Custom made Rifle Stock

Sweet Gary, that walnut is beautiful, what is the caliber of the rifle. mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Unbelievable piece of work. Gary tell me what u cannot do
Sharad

-- patanjali

Oh, yea, I forgot the caliber, thanks Mike. It’s a Weatherby rifle in 7mm Remington Mag.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

No doubt, a beautiful piece of wood. And it looks like a lot of work. Most impressive.

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

Nice job .It looks great.What a challenge ,and I thought I was doing good when I made my son pistol grips.Again nice job

-- Bill in Mich

thats beautiful gary! that must have been hard to shape the whole thing to. thanks for the post.

There is one that will reach out and touch someone… with class! Beautiful piece of wood, and great work (not that we are surprised by the craftsmanship…) BTW, it wasin your comment on my rifle stock that you promised us you would get this done. Which you did!

-- There's no tool like an old tool...

Now thats Pretty, beautiful…........just love it. I would be afraid to use it?

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

Thanks for inspiration Gary. I have a 22 to do for a guy right now. It was in a fire, but he was able to save the burned , charred stock. I did one once (a russian make) and swore I would never do another one. I only said I would do it because he said he tried all over the US and came up empty. We’ll see what happens.
THANKS FOR THE POST!
DAVE

-- Dave Leitem,Butler,Pa.,http://dlcarver.etsy.com

Another beautiful piece of craftsmanship by you.

I don’t believe there’s anything that’s too much work for you.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Absolutely stunning. Thanks for sharing Gary.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

Gary, do I smell a special target market you could make some good cash on? Can’t be too many guys doing that! Beautiful wood – and job.

-- http://newmissionworkshop.com

Amazing!

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

That’s beautiful, Gary! And I’m just as impressed by a 1” group at 200 yards.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Great job Gary.

-- Bruce from Central New York

That walnut would make beautiful letter openers …..OH YES!!!

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

Sweeeeeeet Beautiful stock Gary . One more work of art from a master craftsman.

-- Mike, Bruce Mississippi = Jack of many trades master of none

Looks great, Gary. How does it shoulder?

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

First one?? Dang! It looks awesome. You show that around and you’ll never get anything else done with all the orders you’ll get…lol. Great work Gary.

-- Jim Hallada, Chesterfield, VA

Beautiful work!

-- I'm a wood magician... I can turn fine lumber into firewood before your very eyes! - http://www.woodworkersguide.com

Very nice. The only problem is it is so pretty I wouldn’t want to take it in the field for fear of scratching that beautiful stock.

-- Glenn, New Mexico

That is one magnificent tack-driver!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

weatherby ? not exactly $299. of the rack. A fine maker in a very fine stock, not to mention very beautiful. Glass bedding, floating barrel, first stock you really did your homework before you started. Beautiful all around.

-- RTB. "dumb animals are not stupid they simply can't talk "

Took my Scouts on a tour of a high end rifle maker a few months back (Jarrett’s). They could use you for their wood stock. They use some high end machining for their non-wood guns, but do the occasional wood rifle by hand more or less. Very well done.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Almost too nice to shoot. I’d hang it on the wall and just admire it.

-- You're a unique and special person, just like everyone else.

Very Nice work – It may have been hard work, but look at the reward at the end

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Great workmanship and beautiful choice of wood!

I’ve got some old rifles that could use some work so I have lots of questions…

Did you model it after an existing stock or use a plan?

Is it necessary to fit it to the shooter? I’m thinking of the grip and the cheek rest.

So where do you get the how-to info on this? Any recommended books or Internet links?

Any special tools required?

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

Beautiful burl on that shoulder spanker. I think you need to do a blog on gun stocks for us other first timers.

-- DocK, WV

Beautiful work!

-- jeanmarc manosque france

Beautiful as always Gary!

-- If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free! PJ O'Rourke

that is stunning but please show it on a lighter background gary brown on brown doesn’t work mate

you are one hell of a craftsman and i only wish i could be half as good as you in years to come you are truely talented

-- cut it saw it scrap it

I’ll buy “stock” in that company…excellent.

-- /\/\/\ BarryW /\/\/\ Stay so busy you don't have time to die.

Now Gary that is a beauty. Nearly your very best piece I have seen ( I love the harpsichord too)

Is it Claro walnut?

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

That is purdy!

Vin

Pretty nice Gary. I have a fishing buddie that does stocks, lot of work.

-- http://www.riverviewwoodworking.com

Beautiful job Gary!

Funny, my brother (somewhat of a gun collector) has recently been talking to me about doing this for one of his rifles. I’ve never done a rifle stock, but know it has it’s own set of challenges and will really need to do my homework before starting.

We’ve just recently looking online for the right walnut stock…and they can run pretty high…could you tell us where you obtained yours? The one you chose is fantastic.

Thanks for posting it.

-- Martin, Kansas

Nice, verra verra nice GaryK!

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

Hey Gary,

I too made a rifle stock, while i was in my mid teens. It was a pretty challenging project for me at the time, as my tool selection wasn’t what it is now.

My father taught me a valuable lesson on that project. When I thought it was done I took it to him for his opinion.

His response was “great job, when are you going to finish it?” So I went back to work on refining it further.
Again, I took it to show my father and got the same response from him. Back to work.

