Cost Guesstimate Anyone?

[PBSmith]

I have an old home-built musket that needs a new stock. Barrel is modern and shoots quite well, so I will go with it. Caliber 54, percussion, 28" barrel, full-stock, present stock is breaking up and the brass hardware trim looks awful. I have a nice modern lock that I believe will work to replace the ancient one on the piece now.

I'll have to find iron hardware trim but that shouldn't break the bank I might be able to find a decent piece of maple or walnut but would probably leave that up to the person who makes the stock. Assuming I can find such a person, what, approximately, should I expect to pay for a custom stock, no fancy wood? I can do the metal and wood finish work myself.

Any thoughts about a good person to do this work?

Look forward to your responses

PBSmith

[LAGS]

I think you should post pictures of what you have . There are so many rifles designs out there. , and they can effect the costs you will spend .
I build custom rifles, but not all models . But I am willing to help guide you in the right direction .

[PBSmith]

LAGS, here are a couple of views. What I hope to provide for a new lock to replace the one shown in the photos is the lock shown in my post of this evening, "Who Made This Lock?" Forget the hideous brass shown below. No need for the screw plate on port side of lock. Nor do I want a fancy butt plate like that monstrosity shown. Barrel is round, about 1" OD. That's probably fake (faux) curl but I believe the wood type is maple.

[PBSmith]

I hasten to add that this piece probably defies classification. In a thread posted elsewhere, one person thought this piece looked like a re-make of an old French musket. Can't prove it by me, but I like the dimensions, caliber, weight and balance of the gun and would strive for the same qualities in a re-stocked version using the same barrel. Haven't decided on stock wood type yet because I'm not sure I can afford the project.

Also, I should mention that the present stock is so thin in the forward regions that it's fragile. Probably need more wood in the "full" or forward part of the stock.

[LAGS]

It is just a starting option.
But why can’t you just Re Finish that stock .
That thing you mentioned about the front part of the stock being so thin .
You might be able to Glass Bed that part of the stock to reinforce it a bunch .

[Delkal]

Have to agree with Lags here. That is a very nice looking rifle and if it aint broke don't fix it.......

By the time you get a new stock, lock and hardware there is not much left so just buy another barrel and build another rifle. Then keep both or sell the old one to get a lot of your of your money back.

[LAGS]

The only thing that I see on your rifle that seems like a Wrong Part is the lock mounting side plate.
It looks like it fits the lock mounting screw spacing .
But looks like it doesn’t sit level on the left side of the stock. , so it looks like the wrong part.
You can make a new side plate to correct that visual problem

[725]

As usual, LAGS has a good idea. I'd do a full length glass bedding of your current stock to give, what you refer to as fragile, a lot more strength. It's an easy job and would tighten up any concerns up front. Do you think your "replacement" lock could be fitted to the current set up? Replacing offending brass furniture would be easy compared to building a new stock. If all this is contrary to your ultimate desires, a new stock would be in order. Good luck.

[LAGS]

If you want to use that newer lock on your rifle , you can re inlet your stock to make it fit.
But if the inletting in your stock doesn’t fit because it is in letter too large.
You can do a wood inlay to give you wood to inlet the stock to fit that different lock just fine .
I have also glass bedded new style locks into the older stocks when the inletting isn’t that oversized than the new lock .
Try and look up a post I did about a Bubbaed Barrel Repair.
I had to totally re inlet a bubbaed stock that didn’t fit the lock that was on the rifle.

[LAGS]

One thing that will raise the costs if you find someone to make you a new Custom Stock.
It is called “Shipping Costs”
I will bet , the shipping costs will be over half of the price you pay for the stock and minimal fitting that you need .
That is one of the biggest reasons that I don’t do Custom Builds unless a person lives locally .

[LAGS]

Another reason I push for people to Re Finish the stocks that they have is overall costs .
Like mentioned by another poster ,
If it ain’t Totally Broke , then don’t replace it .
But if you do the work yourself , with guidance from others , it ain’t going to cost you much.
Plus it ups your skills ,education and knowledge.
Plus you build yourself pride in something you have .
I literally can afford Anything that I want to buy.
But I am way more satisfied with the things that I build or Re build.
One of my most common projects that I do is rifle restoration from junk guns or spare parts that I find really cheap.

