I visit several other firearms discussion forums and, lately, have viewed several posts stating "and I'll do the stock work", meaning they'll have the 'smith just do the machine work. Now, I guess that's not a problem if all that's gonna' happen is they're going to 'dump' that barreled action into a H-S or B&C pre-fab, tighten a couple of screws and call it a 'custom'. Although, I've seen several of those that looked (and shot) pretty crappy. What makes these guys think that stock work takes little or no skill and is 'easy'. Or, is it just me?

It's just you. Many amateur gun cranks can do a good job at wood working but lack the skills or the machines to do the machine/metal work. And stock work does take far fewer skills than machine work. (not little or no skill however) Now, if they are really just putting a custom piece of metal into a Ram line stock, well that is just wrong. but it does work for some. To each his own with his own money, time, and talent.

While you can do many things with a file and a vise you cannot build a rife (do the metal work, convert/barrel military action) without access to machine tools more than just a drillpress.The absolute required would be a lathe and an oxy welding outfit. Not an inexpensive pair much less the skill to operate them. On the other hand a good set of wood working tools and the skill to use them is all the investment needed to build a stock. Some of the current machine inletted ones require very little other than minor outer shaping and finishing. To me it's a perfectly understandable approach for someone with good wood working skills.

I don't think it takes a lot of skill to stock a standard rifle with a pre-fit factory made synthetic stock. By standard rifle I mean one of the common mass produced rifles like Win M70, Rem 700, Savage 110, etc. The factories making those rifles keep costs down my building them to preset specifications. You can take a factory stock off one Short action Remington 700 BDL and put it on another Short action Remington 700 BDL with little or no alteration. A good pre-fit synthetic stock made to fit a Short Action Remington 700 would also fit with only minor alteration. Additionally, synthetic stocks are nearly always bedded to the rifle with a bedding compound. And though a real goofball can mess it up, the process is so simple that most people handy with tool can do a very good job.

However, things a more difficult when it comes to stocking a custom rifle or a rifle that is not built off an assembly line. Even a synthetic stock can require quite a bit of alteration/fabrication to get a decent fit. An amateur might think all he has to do is make everything bigger then required and fill up all gaping wounds with bedding compound but that will give less than satisfactory results. So, I believe proper stocking of a custom or non-standard rifle, even with a synthetic stock, requires the hands of a professional or very skilled amateur.

When it comes to wooden stocks it depends. It takes less skill to modify a 95% inletted stock and bed a rifle to it with bedding compound than it does to expertly inlet the stock to a glove-like fit. For a utilitarian rifle, some are content with a less than perfect inletting job with a bedding compound fit, no checkering, and a spray on finish. Others want a better fit, even checkering, and a hand applied finish. And still others want a nearly perfect hand-carved inletting, precise checkering, and the best stock finish. Each requires a different level of skill with only the best of the pros performing top tier hand work.

I am handy with tools but far from anything close to the skill level of a gunsmith. I took an old Mauser barreled action and stuck it in a RamLine stock with gobs of bedding compound. It shot MOA and I used it on several hunting trips, including one guided by Finn Aagaard. It looked like trash but it got the job done. I have also thrown several barreled actions into wood stocks. Some were military actions going into factory made military stocks and those were simple to accomplish and without checkering. The others were just utility rifles (shooting tools), also without checkering. I have never tried my hand at checkering. The performance of those rifles was varied but, generally, acceptable. The appearance of the non-military rifles was - unappealing. And nothing I did added to the value or worth of any rifle other than making it useful for me.

To me, proper stocking of a rifle with a wooden stock means fitting the stock to a custom set of measurements like drop at the heal, drop at the comb, amount of toe in or out, cast, etc. It also means precise inletting without goop, crisp even shaping of cheekpieces and contoured areas, expert ckeckering, and a finish that looks as good as a Martha Stuart end table but is rugged as the shell on a desert tortoise. And all that takes years of experience and great skill.

Even a skilled or very skilled amateur wood worker might not be able to do the metal work; hence the perfectly reasonable approach to having someone else do the metal and you do the wood. It doesn't have to be perfect to be appreciated by the maker and also be functionally correct. Meaning accurate and won't break. I consider wood working to be mostly art, whereas metal working is mostly science. Of course there are overlaps; You know what I mean.

It is called glass bedding cures a lot of stock problems.

I might not be able to head space or run a chambering reamer but putting a very useful stock on isn't that hard.

It all depends what one wants and is looking for.

I thought I was a pretty good stock maker until I attended my first ACGG show. Sheesh!

I'm still good enough for my own rifles, though.

The reason: It ain't rocket science.

But, as in any skill, it takes years to train the hands to do what you want them and to discover (stumble over) solutions to the unexpected.

(Not an amateur stock maker, but an amateur golf club builder)

If you look at my Mannlicher Schhonauer restock project you will see that I have very limited skills but a lot of motivation and patience (most of the time). I really enjoy the journey of starting with the blank and ending with a really nice looking & functioning stock.

I wish I had real skills with metal work too! I might try and build a double rifle!

I trust my skills with the metal work, but good stockwork is way beyond my skills.