Antler forend tip

[richhodg66]

I've got an older H&R 158 (I think) in .22 Hornet that I got the itch to put some nice wood on with a Mannlicher forend. I have a billet of walnut and a Buffalo Classic stock I plan to shave down some to make the whole package very slim and graceful.

I was thinking of trying to use a deer antler base for the forend cap, anybody ever done this? I can't seem to find a lot of the net from guys who've done it.

Another idea I've had is to try a brass one as I could replace the trigger guard and butt plate with brass as well, not sure how that would look.

This will obviously be a long term project and I need to figure some things out. Never done anything like this before. Based on my track record for project complettion, it could take years,LOL.

[Von Gruff]

Cant say as I care for them myself but here is one
http://www.kentuckyhunting.net/forums/showthread.php?139365-Project-Mannlicher-Custom-is-Complete!&
I have done one with the African blackwood schnabel forend tip for http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?285991-Mannlichering-a-Sako-for-Dino
but would much prefer the NECG steel tip if I was to do another.
You will get a great deal of satisfaction when you get it done as it takes a little more than the average sporter stock to get right.

[country gent]

To see the look of brass, some of the hawken style muzzle loaders had brass furniture on them. Should be an interesting project and alot of options to it. A light checkering or even lines on the buttplate might be usefull as polished brass or steel becomes slippery on some clothes. Other options is pweter or german silver, these could be cast close to form in a lost wax mould and finished easily. Brass could also be rough cast close but requires more heat to melt.

[richhodg66]

I hadn't thought about pewter. I sure have enough of it around. Thanks for giving me something else to consider.

How would a guy go about casting a pewter trigger guard, butt plate, etc.? Could you use clay or something?

[richhodg66]

Cant say as I care for them myself but here is one
http://www.kentuckyhunting.net/forums/showthread.php?139365-Project-Mannlicher-Custom-is-Complete!&
I have done one with the African blackwood schnabel forend tip for http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?285991-Mannlichering-a-Sako-for-Dino
but would much prefer the NECG steel tip if I was to do another.
You will get a great deal of satisfaction when you get it done as it takes a little more than the average sporter stock to get right.


Beautiful work there!

[country gent]

Use the lost wax process. make an image of the part in wax and coat with several coats of medium ( clay basically) leaving a generous fill and several small vents. Once clay has hardened start heating pot and set "mould" on pot, wax melts out clay is fired to hard mould and you can fill it with molten metal and allow to cool. Chip off fired clay when cool. This can be done with peweter, brass, or german silver. Another is to make a sand impression of the parts and use it to cast the parts. leave more on the parts as this is a rougher finish and requires more for finishing the parts.

[richhodg66]

That's interesting. Now I need to do a little research and see how that might work out.

It always amazes me the kinds of things some guys on this forum can do. I never would have thought about casting a piece and using wax and clay like that. Guess I've never ben very handy, that stock work of Von Gruff's is amazing, I don't think I could get to that level if I made learning stock making a full time pursuit for the rest of my life.

[country gent]

Its depends on what your buisness is. My mispent youth was as a tool and die maker in several factories so I was exposed to difrent skill sets than an office worker. Everyone has thier unique skill sets to work with. Make the most of them.

[Old Coot]

Richdog, You might want to skip the "clay" and go straight to a jewelry making supply or dental supply house and get their lost wax casting compound. It will come apart with water after the metal has been cast. Just don't put it in any kind of drain. It will clog like crazy.

[richhodg66]

Thanks for the tip. I'm still brain storming (a light drizzle in my case) about what I want to do. About all I know now is I want it as trim and light and balanced as I can get it.

[johnson1942]

i rebuilt my buffalo classic to the way i wanted it. i cut the barrel to 28 inches. i carved a rosewood beaver tail like forestock. i had a piece of round steel about 1 to 1 and a 1/2 inches long drilled to accept the barrel where the center of the new forstock is. i flattened the top of this round piece. i wanted more weight in that area. i carefully cut the composite plastic trigger guard off flush with the action. then installed a ohio pollished brass trigger guard. i also put a really good high quality lace up leather pad over the butt stock area of the stock. i then put a smith ladder buckhorn sight on it. beadblasted the barrel and had it blued by a gunsmith. now it is the way i want. shoots very well. took a nice white tail doe with it a couple of weeks ago. do what you want to your gun. take your time and make it a expression of your self. i did.

[mazo kid]

Just my opinion, but.....I think pewter would work fine as the forearm tip. I have re-worked a couple of black powder pistols in that manner. However, I think pewter would be too soft as a trigger guard.

[gnoahhh]

Ditto. Pewter would be about the last thing I would want for a trigger guard. Too soft.

Effecting a pewter fore end cap is a piece of cake. Just rebate the wood under the barrel an inch or so back from the end and swiss cheese it with a bunch of small holes wherever the pewter will contact wood to give the pewter a mechanical bond*. Then wrap/tape a piece of cardboard around the tip of the stock, with the barrel in place and extending well past however far you want the tip to finish up, plug any crevices through which the molten pewter can escape, melt the pewter and pour it in. Remove the cardboard "mold" and the barrel and get to work with files and abrasives to finish it up. Done. (Hint: pour the pewter fairly slowly but steadily so as to prevent air pockets in the outside surface.) Save the final shaping/sanding of the stock until after the pewter is in place so as to achieve a seamless joint where it meets wood.

*By that I mean open up the barrel channel back an inch or so to get 1/8" + thickness of pewter in there. Put a few shallow holes in the end grain too. Since you can't epoxy the pewter on you will be relying entirely on the mechanical bond of the molten pewter flowing into those anchor holes. I've done a few muzzle loader end caps like that and 20+ years later they're still tight and solid.

[richhodg66]

That's a neat idea, and I like the way pewter looks. I have been thinking about maybe some brass hardware on the rifle (buttplate, trigger guard and forend spacer), wonder how tough it would be to fashion and fit a brass forend cap?

[marlinman93]

I took some art metal classes for a couple years, just to help me figure out casting for my own projects. The lost wax process is a great way to go, but with smaller parts you need a centrifuge to spin the mold and insure the metal fills the mold well before it solidifies. Larger parts can be fine, and casting while the mold is still hot also helps.
If you do a sand pattern of an existing part, make sure you do several. Then using dental wax, pour the part that way first. Then take the dental wax casting, and clean it up to use for your metal casting. Use more dental wax to form the sprue for pouring, and add vent holes to allow the mold to form well. Once you've got the formed dental wax mold done, then use the other patterns of wax to make more dental wax molds. Heat them all to remove the wax, and get your metal ready to cast. Once the molds come out of the oven, set up to pour your metal, and do so before the molds cool. By casting several, you will reduce the odds of one being bad, and having to start over. If you're lucky and all are good, then you have spares to keep or sell, and defer your costs.