Greg, I didn't have this posted on the USB so send me an email for an updated file. This is made similar to the Bald Eagle floating holder. Put a search out for floating reamer holds and you can find several different types. Mine is made for the mini lathe tailstock which is a short #2 Morse taper. The handle has a 1/4in plate fitted inside the end where the harden round ball pushes. There is about .018 clearance for the ball to float around and keep the reamer lined up to the bore line. I had a smaller floater that I made about 30 yrs ago that worked off the drill chuck and used a center to drive the reamer. The Bald Eagle type is much safer to use and with the short handle you can feel the reamer cutting and judge the amount of pressure to apply. Cut slow and you will have a very good chamber.

Here is the target without the calipers in the way. How can I get an 8 lb rifle with a Nikon scope shoot any better with a couple of bad eyes? I don't think I could hold much closer than this group.

This was awesome to read.

I am an 18 year Correctional Deputy and want to retire soon and want to take some gunsmithing classes (my dream anyways) and build guns, fix them, fix "grandpa's old gun for the grandson" etc. Engraving, I love Black Powder guns mostly.

This is a true inspiration with little tools and some true art.

is your usb still available?

Aaron
shrsmoke14@yahoo.com

I can send you a usb and download and mail back with funds for mailing if you like!

Aaron

As stated above, a truly awesome read!!! I too would like to get a USB full of info!!!
I just retired from the USAF after 22 yrs, 27 days on 1 Jan 2012 and have been accepted to the CST Gunsmithing course. I am slowly aquiring some information to try and get with the game as far as the machining aspect goes. Just got a reprint from South Bend on "How to Run and Maintain a Lathe" from 1943ish. Old, but good basic info for a beginner like me. And hanging out in good forums are good too....learning from someone elses mistake will hopefully--probably not--allow me to make fewer of my own.
I was told by my welding instructor (local vo-tech for a year after high school) to find the oldest person in the factory and stick to his heals because he is the one that already knows all the tricks and all the people that will get things done. It was true then and is still true today. Experience counts.

Les

I'm glad to see you got another barrel fitted to your mini mauser. Incredibly accurate......as all Shilen barrels are.

I plan to be at the Shilen Swap Meet too. If you still need your project blued, I will be running my tanks again about May. If you like I can pick it up at the swap meet and ship it back to you around May.

Freddy Johle

Mr. Brooks - thanks so much for your tremendous generosity & kindness! To share this project & information with us is a true gift!

God bless in all your travels!

friar

I've got a question about the stock finish procedure. Les says that he used spray urethane as a filler and that he cuts it back down to the wood before applying tru-oil finish. Here's my question. If you fill the grain with the spray urethane, what purpose does the tru-oil serve? Will it change the shade of the wood? Do you have to use the tru-oil finish or can you just use the spray urethane? I've got the stock on my Ruger 77 sanded and I've applied two coats of spray urethane and then sanded it back down to bare wood in most parts of the stock. I then applied two more coats and its looking really good but I do see some areas that still need filled. I'm just having a hard time seeing the benefit or purpose of the tru-oil being applied AFTER the urethane finish. Seems backwards to me.

Stock finish can be several different types of materials. The ways to apply the sealer varies by whether it is sprayed or hand rubbed. Most people like to have the pours filled smooth with the surface of the wood. The way to get this smooth is to cut back down to the wood surface with steel wool or by using a wet or dry sand paper with a solution to keep the finish from filling the paper too quickly. The grain of the wood will probably need a couple of coats of a filler before it will be smooth enough to apply a top finish. You can buy a finish for high gloss or a dull finish. I use an Auto Rubbing Compound to get a dull finish by cutting back the top finish after it has dried for a week or two. If you are planning to cut back to make a smoother finish you will need maybe four or five top coats to build up enough finish to cut back. Johnsons floor wax can be applied to the stock after you are finished with the rubbing compound.
I have used lacquer, boiled linseed oil, poly urethanes, and epoxy spray finish on gun stocks. Spraying the above finishes can be very dangerous for explosions as well as filling up the lungs with the particles.
Pick a method and stay with it until you are satisfied with the results. Only you know what type of finish you like. I started out using the Geo. Brothers Lin-Speed oil in 1957 and I still like that finish. Similar oils are available today, but they are not the same formula. The newer formula’s will dry quicker.
Custom stock makers have their own ideas of a finish. Some think they have the best kept secrets on finishes. Any finish will require you to practice until you have it perfected.

Les thanks for this thread and for all of the info it really helps this novice. Great job.

Les has asked for this thread to go back into the fold

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Les has asked for this thread to go back into the fold

I saw that Les was asking you to drop the thread. I'm sorry to see this thread fall away as it was one of the most instructional threads on this site.

JB I agree. Though it will likely get bumped to the top from time to time for that very reason

It is also very easy for those who want the info to download and save to hard drive.
Frank

A couple of things that I will add to this project will be fitting a recoil pad and grinding without a large disk sander. You don't need a lot of machines to do this work.

It may take a couple of weeks before I have this ready.

Les

quote:

Originally posted by LesBrooks:
A couple of things that I will add to this project will be fitting a recoil pad and grinding without a large disk sander. You don't need a lot of machines to do this work.

It may take a couple of weeks before I have this ready.

Les

Thank you Les, that will be much appreciated. This is a great thread!

I hope Les is OK?

I am just like an old dog!! All I want to do is lay around and sleep. I am still having problems with my right eye after the cataract surgery. I can see good, but it feel like wind burnt all the time. Around the last of Jan. I will have the left eye cataract surgery. I did fire an open sight 22LR a few weeks back and now I can see the open sights again.

