The Alaska Professional Hunters Association has decided to make a close replica of Master Guide Hal Waugh's famous bear rifle that resided in the UAF museum in Fairbanks,

I have the correct 1948 vintage pre-64 M-70 in the 375 Wby chambering but am looking for a stock.
Hal went through 6 stocks before this one and it appears to have been made from one of the old Fajen "Huntsman" or Bishop "standard shorter" with a straight comb and the cheekpiece that flowed downward into the pistol grip.

The best way of course would be to pantograph the original but I doubt it's current owner would allow it to be sent out for that. He did allow me access for a photo shoot.

Other than the cheekpiece it is a fairly simple design with mediocre craftsmanship.
Which might explain the need for six stock !
Although it does have a striking bit of flat sawn grain on one side of the butt.

I have photos I can email but with the slow Hughes net satellite connection in camp setting up a connection for this has proven time consuming

Thanks

Original Fajen patterns were made from aluminum and were two or three times actual size.

It seems I read somewhere that Boyd's bought out Fajens inventory. Maybe they have the aluminum pattern?

Thanks I will check with them.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
It seems I read somewhere that Boyd's bought out Fajens inventory. Maybe they have the aluminum pattern?

I'm pretty sure it was Midway, not Boyd's.

Potterfield apparently bought them out initially but auctioned them off a few years later. I just learned that Wenig and Macon gunstocks picked it up. Wrong about Boyds.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
It seems I read somewhere that Boyd's bought out Fajens inventory. Maybe they have the aluminum pattern?

I'm pretty sure it was Midway, not Boyd's.

I remember when Midway was selling off the excess inventory, snagged some nice stocks at bargain prices.

Gentlemen; let me shed some light on the issue. I was the last Custom Shop Supervisor at Fajen, INC. when they closed the doors in 1998. The patterns were made of wood that went on the North Star duplicators. All of the rough turned stocks that were done by the Zuckermann machine were Aluminium. These stocks were not inletted. They were turned oversize in order to put them into the CNC machines for inletting to the needed Company. Specific Outside Patterns styles were designed for Specific manufacturers. There was inventory Larry possessed and kept in Columbia, MO. which probably did not make it back to Lincoln, MO for the Auctions.

Boyd's Gunstocks did buy a lot of wood and patterns at the Liquidation Auction. They also hired Dennis Sumner to run the duplication department at that event. It is my opinion, the Zuckermann machines and the patterns were sold together. I can not confirm or deny they went to Boyd's Gunstocks. I did not stay for that part of the sale.

I'm certain most of the mature gunsmiths here will join me in mourning the loss of Fajen. Not only were they good stuff, they were part of our community and prominent in our trade. Regards, Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
I'm certain most of the mature gunsmiths here will join me in mourning the loss of Fajen. Not only were they good stuff, they were part of our community and prominent in our trade. Regards, Bill.

Indeed, they were. Sorta like an end of an era.

I'm "young" enough to have participated in the liquidation sale in the early 90s. Got three beautiful stocks. I paid five times for an M1 Garand stock from a current stock making house that was a rough carving compared to the smoothly turned "semi-inlet" that I bought from Fajen.

That's about what I am discovering

quote:

I paid five times for an M1 Garand stock from a current stock making house that was a rough carving compared to the smoothly turned "semi-inlet" that I bought from Fajen.

I think it is call inflation

I have an 88 year old gunsmith friend from Germany who worked for Simpson,Anchutz and Pachmyer in LA for years before he went off on his own. He builds complete custom rifles etc..
He has an extensive inventory of Mauser 98 and Win Pre 64 stocks. They have been sitting on the shelf for decades.
I can text photos easily as through email, it takes for ever to upload. I don’t know how to put photos here. Pm me a text number and I’ll happily forward them to you.

Mlf, PM sent thanks

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

I paid five times for an M1 Garand stock from a current stock making house that was a rough carving compared to the smoothly turned "semi-inlet" that I bought from Fajen.

I think it is call inflation

No, it was just a ripoff.

Big Nan and Old Ugly photos by Phil Shoemaker:

Now, full size since this gunporn has redeeming social value:





A .375 Weatherby Magnum and a .458 Winchester Magnum:
best combo ever.

Rip ...

RIP,

What's the story with that scope on Phil's .458, with the windage adjustment knob on the port side? When I first saw it, my thought was that the photo image had been reversed, but that is obviously not the case.

quote:

What's the story with that scope on Phil's .458, with the windage adjustment knob on the port side

Some people like to use their windage adjustments for elevation.

Or he didn't want the knob to interfere with reloading.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

What's the story with that scope on Phil's .458, with the windage adjustment knob on the port side

Some people like to use their windage adjustments for elevation.

Or he didn't want the knob to interfere with reloading.

I'm aware of that, but this scope has the serial number and "Made in USA" clearly visible on the flat under the elevation adjustment, exactly as it would be normally on the other side. In my experience, if the windage knob were being used for elevation, that part of the tube would be rounded.

Maybe Phil has a rare left handed Leupold.

That looks right to me. The ser # is usually on the bottom with Leupolds. If you rotate the scope counterclockwise it would be visible on the right as in the photo. Leupolds have a script L on the left flat. In this case that would be turned down.

I feel like a base runner caught off base with the hidden ball trick. I realized after posting my response that I was mistaken, but was away from the computer with no way to correct myself. And I had been sure I was right!

Phil is just getting whatever edge he can with that scope rotated 90 degrees.
When your rifle is that ugly, you gotta show it is superior in every other way.

Rip ...

It's really quite simple
L means lower and R means raise
And if you turn your head to the side you can see U means left and D means right

Plus nothing blocks the loading port when you need rounds in a hurry !

Interesting problem trying to duplicate an old stock.

It's too bad some enterprising young stock maker doesn't invest in a small CNC mill and a laser tracker. Both have been out for some time now so prices have fallen a lot. The laser tracker can obtain very accurate dimensions by scanning an object which are then read by the mill to reproduce the object.

Sorry to drift so far off topic but thanks for posting photos of a rather famous model 70. Hopefully a solution can be found with your project.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
It's really quite simple
L means lower and R means raise
And if you turn your head to the side you can see U means left and D means right

Plus nothing blocks the loading port when you need rounds in a hurry !

Right on Phil.

But does it matter what way you turn your head.

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Interesting problem trying to duplicate an old stock.

It's too bad some enterprising young stock maker doesn't invest in a small CNC mill and a laser tracker. Both have been out for some time now so prices have fallen a lot. The laser tracker can obtain very accurate dimensions by scanning an object which are then read by the mill to reproduce the object.

Sorry to drift so far off topic but thanks for posting photos of a rather famous model 70. Hopefully a solution can be found with your project.

I have a laser scanner, a 3 axis cnc mill and a shop built pantograph. The scanner has its place but there is nothing fast about one. The larger the scan the more resolution you loose. If I were going to make a copy of one of those stocks it would go in to the pantograph, much quicker and plenty accurate. What is lost upon most people is the amount of time it takes to get a prototype correct using CNC and scanners. It usually takes several attempts and you need to machine a part to see what is wrong with it. It all takes time. For CNC to pay off you need to make a bunch of something. One off's are really hard to turn a profit at. I noticed at least one poster seems to feel prices should remain what they were in the 1990's. My over head has not remained the same so prices must rise, just like everywhere else.