April 30th - So...how do I learn how to hunt?

April –  30th

So there you are you little suburban pre-packaged, homogenized chardonnay sipping corporate cog.  Something is stirring in you to get out doors and learn where your meat comes from.  You want to hunt!  Experience the thrill of the chase!  Feed your family from your own most basic resources!

But you’re an accountant from Encino who last went camping thirty years ago as a scout, and you’ve never held a gun in your life. 

What to do?

Well….surprisingly, there are quite a few of you out there.  Most hunters have traditionally started young, often times learning the tricks of the trade and their general outdoor skills from a parent that hunts, or a crazy aunt or uncle.  (Make no mistake…this is not your “fathers” sport….more women hunt now than at any time, and in fact women make up the fastest growing segment in the shooting sports in general.)

Problem is, with urbanization many of our parents never bothered to learn these skills in the first place…so learning from them is a non-starter.

 My daughter Chaney at age 8 on her second goat hunt...She has the skills to put meat on the table....do you?

My older Daughter Carolyn at age 12....she wanted to go on a Bear hunt...and this guy actually tried to attack me...she ended up saving me with a single shot!  That was an adventure!  One of the many instances I can point to where this girl literally "saved" my life!

 My dad on his first Boar hunt.  Sometimes things work in reverse....I actually "taught" my dad how to hunt.

I’ve received a large number of emails from followers asking me if I can “teach them to hunt”.   Short answer is yes…anyone who wants a more personalized coach, or is seeking more info can always contact me at slieberman03@gmail.com.  If you are relatively local to me I would also be happy to take you on a hunt as well.

That said there are some affirmative steps you need to take…

1) Take a class. 

Specifically an outdoors class….or rather as many classes as you can get your hands on.  Large sporting good stores like Bass Pro or Cabelas…even REI offer tons of classes…on thriving in the outdoors.  Don’t worry about nuts-and-bolts “hunting” classes.…..right now you need to work on your general outdoors skills.

2) Get a hunting license.  

The requirement varies from state to state, but most require you attend a hunter safety class before you can get a license.  I just put my youngest daughter through the class, and I have to say they can range from generally informative to flat out fantastic!  Don’t look at them as a bureaucratic necessity….there is some really good info in those classes.

3) Buy a hunting rifle….just don’t buy one that is too expensive! 

I always tell people to start off with a 30.06 or a .270.  These calibers have widely available ammunition and are relatively flat shooting (meaning the bullet arc follows a “flat” path to target and you don’t need to engage in geometry when calculating where to aim.

4) Practice Practice Practice

You need to get good with that gun, and the only way to do it is to spend some really significant amount of time at a range.  The one thing you NEVER want to do is injure an animal…we want quick clean kills.  If you can’t hit a target at a hundred yards consistently…don’t hunt until you can.

5) Consider a “guided” hunt

My first hunt ....(at age 30…I came into this sport late in life too!) was a guided wild boar hunt at Tejon Ranch in California.  Aside from being one of the most beautiful places on earth…the guides at the ranch will literally hold your hand as they assist you in finding, shooting, and then rendering your animal.  You might not feel like a mountain man at the end of the hunt….but you will be well on your way to starting your “career” as a hunter! 

6) Join organizations and get involved!

Hunters represent the single greatest financial contributors to habitat preservation and improvement on Earth.  There is an old saying, “you want to help the environment?  Put down your picket sign and pick up a rifle”.  Organizations like Safari Club, Rocky Mountain Elk, Big Horn Sheep Society and Ducks Unlimited (and countless others) bring hunters together and spend their members money on important conservation projects.  Join one of them…or many of them!  The point is get involved!  You will learn a tremendous amount about hunting by being an active member, and will have the chance to meet other members that will be thrilled to have a new hunter join the ranks. 

Then,…when your all “Mountain Manned” (or Mountain Womaned) up….go teach someone else how to hunt too!  

April 27 - Finishing Off the Stock!

