Making Another .416x348 Win

Started by gitano, May 14, 2018, 08:42:38 PM

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gitano


It was 'late' when I finished with the shaping, sanding, and seal coat of shellac, but I wanted to make sure the new rings I bought would be high enough for the scope I intended to put on this rifle, so... I took some 'late night' pictures to give you (and ME) some idea of what this is going to look like with the birch 'furniture'.

Here's a picture of the whole thing. Of course that's the original butt, but I thougt it looked more complete with that on than without. Also, I wanted to test how the mounted scope 'comes to eye'. With this butt, just right.


This next one is just a close-up of the forearm, scope base, and mounted scope.


Tomorrow I'll stain and finish the forearm and take some "done" pictures in the daylight.

It's about time to get started on the persimmon forearm. I figure I should work on the persimmon forearm while the lessons from doing the 'practice' forearm are fresh in my head. For example: One thing I think I'll do is shorten the BWE cap. I think this one looks just a little 'long'.

More pictures tomorrow.


Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Jamie.270

The flame in that birch looks surprisingly good.
I agree, the cap appears slightly too long, but I'm wondering if the contrast in the wood colors is contributing to that.


Still, I like it.
Great work Paul.
QuoteRestrictive gun laws that leave good people helpless, don\'t have the power to render bad people harmless.

To believe otherwise is folly. --  Me

j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)

Turvey Stalking
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Paul Hoskins

I don't particularly care for fore end tips but what you have looks good. Much better than factory tips. ......There's not much you can do to beef up the  fore  end on a Ruger SS rifle & still have strength & keep it slim & trim looking. That hanger welded on the action messes that up. It's much like the fore end wood on a pump or autoloading gun. I don't think whale bone or antler inserts inletted in the wood  will add strength but would look good. Looking good & adding strength are two different things.  .......Paul H

gitano

Forearm caps are just one of those things that I 'like' for no practical reason. In other words, it's purely an emotional perspective. I was 'raised' on rifles whose forearms had endcaps (even if they were just black plastic, not true ebony), and so they seem 'right' to me.

Another feature that is mostly cosmetic for most rifles is checkering. Not entirely cosmetic of course. However, checkering may be more necessity than p imp for this rifle. (Interesting. THL editor doesn't like the word p*i*m*p.) I only took the forearm to 320 grit sandpaper. "light" woods like walnut and birch - as opposed to "dense" woods like ebony and rosewood - rarely benefit from sanding to grits finer than 320. However, with only the seal coat of shellac and 'only' 320grit-smooth, it was pretty 'slippery'. I didn't feel really confident one-handing it without a strong grip on it. This is in part due to its length. While the rifle is relatively well balanced, (and will be moreso when I get the persimmon butt-with-tungsten-shot-in-it on), because of the length and weight, when 'tipped' fore or aft, it tends to want to go that way and slip out the hand, if, as I said, it's not firmly gripped. Checkering would lend a higher level of confidence to a one-handed grip, as well as make it look - to my eye - "finished". Jay Edwards used to swear at checkering, saying "It's just a place for blood and dirt to collect!" I don't disagree. But... Like I said, I grew up with checkered stocks on the rifles everyone had, therefore that's what looks "right" to me.

I bought a can of "Gunstock" stain and tested it on the scrap pieces of birch. I was worried it would be too red. It WAS! YUCK! It MIGHT look ok on walnut, but it looked like what a boss of mine once said about a 'fix' I had to do to someone else's screwup - "manure on a white horse". Only he didn't say "manure". The "Gunstock" stain is going back, and I am going to get some aniline die and make my own. (I'm sure you're stunned to read that.)

This whole "stain thing" has me a bit on the horns of a dilemma. The 'natural' birch is too light for my taste, but if I stain it, especially with all that 'flame', it won't look 'right' because I know it's birch. Which is NOT "dark". I may have to wrestle with that a bit.

Thanks for the kind words and comments.


Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

I found a stain that yielded a color I thought was 'right enough', but... highly figured wood is VERY tough to get stained evenly. Because of the figure, (and in this case also the shape), there is always some significant end-grain. And try as one might, there is no 'perfect' fix for the difference in the way end-grain takes stain versus the way face-grain takes stain. "Experts" will tell you that you can "fill" or "seal" the end-grain, and it will "look the same" as face-grain. They're full of it. You can get 'close', for sure, but to MY eye, "close" ain't close enough. So....

