm day and sight it in for some long range varmints like PD's.

Thanks for this fantastic project report.

I am planning on doing my take-down Mannlicher Schoenauer stock. There is no front action screw hole in the stock (though the rifle action has the threaded hole in the lug). My question is - can I just make the hole in the stock to half the depth and use a blind bolt to position the action on the blank for this step? The rear part of the stock has an action screw hole but this threads into the tang peep sight. The rear tang of the action has no screw hole & it just hooks under the lip of the peep sight. The Mannlicher rotary magazine also plays a part in locking the action to the stock from the bottom!

quote:

Originally posted by LesBrooks:
Mark a center line on top of the blank with a 1 in. inset from the right side of a right hand stock blank. At this point you will use the markings on the side to determine the front guard screw on top. Center punch deep!!! Use a 1/4 in drill bit. I use a 2 inch square to help line up the drill and have someone with a precision eye ball help with line up the drill motor. Mark the bottom side with a large X in the spot where the drill comes through. It should be marked and square the same way you did the top location. The drill on this stock blank came out 1/32 inch off the spot. A very good start!!!

It has been years since I viewed this type of take down action. I don't think you could use the front action screw because of the hook at the rear section. The barrel end area would need to come up enough to allow the rear end to clear its lock. I could be wrong!!!

You picked a very difficult rifle to try to stock. Even the standard rifle is one of the hardest to inlett and get the contact on the recoil surfaces to hold without glass bedding all areas.

If I were doing this job I would take the old stock and make a pattern with the old design. The barrel band will need to be fitted up tight to hold parts into the stock or you could be shooting 4 inch groups. The recoil from the caliber which you have will kick hard on the recoil points. They must be fitted tight or you will have a split stock after a few rounds.

You can see that I am not a fan of Mann. Sch. take down rifles. Look for a stockmaker down there to do this job.

was really nice meeting you,and having coffee.haven't seen you online. are you still in texas?hope your feeling better. james

I finally made it to the range to check out the rifle with some more 204 Ruger factory loads. The 32 gr appears to be more accurate than the 40 gr loads. I will be shooting more now that we are located a couple of miles from a good shooting range. I also took the Simmon scope off and installed a 3X9 Leupold. I am still not pleased with the rust blue job which I tried to do outside under the trees. Sometime in the future I will have someone sand blast and hot blue the rifle.

This is the final make up of my rifle. I installed a Canjar single set 98 trigger with a little cutting in the guard area. I also changed to the 3X9 Leupold. The bolt handle is a little longer than the original bolt handle.

The purpose of this rifle in this show and tell was to show a hunting rifle can be made without a lot of expensive machines. This project has had more people viewing than I could imagine. Maybe a few beginners will find something of interest in this project. Thanks to all that contacted me with questions. I hope that I helped you.

Les Brooks

It's beautiful! Thank you for this thread.

This is a GREAT thread. I can barely tighten screws and have zero talent with wood work, BUT I have read this end to end and I really appreciate your taking the time to share your talent and knowledge.

Thank you,

John

Bravo! Thank you for sharing your craft so willingly with so many.

Best thread I have read on AR.com

Les

I have really enjoyed your articles. Especially on layout of the blank.

I have one of your old CD's but if your thumb drive contains additional information, I would like to buy it too.

I will be running my bluing tanks some time around December or January. If you are anywhere near the north Texas area I will be glad to bead blast and blue the project for you, my fee will be a cup of coffee and a nice visit.

I hope your health is improving and God bless.

Craftsman,

I will send you the USB SanDisk with more info and over two hrs of video. I added a few new things and now it is over 2 Gb's long. Send me a PM with the mailing address.

Mr. Brooks

You inspire! period

I've viewed and read this thread so many time I've lost count.

Thanks, Zeke

Les, I also want to thank you for this thread. I'm a gunsmithing student at Piedmont Tech in Greenwood, SC and I have gained a lot of knowledge from this thread. I have an uncle that is binging me a shotgun tomorrow that he wants restocked. The stock was broken many years ago and has been sitting in a closet since. I know the gun is at least 60 years old as he bought it before he was 10 and he is 70 this year. This will be my first stock and needless to say I am more than a little anxious. I have some beautiful walnut that I got from the school and I hope I can do a good job.

