An open sighted stock for a special project

[W.R.Buchanan]

I just watched the "Ghost and the Darkness" the other day, and I was surprised how many really good shots they had of the Lee Speed that Val carried.

It had the splinter fore end and what I do like about that style is that it makes the barrel look long. The gun was a #1 complete with the Mag Cutoff and Dust Cover, an excellent and very representative rifle for the period on the film.

Whatever you decide to do I know it will be in good taste because you have exhibited such time and time again.

When I was making knifes back in the 80's, there was one saying that kept floating to the fore front of any knife discussion. It was,,, "there are lots of good knife makers, but few good knife designers." This reared it's ugly head this year that the SHOT Show where I saw numerous Knife Makers that were purveying some of the ugliest garbage I have ever seen. Nicely made, just plain ugly designs. And not only that,,, they wanted $300-500 for some of them! Rather than tell them so,,, I just looked and moved it right along.

There's no accounting for taste. And I have concluded that you either got it,,, or you don't.

Randy

[Von Gruff]

It was a very heavy frost this morning and really a bit cold to be in the unheated shed but having waited to get the B/A back I was anxious to get the barrel inlet done so after a quick breakfast I made a start.
A preliminary track was made so I could sit the B/A in place and mark the lines in

And half the barrel dia marked n the end to get the depth of the inlet at this point

So with a bit of smoke to guide me I made a start. Having said that this piece of wood has fiddleback so I couldn't use a chisel accross the grain and waves along the chanel so I couldn't use gouges or even my barrel end scrapers along the channel without it chipping the grain out (you can see this in the previous two pics) so it was a case of 60 grip emery round various round dowels to remove the wood without damage to the finish lines I neede to keep sharp.

It took 6 hours to get it done but eventually it all settled into place

After that I got the piece of horn doweled into place and cramped up for the night.

[Von Gruff]

Got the horn tip inlet this morning and have run the forend through the bandsaw so it is ready for the shaping process now. This was a piece of horn I didn't think I would be able to use because of the slight curve and the end of the interior hollow of the horn which made it necessary to set it to one side that in itself threatened the runout through the curve. The interior hole was larger than the barrel diameters I had been using on other rifles but this one is just slightly heavier at the point where it meets the tip and I also shortened the wood part by another 1/4 inch so that with carefull placement it was able to be used.

[smoked turkey]

Just WOW! I am really enjoying going with you through the process. I can almost smell the walnut. I would love to get a whiff of the actual smell in your shop as the project progresses. I have a sporter in 7x57 that has a squared off forearm that needs something. I am thinking your work is going to give me some ideas to do some reshaping on the front of my stock. You keep inspiring us with builds like this. Thanks so much for taking the time to photo and detail your thoughts just before they are turned into reality.

[Von Gruff]

Have finished for the day and will not be ble to get back to it for a few days now but quite pleased with how it has shaped up. It has fulfilled the original design concept I had and at 6lb 9oz with the Talley aperture sight installed but without ammo it is going to be a nice fast handling hill rifle. The balance pount is a 1/4 in behind the front action screw so it will be very pointable with a very quick mount. The stock wood has more than lived up to what it promised in the blank with really nice colours with the marble cake and fiddleback really showing through now.
Using a length of 60 grit emery strap and a showshine action (after I have run the corners off with the hand plane (equal number of strokes at the same angle on each side till it is somewhat rough shaped) is the most effective and accurate way to get the underside of the forestock nicely rounded. When the shoeshine takes it back to there being no flat on the underside it will be nearly perfectly rounded. Then the top edge and side face can be gently radiused so it gives a slightly radiused side to the stock and in to about a 1/16 of wood left along the barrel channel edge.

[Wolfer]

Very nice! Classy and functional. Just the kind I like. You sir are a skilled craftsman! I've really enjoyed this thread.

[BigEyeBob]

That's looking real nice classic English style stock . You do amazing work .
I just bought a complete Martini Cadet action and will attempt to restock it myself , haven't worked out what cartridge I want yet .
I would like a 22 Hornet or 218Bee or maybe one of the rook calibers 300 or 360 Rook . Dunno yet still half way through some other projects that need finishing .

[Blackwater]

VG, that is one VERY beautiful, well conceptualized and well executed rifle. I've had an old M-95 Mauser that I've wanted to do something similar with, for my daughter in law. She's not a shooter, but loves beautiful things, and things that really work well. I think something like you have there might just win her heart over, and in .257 Roberts, would make her a great deer rifle, or most anything else. She's all about doing things right, and in her hands, I would expect an elk one day to be in VERY grave danger with it and some of the heavier bullets. She just doesn't have any quit in her, and is very thoughtful and precise in executing her plans. you've really inspired me with this one. Thanks!

[gnoahhh]

VG- as always, it is with graet pleasure that I follow your gun building posts.

I would wager that if you combined all of your individual "articles" covering your builds to date into book form, it would sell.

[Von Gruff]

VG- as always, it is with graet pleasure that I follow your gun building posts.

I would wager that if you combined all of your individual "articles" covering your builds to date into book form, it would sell.

Now, thats a thought.