I'll be sanding this out, and just leaving the birch "natural". I'll darken it a bit by using garnet shellac as the seal coat, but shellac is NOT an "exterior" finish. If it gets water on it, it clouds up. Therefore, I'll have to put some form of exterior final coat over the shellac. The good news is that shellac bonds well with just about every known finish. That's yet another characteristic of shellac I like. It's too bad it can't handle moisture.

I'll post some pictures when I get the stain sanded off and the final finish on it.


Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

I have finished (at least for now) the persimmon forearm. I'm pleased with it. Some of you may find the schnabel more 'robust' than you like. I gave this considerable thought, and the shape is the way I like it, like I said, at least for now. The birch forearm is a little too much like a spear; too pointed for my taste. Not much, but a little. I wanted something less spear-like and a bit 'beefier'. This rifle is a .416. If it were a .22 or mabye a .24, a 'splinter' would be more proportional, but given the caliber, I did't  want 'delicate' as the gestalt.


I forgot to take pictures of the "whole" rifle from the left side. I'll get those later and post them.



Here's a picture of the three tips: Factory, birch, and persimmon

You can see that there really isn't too much difference from the side. There is more 'beef' when viewed from the end.



Here are pictures of the whole forearms, left and right sides.




I'm looking forward to having the birch and persimmon butts on, but I'm not looking forward to actually performing the work. :sweatdrop:

I'm also thinking seriously about putting a front ramp on the barrel and using open sights. This rifle looks really sleek without the scope. We'll see how things look after the birch butt is installed.


Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Jamie.270

Aw heck, I'm gonna go ahead and say it,...






Geez Paul, that's a really nice schnabel you have there!


All kidding aside, I like it.  

When it's finished, I'll just hafta complement you on your whole rifle.
Rather than than say I like your butt and your schnabel separately! ;)


(Can't wait to see it, especially if it's getting iron sights.)
QuoteRestrictive gun laws that leave good people helpless, don\'t have the power to render bad people harmless.

To believe otherwise is folly. --  Me

sakorick

Sensational.....no other way to describe that work. I love the whole thing....congrats, Paul!.
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

gitano

#69
Thanks!

I hope that practicing on the birch piece will reveal a process/prcedure/technique that will make it easy to get the angle right. This all becomes so trivial when you employ CNC tooling.

On another note...

I have already cut the birch for a 'straight' stock without a cheekpiece. Similar to, but not as "2-by-4-ish" as the factory stock. However, I am contemplating forming a cheekpiece on the persimmon butt that would be similar to (but not exactly like) my thumbhole stocks.





It's a bit garish, but that stock design does not kick my face! As you can see, the cheekpiece does two things: 1) It gets my head up to align with the scope, and 2) the cheekpiece actually 'falls away' from my face forward. Meaning, that as the rifle recoils, the wood isn't moving into my face!

Tough decision really. I'm going to shoot the birch stock before I decide on what to do with the persimmon butt.


Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

I finally got the birch butt stock inletted close to the point that I can start shaping it. I've got about an eighth of an inch to go. Hand inletting that stock is a BEAR! I'll post pictures when I get ready to start shaping.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

sakorick

Quote from: gitano;151546Hand inletting that stock is a BEAR!

Paul

No kidding!!!
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

gitano

#72
I finally got the butt fitted. In the picture below, the butt is actually bolted to the receiver.



I'll post some more pictures as I start shaping it.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

I have essentially completed the shaping. I have to fine-fit the contour of the wood where it meets the metal, but the shape is finished to the point that I now start with sandpaper. I was going to post some pictures (I did take some), but its difficult to get the light right and I don't like the ones I took. So... I'll get it finished, with the FINISH on it and then post some pictures. If you want to see some of the interim pictures at that time, I'll post them then.

I am pleased with the straight stock, and I am very pleased with the birch. I will definitely be doing that again on something. I really like working with that wood. My curiosity is piqued with regard to how this stock is going to transfer energy to me. The drop at the comb is the same as it is on the factory stock, but the shape of my stock is MUCH friendlier to my face. I am hoping that the perceived recoil will be less with this stock than the factory stock. I am almost certain that it will be, but won't truly know until I get a recoil pad on it and shoot it. It does 'come to eye' well, and it feels good against my cheek. (The factory stock REALLY DOES feel like a 2x4 against my face.)

I don't imagine that I will get this finished completely before I head to Colorado. It's getting to be winter here, and I have to get the place both ready for winter and ready for me to be gone for a bit. However, "you'll" be the first to know when I get it finished.

The persimmon stock MAY be the same simple design, but I am almost certain that the drop at the comb will be less on that buttstock.

Aw heck, might as well post one of the quick and dirty pictures.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

sakorick

What's the LOP? It looks pretty long.
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

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