How long does it take to fit a stock to a gun?

[zeke mccune]

Hi Gang:

How long does it take you to fit a barreled action to an inletted stock? I know that it depends upon how well inletted the blank is when you start, but let us say on an average stock start to finish.

I just finished inletting a pre inletted stock to a barreled action and it must have taken me about 8 hours. I use an oil lamp to produce smoke that blackens my metal to show the high spots to be removed. This is very slow but does produce a near perfect fit. Is there a faster way using only hand tools?

I watched a gunsmith do all of the inletting on a vertical milling machine and he made it look easy and very fast. This was on a "plastic" B.R. stock.

If there is an easier way, please share your methods.

T.I.A.


Zeke

 

[Hal D.]

That's a tough one to answer. The REAL stockmakers take months to fashion a piece of wood into a finished product, while a fully inletted stock from McMillan might not need any extra inletting at all. I'd say it really depends on the outcome desired along with the quality of the inletting done by the manufacturer of the stock. Some are far better than others.

 

[lejarretnoir]

I did one on the Bridgeport and yes having a mill will save you a lot of time. It took one afternoon to hog out the bulk. Inletting black is your friend. The beauty of the mill is getting accurate lines. Finish is easy with hand tools afterward.
I'm no expert, but the stock came out nice.

With hand tools, gouge and scrape, check again and again.

 

[shot410ga]

You did it the right way, with lamp black. However, some type of bedding is still required, no matter what type of inletting you use.

 

[Who Me?]

I'll bet the next one you do goes a lot quicker. I know that for every project I've built in my woodworking shop, the next time I build that project, it goes a lot faster. I think it has something to do with building your skills and confidence.

 

[NesikaChad]

A cardinal rule of my business is I will not work on a stock that's been inletted by someone else. Please don't interpret that as a black mark on anyone's work as it isn't meant that way. It just screws up my processes if I don't do it myself.

That being said from the time I peel a stock from the bubble wrap to the time its in the paint booth for say a repeating sporting rifle is about three days. That's a blank that's inletted, bedded, cleaned up, pad installed, and all the furniture fitted.

Judge for yourself:

 

[phantom496]

How long to do a stock . .?

I have done several now . . How long it takes is how well do you want it to fit to the receiver and barrel. Go to www.wildcountryarchery.com / custom rifles / heavy varmint rifle - author Phantom . . . That is nearly the complete build of a 98' Vz24 with a heavy barrel on a piece of Myrtle wood, that was a block of wood when I started. What is shown there is after I had it cut out and ready to start the contour, I didn't take a picture of the Block of Wood before I got it cut out to the shape. . . wish I had now !!

It took me about a month to do all of what you see there, it will depend on the tools that you use to contour the stock with and the tools that you use to set where the "trigger" will go in the receiver, that is the most important dimension to get. If that is either too far forward "or" too far back it will effect how the stock will fit the shooter. I have since done a couple more, and find as the responder above says - easier and quicker.

Good sharp chisels are a must and I use High Spot Blue to do mine, a little messy but it will wash off. What ever will work for you and allow you to move the wood in the right places is very important, and as the responder says above, it will need to be bedded no matter how good you do the in-letting in it. A small milling machine is - almost a must to move the wood quickly, but I did my first one "All" by hand . . ouch . . that was a labor of love to be sure . . .

If you have any questions - just ask !! This is getting to be a bit of a hobby with me . . .

Here is a picture of one I just finished . . . It is done on a Winchester Receiver with a Kreiger barrel, and all of the receiver area was stepped off so that the radius of the receiver matched the wood to receiver nearly perfect. I don't have a CNC machine, it was all done by the numbers on a small Smithy Mill that I have. This was also my first attempt at a Thumbhole Stock, didn't come out too bad . . Ya think ??

 

[NesikaChad]

Pretty!! Nice job