[Southern Son]

VG- as always, it is with graet pleasure that I follow your gun building posts.

I would wager that if you combined all of your individual "articles" covering your builds to date into book form, it would sell.

I would buy that book, for sure.

[Von Gruff]

The last few days have seen the stock refined and reshaped a couple of times. It has been sanded through 100, 150, 220, and 360 grits then wetted and 360 sanded twice and the same with 600 grit paper so it is ready for the finish now and that will start with about 4-5 coats of 75/25 turps/spar varnish and then a couple of 50/50 coats (sanded with 600grit paper between coats) to seal the surface from the inside. The finish will be straight tung oil for as many coats as it takes to get it right then a rub off with rottenstone and it should be good to go.
I am waiting for a new extended left side flag safety to arrive so all the metalwork can go back to the GS fitting, getting the cartridge engraved on the barrel and the blueing done. Fortunately we are in mid winter and while I look forward to having it completed, the weather is not condusive to extended testing of loads etc. I will probably get the brass fireformed and leave the load testing for better conditions, besides which the high country I like to hunt is not excessible till about november anyway so I have time to find a load it likes with a 139gn privi partisan and the 120gn TTSX. QL is telling me I can run the 139gn bullet to 2800fps (H4350) and the 120gn to 2950fps (H414) with a 57k psi redline so ther is plenty of performance to tap into.

[Blackwater]

VG, I suspect you've motivated several here to test their mettle in doing what you've done. And among them, there's sure to be a couple, at least, who'll find that their skill level is WAY above what they thought it might be. It's amazing what people can do when they just put the gray matter to work, and plan their work, and then execute it carefully and precisely and methodically. The rewards for doing that can be great, but ONLY if we forget the time factor and don't let our impatience for the end result coax us into hurrying things up too much, and losing the real benefits and wonder of really doing it right. That's really a lot of what gunsmithing (and much else in life) boils down to. You do great work and you planned and executed your plan exceedingly well. Whoever carries that rifle will, I hope, realize what all it truly is, among other guns. Good 'smiths put a part of their very souls into every gun they make.

[Von Gruff]

Thanks Blackwater. I have 66 1/2 hrs into it so far and there will probably be another few hours in the finish but as it is for me the time taken is irrelevant.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Very nice work.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Craftsmanship is composed of two major components. Attention to Detail, and Personal Responsibility.

Attention to Detail pretty much speaks for itself. you've got to have that going in and you can develop more as you go.

The Personal Responsibility part is all about not letting the things that you discover with your "Attention to Detail,,," get by unaddressed.

I other words, the words "good enough" have much a more limited application when viewed thru the lens of Personal Responsibility.

Another way of putting it is ,,, "If you work sucks, you suck!!!"

This is true more so when working on guns than many other mediums. Guns are one of the best mediums for the utmost expression of Craftsmanship and Taste that man has ever devised. They require competence with metals and wood as well as design and adherence to classic styling. I feel that the only rival to guns in this context is Custom Cars, which require a similar level of attention to detail and unwillingness to compromise in order to be classed among the best.

Surprisingly Custom Cars, and Custom Guns tend to garner about the same amount of remuneration per hour of work, the guns just tend to have more detail condensed into a smaller space than any typical Hot Rod. When is the last time you saw an Engraved Car? or one with English Walnut? The only thing that I think rivals Gun Engraving, is Engraving on Plates for printing money, which take months to complete. Detail there is really second to none.

And yet the competition for top honors at a big time car show is so fierce that any blemish in a paint job or ding in the chrome will knock you out of the running in an instant. Hell, even a finger print or smudge on the Chrome will put you out of the running. Those judges tend to be very good at finding lapses in your Personal Responsibility and Flaws in your Attention to Detail.

All that said, my philosophy has been for many years to do the best work that I can everytime I go into the shop and strive for perfection. Perfection is unattainable, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try everytime like it is.

I now that Garry feels the same way on this point.

Randy

[Von Gruff]

I have the rifle at a state where I can get some pics with the intention of showing just how nice this piece of wood really is. Still in the white and will be till the extended flag safety and the Talley qd rings arrive then it can go back to the GS for polish and blue.By then the canvas sling on order from South Africa should be here and the rifle will be ready for some amunition trials.
It is near mid winter here and so these pics had to be taken on the porch with the weak sunlight offering little in the way of good light (along with my old cell ph). Whern it is all finished I will get a friend with a decent camera to try for better pics but in the meantime this is what I can post.

[Von Gruff]

[smoked turkey]

That is without a doubt some of the finest work I have ever seen. I too like so many others have really enjoyed the thread. It has given me new appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into a custom anything and especially a rifle. i would like to ask if you will do any checkering on the stock. It is already a beauty and does not especially need any but just wondering.

[Von Gruff]

No, I tried checkering a few times and had to admit that it wasn't something I was going to master and the cost to get it done here is disproportionately high so it will be like all my other uncheckered rifles. I can buy another 2 rifle blanks for what it would cost to get one checkered and I would rather build another rifle than spen the few dollars in my gun fund for someone elses work. I have never had a problem with grip on the stocks I make, especially as they are all made to fit my hand but if I was to get it done it would be in this traditional style