The next time I took it to him he took it from me and said, “Ah, you finished it”.

The difference between the first time and the third time amounts to something clunky and without character, to something graceful and refined.

Very much like yours. You’ve done a masterful job Gary!

My lesson was don’t stop when it’s almost right, put in the time and make it perfect.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Gary; A great job. I’ve made a couple of stocks myself and i have a couple more to do. I drove by a sawmill in Kansas on a business trip and I stopped in to say Hi.

It turns out they only cut gun blanks for Thompson-Center rifles.

The owner saved back all of the “Purdy stuff”. I bought a couple of stocks and some shotgun butt and forearm pieces.

I need to finish all of the woodwork.

I noticed that you didn’t attempt checkering. Are you going to do that?

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Hey, guys! I never expected to get this much response for a gunstock. Thanks for all your comments.

Now to answer some questions.

Leon – I copied one from a picture. I fit it to myself as I made it. It’s kind of generic though. I used “The Gun Digest Book of Riflesmithing” by Jack Mitchell. He tells you what tools to use.

Bob #2 – Not sure what kind of walnut it is.

Martin – I found the stock on Ebay. I have another walnut blank that is curly from one end to the other if you are interested. I won’t make one of these again. (I never tend to make anything more than once.)

Lee – That’s a cool story!

Karson – I don’t plan on checkering it. It looks too good already. Besides when I hunt I use camo gloves that have a rubberized palm that gives you an excellent grip. Real sticky.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gary,

Sorry about just now getting around to your post. This is a simply beautiful stock. I am sure that it was a great deal of work but it is well worth the effort. How about building a gun case to showcase it?

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

that is such a sweet piece of Walnut…..again like the others here , I don’t think I would be able to bring it out hunting for fear of scratching it ….great job !!!

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

Wow Gary great work!

Thanks for the post

Callum

-- For wood working podcasts with a twist check out http://thetimberkid.com/

Great job Gary. A diffifult one at that.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Wow, gunstocks are very complex. You’ve done a fantastic job on this one! It looks terrific!...

AND… that accurate at 200 yds is something to be proud of too. I don’t have a scope for my AR-15 at work, but I can only shoot it at 100 yards accurately with iron sights (three rounds in 2 1/2 inches). I’d love to have 3 in 1… very nice!

Thanks for the post!
—Steve

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

Gary,

Great work on the stock. What finish did you use on it?

-- Chris

Chris – I used a weak reddish-brown dye to darken it and bring out the figure followed by a waterbased poly.

Dyes don’t have pigments so they won’t obscure the grain like stains will.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

wow. beautiful wood, pretty impressive.

-- What do you learn from being right?

Great work, GaryK. BTW, what’s the load that gives you the half minute of angle? Really nice piece of Claro.

I’ve got a tuned XP100 with a sweet piece of curly maple for a rear grip stock and a Shilen barrel. It’s in 7mm BR and can throw half minute of angle too. I’ve got a “wallet” group with four rounds that can be covered with a dime! Not bad for a pistol at a hundred meters.

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein

jcees – The load info won’t really do you any good since I tuned it specifically for this rifle, but here it is.

For smaller game:
120 grain Hornady Hollow Point with 73 grains of H4831 with an overall cartridge length of 3.260 inches.

For big game:
175 grain Nosler partition with 67 grains of H1000 with an overall cartridge length of 3.310 inches.

I remember when those XP’s first came out. What was that .221 Fireball ammo?

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Beautiful gunstock Gary.

GaryK,

I hear you, every weapon has it’s own dietary needs. I’m just always curious about the loads that folks use. I’ve loaded more rounds than I could ever count. Even did some wildcatting. I still have an old RCBS press and a first generation Dillon. The only thing I haven’t loaded is shot shells. Dang, if I had all that $$$ back my portfolio would look a lot better! Ha!

The .221 Fireball was intended for small game. It’s heck on Alvin and his ilk. I bought mine in 7mm BR when you couldn’t even get factory rounds for it. I had to make the cases from .308s. At the time, Federal was the only company making them with small primer pockets so that’s what I used. Let me tell you, it was an education making those puppies. Swage, anneal, trim, neck form, anneal again THEN turn the outside diameter of the neck down for concentricity and trim to final length. Whew. After that, I only neck formed the reloads. About a year later they started making them outright. Whenever one would split, I’d anneal all the necks again. I still have about half of that first batch. It is a deadly accurate round and a pleasure to shoot.

I primarily used the gun for IHMSA metallic silhouette shooting. I decked it out with a set of custom sights tuned to the trigger to let go safely at 12 oz. and virtually eliminated all excuses for missing ANYTHING. After I noticed a bit of degradation in grouping, I replaced the barrel and threw down for the stock. T’is a lovely comfortable thing of beauty.

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein

WOW! I want one!

-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."

Looks great!!

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

sweet.

-- Michael A. Brailsford

I’m overwheled, I want one but now I dont know where to start. I’ll keep an eye out for a book/instructions, I should be able to make one soon.
Rare sight, excellent piece Gary. All your projects are excellent!

That is one beautiful walnut stock. Very impressive indeed.

-- "When was the last time you did something special for your gun?" www.jeffstarrstudio.com