April 27 – Finishing off the Stock

Ok….so you may remember from a couple of postings ago that I decided to move on to the process of finishing the stock while I wait for the drill and tap on the receiver. 

The stock has been shaped now to its proper dimensions and everything seems to “feel” right.  My chief concern was to reduce the shelf (where the barrel meets the wood) to a nice 1/8 inch from the ¼ inch I started out with.  That has been done and the curvature of the wood around the fore end has a nice symmetrical geometry to it.

Now, the fun part!

I’ve partially removed the recoil pad, this will act as a “holder” so that I can manipulate the wet wood with the finish on it, and not mar it with finger prints.

To protect the wood from minor abrasions, but most importantly human oils, we need to get a protective “shell” on it.   A polyurethane coating is nice, and we will put one on at the end, but we want a deeper penetrating protection….for that we will use Linseed oil.

So here is what we’re going to do….we will pour a little linseed oil on the stock and use 600 grit sand paper as the application medium.  We will quite literally “sand” the oil into the wood.  This does two things…. it obviously will spread the oil about the woods surface,  but more importantly it will create a sawdust/linseed oil mixture in the process.  This paste product will be worked into the pours of the wood during the application process and harden into the wood.  Essentially we are filling the imperfections of the wood with itself!

 You can see at the bottom of the picture the area of the stock that has not had the oil applied yet, and the color difference between the two.

The other benefit of linseed oil is that it naturally brings out the color of the walnut (especially the marbling) without having to “color” it with stain.  What you see is what you get.  A beautiful specimen of American Walnut!

Now, we will need to let it sit for a while and dry. 

I will end up doing this exercise seven or eight times before it is complete, then I will do it again, this time with a polyurethane finish.  Once that is completed we can move on the checkering phase!

Looking Back...My First Hunt

April 26 - My First Hunt

My first hunt.

So, as I mentioned before, I came to this whole hunting thing rather late in life.  In college there was a guy in my dorm building that lived in Nevada.  Each semester he would come to school with a new supply of venison that he would cook for himself on a hot plate in his room.  I thought this was one of the most badass things a guy could do.  Here I was in the middle of San Francisco with guys looking to enhance the inner female goddess or something, and this dude was killing and cooking his own food!

Each time I thought about learning to hunt things would push it off.  Finally, after a bout with some health issues I turned to my wonderfully supportive wife and told her that I was going to hunt…at least once...before I shuffled off this mortal coil. 

So…I took a hunter safety class, got a hunting license and bought a $300 rifle (scope included!) at Walmart.  (Walmart still sold guns in Southern California back then). 

After a number of trips to the local range I realized I had no idea how to hunt,…and the thought of parading around the woods with a gun scared the hell out of me.  I wasn’t even sure what woods I could parade around!

I called up Turners Outdoorsman…a sporting goods store here in SoCal, and was as blunt as I could be…”I want to hunt, I’ve got a hunting licence…what the hell do I do now???”  After a couple of phone transfers someone suggested I go on a guided hunt and pointed me in the direction of the Tejon Ranch.

Tejon is located about an hour north of Los Angeles, and at the time, (might still be) was the largest single tract of privately held land in the continental United States.  Roughly the size of Orange County California, the terrain encompasses everything from prairie to alpine, and even desert.  They have tons of wild life, but most importantly they have pigs…wild boars….and a crap load of them.

Years earlier a neighboring rancher decided it would be cool to breed Russian boars and bought a few from Mother Russia.  A lightning strike on a fence and 20 or thirty freaked out boars sent them scurrying onto the Tejon property.  Boars are a lot like rabbits.  They have litters three to four times a year, and each litter has four or five piggies.  Quickly they blossomed and took the place over.

A mega problem for most, the folks at Tejon decided to use it as an opportunity and offer a variety of hunts for the beasts. 

This is where I come in.