The recoil pad fitting has been on hold for too long. I don't have a pad and the shops down in this area don't seem to stock the standard #325 pad. I will order out one from Brownell's next week.

Here is a side shot of the duplicator made by the students at TSJC in 1994. The school had never owned a duplicator to teach students how duplicators operate. They have bought a machine, but I don't know the brand. My original machine was designed to be portable. I owned a North Star carver in the late '70's.



This duplicator is 2ftX4ft and can be built for less than $1000. I built the original machine in 1981-83 for about $600.

quote:

The eye problem seems to be better

I am guessing that Prairie Dogs throughout the southwest are starting to worry.

This write up has had lots of interest. I don't plan to ever make another stock. The first stock made as a class project and credit from 1961 came back to me a couple of weeks ago. The style has changed so much and I have learned more about stocks over the years. I bet not very many will post their firt stock.



I am not making CD's or DVD's of my projects at this time. A USB drive is available which work fine on all PC's. If you want a copy send my a PM or email.

Incedible thread!

I only wish I had the skill, the patience, not to mention the knowledge and experience!

I salute you, Sir!

Recoil pad grinding without a 12 inch disk sander, but using the same 3/8 inch drill motor with a 5 inch flex disk. I have used this method most of the last 50 yrs. Control the drill motor with your arms up against the body and move your legs to move over the pad while grinding. Light pressure on the outer edge of the 5 inch disk and keep the disk moving down and up to check what is happening under the disk. A little practice and you will see how easy this is to control.

Les,

Thank you for being open and honest, this thread alone has guided my efforts more than you'll ever know.


Adan

Thanks for the details for the recoil pad. i have a hard time on the heel and toe. I think I may be able to control a drill better than the pad on the disc grinder. I'm going to give this a try on some practice pads.

Les has asked for this to be allowed to be a normal thread -

Thank you, Les - This has been wonderful for all

Bump for an incredible thread!

Has anybody heard from Les? I see he hasn't posted in quite a while.

He has a wonderful way with teaching! All professionals make things look so easy.

God Bless, Louis

I just thought I would see what was going on the Forum this morning. I am not too active as old age has taken over.

Here is a little update on the rifle that I made in this article. IF you read the pages of the Stockmaking on page 5 you will see that the Krieger barrel developed a swell about 6 inches back from the muzzle end. I replaced the barrel with a Shilen and it will shoot much better groups. I cut the Krieger back to 16 1/2 inches and kept it in the tool box. Here is the rest of the story!!

The price of the AR15's has dropped to as low as $438 down here in Texas. I thought it was time for me to learn how this gun works. I started studying by reading articles of this rifle. These rifles were starting to show up about the time I quit general gunsmithing. I bought an AR15 by Anderson Inc. and installed a Nikon P223 3X9 designed for this rifle. Next thing after measuring the original barrel was to order the barrel extension to fix this old Krieger barrel to my new AR15 for a 204 Ruger Varmint back up PD rifle. I took my time in turning the barrel down on my mine 7X12 lathe. It is about 18 inches with the flashhider in place. On Monday we went over to a shooting range and I fired a factory round to test the chamber. It went well and I had some reloads made for the original Krieger barrel before the swell from about 4 years ago. All reloads would chamber well and the next 25 shots were these old reloads. The rifle would feed these reloads after the bullets were at 2.245 overall to feed thru the magazine.

This Old Dog learned a few new tricks.

Les Brooks, one of those Grumpy old gunsmith

Les

I'm glad to see you back on the forum again. I really enjoy reading your posts and articles.

I have always been a blued steel and walnut guy. I started working with AR-15's when I worked for the Texas prison system years ago. Their principal rifle is the AR-15. I ended up as an armorer, firearms and chemical agents instructor. Later on I got the bug for shooting NRA Highpower rifle competition which of course is dominated by AR-15's so I learned to build match rifles too.

They are a lot fun because they are so modular. My friend called them high tech legos.... Another pal calls them America's Official Homeland Defense Rifle.

My first stock built from a blank at TSJC in 2003 and a Chamoi in NZ I took on DOC land

I started gunsmithing professionally in the late seventies and many times, over the years, I have had the notion that I knew what I was doing. Threads like this remind me that I will never know enough. This entire tutorial is a reminder of what gunsmithing was like when it was done for fun and not just for profit. An exceptionally good thread. Regards, Bill

Glad you are doing well Les. You know we really need to make this a sticky at the top.

Knowledge like this doesn't come along (especially in a way you can understand it) very often. The art of stock making is already replaced by high tech machinery as is almost everything.

God Bless Les, Louis

Bump this to the top, so it doesn't get lost!

Bump again

Les

Looking at that last photo you posted where you are grinding the recoil pad also give a great view of the cheekpiece. Do you follow any type of measurement formula for laying out that cheepiece. For example, how do you determine the sculpted part of the cheekpiece so that it gradually gets wider towards the rear, or in other words what distances do you use a various points along the cheekpiece to line that up correctly. And how do you determine how large the cheekpiece should be. (maybe you answered that already someplace here, but I'm getting old too and didn't see it)

Lindy2,

I try to use the top line of the stock comb and eye ball it into 3 sections for the cheek piece which take 2/3 rds for the shaping of the butt stock. I do free style by eye ball when shaping the curves until I like how it appears. The lines appear to go into the top grip area and the style is one I have used for most of my style of classic stocks. Sculpted part is drawn on the stock after most of the shaping is completed. I try to make the lines flow. I like all styles of stocks if the line flow is pleasant to my own eye ball. Most people probably use a template to draw the outline of the cheekpiece , but I don't have a template.

TTT

by request

Good call!!

I never get tired of reading through this thread.

Yes, lotsa good info here. Thanks Les for sharing.