Hi All,

I got a Richards Micro Fit semi-inlet stock for my Remington 600 and need some opinions on shaping it. The stock is an AA-Claro Walnut and the 600 is a 22†204 Ruger. I have shortened the fore-end by cutting off the Rose Wood tip. I am faced with the following decisions:
A. I would like to shape the fore-end tip into a schnabel & I have some Ebony, would it look better with Ebony or simply shape the walnut? Also how long should the fore-end be, in other words, how much barrel should stick out from the fore-end tip?
B. I have a steel “floor-plate/trigger-guard†for it that is not as thick as the original plastic guard. I have enough wood to inlet the entire plate into the stock, is this OK or should I leave a little showing above the wood as the original was?
C. The stock is a “factory second†the floor-plate inletting was a little wide so I made it equal all around and plan to have a black epoxy border around it. I don’t mind this as I think the wood is gorgeous and can live with the border. Are there any other ways of making this look good?

I will try to get a photo up if it will help and I appreciate any and all opinions ans suggestions.

Thanks in advance,

Marcos (elalto)

I don't know about anything else, but I don't think I would like a black "epoxy" border around my bottom metal instead of proper inletting!!!

22WRF,

I agree, however "proper" inletting was impossible from the begining, the "border" will be .05" on an $89.00 stock that otherwise would be a $1,000.00 stock. I can live with the border, I can't afford $1,000.00 wood and I would not accept the border on a $1,000.00 piece of wood.

Any ideas on the questions I asked?

Thanks,

Marcos (elalto)

to my tastes
1: this is a 20" barrel, and the overall forearm should not exceed 9 inches. if that makes your forend, great
2: it's your rifle, and you will be the one that likes it. if you like it out, like factory, leave it out. i would make it flush on the edges

3:no, it's not okay to have a expoy border, if you ever want to sell it.. but, you can call around and find an auto body shop that has a tig welder. why auto shop? because they are used to excellent surface blends and finish. I doubt they would charge you 60 bucks to tig around the edges, with a good fill. they might even be willing to grind, sand, and file... they certainly will be happy to buff it for you once you've finished shaped it.

just for what it's worth
there is NO $1000 CLARO walnut, in the world. there might be a couple folks asking 900 for a 600 blank, but claro is far to common and normal as a "Sexy" wood for it to be high $.


jeffe

I agree with Jeffe. With a 20" barrel 8.5-9" for the forend.

While I'm sure the stock is nice looking Richards sells their AA stocks for around $180. Not saying at all you didn't get a nice stock.

I like Jeffe's idea to build up the metal. However if you are going to try to fill the gap with epoxy I would consider using sawdust as filler to get closer to the wood color instead of black.

Bottomline this is your rifle if never plan to sell it then do what makes you happy. Most people that would look at it probably would never notice. Heck a lot of them would not be bothered by the gape either. LOL

I tend to agree about the 9" forend from the end of the receiver ring. Standard formula is 1/2 the barrel length less one inch.

If you don't care about the border go for it. I doubt the fact will have a lot to do with resale value of a home-made gun and if it does or if you don't like it you can still tig up the bottom metal and do it again.

WOW!
I like the tig idea, that would take care of the small gap and allow me to shape the floor plate to the wood... super.

The barrel is 22" so I will make the fore-end 10" from the receiver ring.

Last question Do you think it would look OK with an Ebony tip set at 90* shaped into a schnabel? or should I just shape the Walnut?

Thanks again, tig is great idea!

Marcos (elalto)

My feeling is the tip should be one or the other. Unless you are good shaping wood getting a nice looking schnable can be a pain.

Marcos,
Measure the barrel beyond the receiver to the muzzle, divide it in half and deduct an inch. Go plus or minus from that distance but not far. Not a hard and fast rule but it gnerally looks pretty good that way. British stalking rifles tend to be shorter and look good doing so.

An ebony forend tip can look good on a schnabel but it is fraught (I really like that word - not that I would ever use it speaking to someone) with danger. A forend tip is best pinned with wood dowels. The schnabel is thin in he narrowest area and it is easy to end up cutting and shaping into the dowels.

The inletting on the triggerguard should be deep enough so that the flat on the inside of the guard is level with the wood on the outside.

The gap around the inletting is not good and the best approach is to splice some wood back in. I imagine you don't have any of the scraps. If you do, they can be glued in and be invisible, but it takes some time and patience. The stock should have been cut to fit the action. One of the many problems of the Richard Microfit rejects. You are going to put an lot of effort into this stock before you are done. I will offer some advice. Toss it and start over.

Don't toss it. Buy David Wesbrooks book from Brownells and do the best you can with what you have and call it practice. I don't care what you start with it won't be great right out of the gate. Get some decent basic tools and don't cut corners in the name of time or lack of patience. If you can find someone to tutor you or even offer advice jump all over it.

I have one of those over-inletted RMF reject laminates for a 505 Gibbs project, too. I agree with Chic that the amount of work to make it appear right is greater than the value lost by tossing it but in my case, this a beater stock for rough duty.

I'm gonna goop it up good with bedding material to make it fit right, sand, seal and send it here:Second Skin. Total invetment: $180. I did a Marlin MR7 with this finish and its pretty damn tough.

Then I will work on a decent walnut stock while I shoot the rifle too. And I have a knock-around stock to use when I want or I can get most of my money back off eBay.

Thanks to all for some great ideas.

I am using these factory second stocks because they provide the opportunity to learn on real stock wood with nice figure and color at a low price. Should I make too many mistakes on any one of these stocks I can throw it out and consider it the cost of learning. I would really hate to have to throw out a $500.00, or more, piece of wood so I'm learning on the cheap stuff. On the other hand, should I make few or no mistakes I will have a very nice looking stock for little money.

Once again, thanks to all who responded I think that I am now ready to proceed.

Marcos (elalto)