I contacted them, told them upfront I had no clue what the hell I was doing but wanted to learn, and the good folks took my credit card info and booked me a weekend on the ranch.

The facilities at Tejon are stunning, and since it was my first hunt I didn’t really appreciate how nice they were.  My guide was also great.  He was something of a cross between a cowboy and a naturalist and gushed with information about the ranch, the flora and fauna, and most importantly for me the nuts and bolts of the hunt. 

On my second day we spotted a large boar 200 yards out.  He ordered me to take the shot.  I was concerned about my emotions at the time.  Would I be regretful? Would I be sick?  Well…those thoughts were pushed back as I aimed my rifle and connected.  As we approached the now dead boar, I realized that my feelings were more ambivalent.   I was just happy I didn’t embarrass myself by missing the shot.  (Not to worry…that would happen many times on future hunts!)

My guide started the field dressing process.  This was going to be interesting.  Not since high school biology had I seen the insides of a creature.  Again…would I be nauseated?  Well…as it turns out I wasn’t.  The gut pile was what it was.  A mega meal we left on the ground for the other creatures that live at Tejon.

I helped the guide haul the carcass into the back of the pickup truck and we began the long drive back to the cabin and the skinning shack.  He turned to me an asked me how I enjoyed my first hunt.  Honestly, I was not totally enamored.  It wasn’t bad by any means, but it was not the deeply religious man vs. wild experience I thought it might be.  It just…… was. 

As we slowly made our way along the dusty dirt roads I would glance back in the truck bed and see my boar.  Within a couple of miles ambivalence turned to a begrudging pride.  That in turn morphed into a felling of being “part” of the natural process.  Finally, by the time we reached the Cabin it had grown to a full blown thrill.  I had hunted.  I would hunt again.  I had harvested protein.  I knew that later that night when I returned home, my family would dine on tenderloin, and the meat from this boar would last us for months.   I had literally put meat on the table. I had become a hunter.

April 24 - Shaping the Stock

April 24 – Shaping the Stock

Well…I really didn’t want to start doing aggressive work on the stock until I had a chance to take the rifle to the range and check on its’ accuracy.  Unfortunately with my stock mounting fiasco the other day that program got put on hold for a couple of weeks. 

While I wait for the drill and tap to arrive I figured I better start working on finishing up the stock or this Remington Project will never end!

So…what does reshaping entail and why do we do it?

 This is the stock and barrel of my Winchester Model 70....notice the shelf of wood where the stock meets the barrel...that is generally what we will be looking for on the Remington.

The meat of the stock holds the receiver in place.  (Remember my earlier post where I pillar bedded the receiver?).  The fore end of the stock….the place you put your other hand to hold the rifle steady….can serve a couple of purposes.  Most factory rifles are built with the stock actually touching the barrel.  You might remember though that when I pillar bedded the receiver I free floated the barrel too.  Now the fore end is exclusively for holding the rifle, and looking cool.  (oh yeah….it also serves as a mount for the sling stud….but we haven’t put those on yet.)

When the stock was first shaped out a lot of excess wood was left on to allow for mistakes and proper fitting.  This really doesn’t do anything negative for accuracy, but it does create excess weight, and since I have somewhat smaller hands, (stop laughing) it makes it more uncomfortable to hold the rifle steady.

 Look at all the excess wood....you can put books on that shelf!

So….we need to start removing wood…the trick is to remove the exact same amount of wood on both sides of the stock.

This is most easily achieved with a file as a starting point.  I want to reduce the shelf at the top of the barrel channel to a little more than an eighth of an inch, and I want the fore end to have less of a square shape and more of a round one. 

So….we file away , then switch to 220 grit sand paper to gently smooth out the file lines.  This also is a perfect time to start “cleaning up” the unfinished stock.  During our customization process the stock has been subjected to clamping marks from vices, as well as being dropped on the floor.  As a result there are pits and abrasions on the rough wood. 

 Shelf is being reduced...starting to look "good".

