I have some super exhibition grade turkish walnut wood which I would like to turn into a buttstock and forend for a Ruger No. 1 in 9.3x74R.

Can anyone suggest a reliable person with a pantograph who can do a 95% job of roughing out a buttstock and forend for me?

I used to do all that from scratch, but age and a stroke have reduced my practical wood working to pad fitting, final sanding, and finish application.

While you are thinking about it, who would you rcommend to do some checkering on it?

TIA

AC

I just had Al Lind do a Sako stock for me, and he did a great job. I had him leave extra wood on the fore end since it was a factory varmint rifle, and make the barrel channel bigger. He charges about $140 for a bolt action and, if I remember, about $180 or so for a Ruger No 1.

Al is of course a custom stock maker and I really trust him to do a good job. The work was excellent, and the inletting was close enough to fit very easily. He leaves a little more than most on the outside, but that allows some customization without having to really hog a lot of wood off.

The nice thing was that total turnaround was only three weeks, and that was with USPS both ways. (He only has a PO Box for shipping). I did two No.1's last fall, a 450-400 and a 9.3x74, both in Turkish, and they turned out nice. The second one I sent to Evans Compton in Virginia, and he did probably the best job I have ever had on turning. I sent the No 1 along with three Mauser blanks. He is also dirt cheap, like $75 for a M98. The trouble was he quoted me two weeks and it was a little over ten months until all of them returned. That's when I bought a duplicator. I didn't ask Al what his time was, because I wasn't in a hurry, and he did them almost instantly.

Thanks, Art. That is useful info...especially the part about the quick turn-around.

Based on your experience, how strong is that very highly figured Turkish wood? I also have a .450/.400 and a .405 Winchester in the number 1's and they might all look good wearing some of it....or at least two of them might. I'd have to buy some more wood to do all three.

I haven't put a lot of round through either of these yet, but I don't expect any trouble. THe blanks I used were not what I would call highly figured, they just had quite a bit of marbling and color variation. That's one reason I always liked marbeling vs grain in turkish/english. It is dependent more on the cut of the wood rather than wild grain, so is generally easier to lay out. The blanks I used were nice dense blanks and seemed to exhibit no tendency to split while I was working on them.

Based on the number of high grade doubles, both shotgun and rifle, I have seen over the years with high grade Turkish or French walnut, I would put my money on it being, in general, the most durable of all stock woods. I have honestly never (knock on wood) had a stock I made fail due to recoil on a heavy rifle. I generally use English of some type. I have worried about a couple due to the fact the wood seemed brittle when I was doing the work, but they performed fine. This was generally always California English, particularly the wood Fajen carried years ago. I did a 375 which was extremely brittle, and a 458 No 1 which was less, but both of them did fine once finished. If it is good dense Turkish, I wouldn't worry as long as the grain right through the grip is correct. (I always bed the interior of any heavy recoiling rifle to be on the safe side. Based on some epoxy boat building experience, I generally put in a saturation coat or two of System Three or West, then bed with a gel bedding compound.)

Look up Treebone. Ihave had 4of these cut by George. He is located in Cimmeron Mew Mexico.he does excellent work

Chuck Grace cuts stocks but also does beautiful work on checkering and completed stocks. I don't know what his current lead time is. He's in Trinidad, CO.

He's at riflemakerone@yahoo.com.

quote:

Originally posted by Bella1:
Look up Treebone. Ihave had 4of these cut by George. He is located in Cimmeron Mew Mexico.he does excellent work

I just looked up treebone, he has some wonderful patterns on his website, good suggestion I had no heard of him before.

He does quite a bit of work on Cadets too. He did a customied forend for me in just a couple of weeks total.

AC, look a bit down south. I think Randy Lawson here in Tucson has a pantograph machine.

The Harry Lawson Co.
3328 N. Richey Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85716
(520) 326-1117

They've done several rifles for me and I have no complaints. If you decide to go with them, stop by and we'll share a cup or two.
Paul B.

I agree with Art S. that the cut of the wood is what matters for strength. Would need to see the grain flow to evaluate strength of the stock. I have a pattern for a classic style Ruger No.1 and a pantogragh if you want some work done. Our website is www.walnutgrovegunstocks.com