I too would like to have a copy of your USB drive. If you will let me know how much it is I will gladly send you the money and a mailing address. I look foward to learning more from such a master. Thank you.

Pm me or send an email to me. My email address is listed in my profile.

Les,

Good to see that skilled artisan's such as you still exist. Great work, tools and thread.

email sent. Thank you.

A great post that has been very helpful to me and I'm sure to others.
Could it be pinned to the top as it used to be?
Alan

Saeed, I think you should make this one a sticky thread.. It is incredibly informative!

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us Les!! It would be hard to find this kind of information even in books. Great stuff!!

Saeed,
This project has had so much interest that I would suggest it be placed back as a sticky. I had no idea that over 26,000 people would view this DIY project.

Once again I am not taking any type of work as my working days are over. I only wanted to help others get started.

I have more to tell about this rifle. I suppose www.hunt101. com is up and running again.

Les Brooks

I am going to fill you in a what happened to my rifle about 3 weeks ago.

First it was shooting real well and I had 4 shots at 200 yds which measured .775. I cleaned the barrel with a wet patch and I thought that I ran another patch through the barrel. The next three shots didn't make it to the target. I stopped to pickup the target and went home. I knew something had gone wrong. There wasn't a visable spot on the outside of the barrel. As soon as the patch hit the spot I knew that I had a problem. Six inches from the crown you can see a small shadow inside. The only thing that could have happened is a part of the patch must have remained in the barrel. Kreiger wanted $405 to replace the barrel blank. I will replace it with a Shilen barrel of the same size and twist.

I learned a costly lesson by not looking inside the barrel after I cleaned it on the range.

That's a shame about the barrel. Is Shilen going to match the contour or are just going to order the next size up?

Thanks for sharing. It's been an amazing thread.

Terry

What a great thread!

quote:

Originally posted by RoyB:
I received Les' thumb drive with all his gunsmith and stock making tips and hints........Truly amazing piece of work. Well worth the few dollars....

Thanks Les for doing this for us....It's appreciated!

How can I order a thumb drive for myself from Les?

Dang! Shade tree masterpiece! Thank you for the post, great stuff!

Mr. Brooks, thank you for sharing your expertise on your stock/rifle build. You have inspired us all. Hope you have a new barrel and are smoking some of those prarie dogs.

This project is getting close to its final tests. I got a Shilen # 2 barrel and found a lathe on Craig's List. Now before you start telling me that you can not use a small 7X12 mini lathe to make an accurate hunting rifle just finish reading my write up. I don't have access to a larger lathe as it want fit in my travel trailer.


I could get a small trailer to put behind the trailer, but I would be too long. Summer is coming soon and I will be shooting PD's in NM or Colorado if all goes Ok.

Les,
Remember the Shilen Swap Meet on April7th.

The 7X12 mini lathe needs some mods before you can do this project. I made a 4 screw chuck and a 4 screw spider to hold the barrel. Next was to make a floating reamer holder to fit the tailstock. My $500 dollar investment is taking on a project made for larger machines. I turned down the shank cutting against the tailstock end as the small chucks will not hold when cutting to the head stock with a heavy cut like .010. Threading is very slow because of the power of the motor. Notice the steady rest on the barrel and the reamer holder in place. I cut a perfect chamber without any oversize from the floating holder. The headspace was set at about go plus maybe .001. I was able to fire reloads from the original barrel without any changes to the brass. Next post for pictures

The one target has a lot of shots with a scope change for the two lower shots. The black square in 1 inch and the red is a 2 inch spot. The target that I measured is .300 with 5 shots of reloads made for the original rifle barrel. This is reloaded Hornady brass, Hornady 40 gr bullet, and Reloader 10 powder.

I believe that I am ready to go to NM for PD's.

I still need to get a good rust blue or a bead blasted finish. I had to float the barrel because the Shilen is slightly small than the Krieger #2.

The final stock as of now

Butch,

Thanks for your help in speeding up getting the Shilen barrel. If all goes well I hope to be at the next meeting at Shilen's in April.

If you guys want to see how these barrels are made just show up at the meet. I first met Ed Shilen in 1968 when they moved to Irving, Tx. The Ennis plant holds these meeting free and a free lunch. Barrels are there to buy that day if you want a standard barrel.

Les,
Could you give some details on the tailstock reamer holder? I looked on your USB drive but didn't notice it.
Greg