 Now I put the stock in my Checkering Cradle...this "vice" will really help when I do the checkering on the grip....right now it serves as a nice holder to work large pieces of the stock and steam out the depressions.

Here is a little trick for removing them without having to sand the whole thing down…also this trick can be used on any piece of wood…so if you have a dining room table with a scratch in it try doing this before you just put a placemat over the mark:

Take a wet cloth, (wet…not damp) and rub water into the mark.  When it is nice and discolored, place the cloth over the damaged area and press a hot iron onto it for a few seconds at a time.  The water that has worked itself into the wood turns to steam and now wants to escape….in the process it “pushes” the wood up and voila! The depression now turns into a slightly raised area…and is also bone dry! 

Now…go back to the sand paper and smooth everything out.

A quick check with the sanded stock on the barreled action and it looks like things are improving….still want to remove a little more wood, but we are almost done.

 Looking better!...still a little ways to go!

In the next blog we will begin sanding mineral spirits into the wood!

Shoot straight buckaroos!  (sorry…I’m trying to come up with a tag line) 

April 24 - Why I Hunt

April 24 – Why I hunt

So my Remington has been taken to the welder to “fix” the front base holes, freeing up my time to do a little “philosophizing”.

A number of my readers have emailed me to tell me that they really like to shoot…or are interested in learning how to shoot…but they just don’t think they would ever want to hunt..

My response to them is simple:  Don’t hunt.

I believe that for some of us hunting...and by hunting I am specifically referring to the thrill of being outdoors with a purpose.  The pursuit of game, and ultimately the consumption of that game is essentially hard wired into our DNA.  As we developed as a species some of us took on the roles of hunters, and some chose other endeavors.  Both were essential to the survival of our species, and both need to be honored.  As we left the idyllic state of nature both of these strands of human behavior stayed with us, and to an extent stays with us to this day. 

 I took this deer back in Oct.  For Southern California it's antler size is pretty good....for anywhere else on the planet I would be laughed at for taking a deer this small.....that said,...this deer represented almost 5 years of hard hunting.  Just because you hunt is no guarantee that you will be bringing anything home for the freezer!

I literally hunt, because it is part of who I am.  Make no mistake, I could still acquire protein and clothing through more efficient means.  It is a hell of a lot more efficient and cheaper to go to the grocery store and buy a steak then it is to go into the field in search of a deer.  But there is something pure,…something, spiritual about developing a relationship with your sustenance that transcends the commercialization of the meat packer. 

I am who I am, because I hunt for my food…..and in that same context the game I pursue is the game that it is because I pursue it.  The deer and the elk have developed a personality and a life cycle in direct context to their predators…of which I am one.  Without predation the game that we see in the field would behave, and look much different then it does today.  Likewise, our biology has grown and modified because we are predators.  We are who we are, because someone decided to pursue live game, rather than take the low evolutionary road as a simple scavenger. 

 My oldest daughter Carolyn with a Cow Elk she took a couple of years back in Central California.  The meat fed us for nearly 2 years.

I am also connected to the lands in which I hunt.  When I consume venison I am not just consuming a tenderloin from a deer that I shot.  I am consuming an entire ecosystem that supported the development of my quarry.  From the plants, that gave the game it’s nutrition, to the other predators that molded it’s muscles and literally helped in it’s development before I connected with it.

My youngest daughter took a bison this last winter in New Mexico.  As we eat the meat that she and the bison have provided for my family we can actually taste the grass that it fed on.  The harsh New Mexico winters forced the bison to grow thick fur which now keeps her warm as she sleeps on the skin (called a robe) at night.

 My youngest daughter Chaney with her New Mexico Bison.

This connection with the land and the animals that live on it is something that could never be achieved by walking the isles of a supermarket.  

April 23 - Base, Ring, Disaster!

April 23 – BASE, RING, DISASTER!

Well, the bases and rings have arrived!