[PBSmith]

Thanks LAGS and others for your suggestions and encouragement to work on the existing stock. I do in fact gain much satisfaction from making minor repairs and restorations on different firearms, though I've never done anything before with a muzzleloader.

Several considerations prompted me to think restocking on this musket. What I didn't mention is that the stock is way too short for me--by at least an inch. I've seen people add a wood filler or spacer but the result always looks mickeymouse to me. Maybe there is a way to do this that I haven't seen. Worse come to worse - I could square off the butt, add a spacer block and cover the whole works with a slip on recoil pad. The old leather ones sometimes add a stroke of class to a short stock.

The front of the stock is so thin that it has split on both side. I've epoxied it several times, though never attempted a full glass bedding. The wood up there is so thin that I question whether or not I can remove any wood without destroying the front 12".

I will say that whoever stocked this musket did a respectable job of the woodworking. So I should and will give serious consideration to the suggestions offered here. Appreciate your thoughts.

[freakonaleash]

I'd charge at least 2K for a restock. There isn't anything wrong with the stock that's on it. It's an old gun with a new barrel. The stripes are real, not faux. I'd slide a big fat recoil pad over it and shoot it.

[LAGS]

If you are not happy with that stock you have.
Then you can use that stock to be modified or reshaped to your liking.
Then send it to someone who does stock duplicating.
To modify the stock you can glue wood to the stock and reshape it ,
And you can glass bed the barrel so him exact dimensions .
You can also use Bondo to build up or fill in areas on the stock to reshape.
I use to have access to a Stock Duplicator Machine.
But that guy I knew moved back east .

[PBSmith]

I'd charge at least 2K for a restock. There isn't anything wrong with the stock that's on it. It's an old gun with a new barrel. The stripes are real, not faux. I'd slide a big fat recoil pad over it and shoot it.

At $2K, this project is KOed before Round One.

Big fat recoil pad - we think alike, freak. This is exactly what I've been doing for the past year. She wobbles to and fro, but not much worse than her owner. .

Thanks for posting.

[PBSmith]

If you are not happy with that stock you have.
Then you can use that stock to be modified or reshaped to your liking.
Then send it to someone who does stock duplicating.
To modify the stock you can glue wood to the stock and reshape it ,
And you can glass bed the barrel so him exact dimensions .
You can also use Bondo to build up or fill in areas on the stock to reshape.
I use to have access to a Stock Duplicator Machine.
But that guy I knew moved back east .

Thanks for those good suggestions LAGS. It starting to look like I might use some of your tricks.

[LAGS]

You can also cut that stock flat , and fit it for a regular padded buttplate or recoil pad .
I have done that for others that were not happy with the curved hook style butt plates .

[pilot]

Nice rifle. You could probably sell it to finance a new rifle without destroying that one.

[elmacgyver0]

I made a walnut stock for a Henry .45-70, butt stock and fore stock, no work of art by any means.
Took me better than four solid days.
I could have bought factory for less than 150 dollars, but the wife said, "Why don't you make your own?" after that I had no choice.
I had to think, "What is my time worth an hour?"
Then I realized, not on the clock it is not worth a plugged nickel.
$2000 sounds about right.

[Rockindaddy]

Your rifle has character. The gun looks to be assembled a long time ago. The lock could possibly have been a flintlock that was converted. The hammer looks like a percussion hammer that was used to replace a flint hammer. If the forend is loose or fragile you can scrape the barrel channel and lay a piece of fiberglass matting in the barrel channel. Brush polyester or epoxy in the channel and re attach the barrel that has been coated with wax or release agent. The next day you can remove the barrel and trim and sand off the excess fiberglass matting and resin. This will stiffen your forearm and allow you to shoot and hunt with this rifle. Put Bambi in the freezer with it! .54 caliber is a great muzzleloader caliber.