Here are the Leupold bases and rings nestled in their little packages.  I love these products.  I have become such a huge fan not only of the products Leupold puts out, but of the Leupold company itself. 

A number of years ago I was on a hunt in Texas and my rifle fell out of the scabbard when I was pulling it out.  It went straight from my hands and bounced on some rocks on the ground.  Thankfully the hunt was over and I wouldn’t need to use it again for a while.  About to throw up from what I had just done I grabbed my rifle and checked the scope.  One of the lenses had a hair line crack, and the exterior of the scope was scratched and marred.

I called Leupold’s customer service to see if this thing was even capable of being repaired. Rather than looking for a dealer to do the repair, they asked me to send the scope to them,.  Two weeks later a brand new scope showed up at my office, FREE OF CHARGE!  Ok….they have a customer for life!

Now to install!

So Remington is kind enough to drill and tap the receiver for base screws when the rifle leaves the factory.  To keep everything looking clean they install little set screws in the holes so the rifle does not come to the customer with exposed holes in it.  They need to be removed first before we can install the bases.

DISASTER!!!! 

The front set screws had fused into the receiver…(someone at the factory probably used a glue compound and the screws have fused over time).  Now they need to be drilled and tapped out before I can proceed.

CRAP!!!

Ok…so the screws were removed, but I don’t have the right tap to put in new threatds.  Sigh….this is going to take some time,…and to make matters worse it looks like the dimensions of the drill I used are slightly larger than the screws.

This is getting worse and worse.  Now I’m going to have to have the holes filled with a Tig welder and start the drill and tap procedure all over again.  To make matters worse I’m going to have to take the gun to a welder that can do Tig welding, because I don’t have the equipment!

So….for those of you just dying to see what this is “supposed:” to look like, I’ve included a pic of the scope “dry” mounted on the rifle.  Unfortunately this will not be acceptable.  The Front base is just sitting there…mocking me…it is not securely attached to the receiver…If I were to fire the gun the vibration would cause the scope the move around from shot to shot.

 Looks good huh?  Unfortunately It just wont work.  While it might seem secure, it is only being held in place by the rear mount.

Screw it….I’m going to the range anyway and I’ll shoot my Winchester Model 70 that has also been “accurized”. I need to blow off some steam!

Below is my target taken from a hundred yards with my Winchester.  This is what the Remington target SHOULD look like when I finally get this @#!@$ scope mounted on it!!!!

 Each of the squares is 1 inch by 1 inch.  In the parlance of the shooter this is referred to as a "Minute of Angle".  This six shot group at a hundred yards of 180 grain Winchester Supreme factory loads all falls within a sub MOA.  Nice rifle...and why I LOVE my Winchester!!!  Hopefully the Remington will one day shoot like this!!!

April 21- A Public Service Announcement

Ok...so My blog is intended to show people the art of customized firearms, and general shooting techniques and improvements.  From time to time though a little nugget of love comes along that warrants a place here on the blog.  I took this from a letter shared to me through my Facebook account, and if you are friends with me on Facebook you probably have already seen this and if it is repetitive I apologize.  That said, this letter is posted again here on my blog for your perusal :

McMillan Fiberglass Stocks, McMillan Firearms Manufacturing, McMillan Group International have been collectively banking with Bank of America for 12 years. Today Mr. Ray Fox, Senior Vice President, Market Manager, Business Banking, Global Commercial Banking came to my office. He scheduled the meeting as an “account analysis” meeting in order to evaluate the two lines of credit we have with them. He spent 5 minutes talking about how McMillan has changed in the last 5 years and have become more of a firearms manufacturer than a supplier of accessories.
At this point I interrupted him and asked “Can I possible save you some time so that you don’t waste your breath? What you are going to tell me is that because we are in the firearms manufacturing business you no longer what my business.”
“That is correct” he says.
I replied “That is okay, we will move our accounts as soon as possible. We can find a 2nd Amendment friendly bank that will be glad to have our business. You won’t mind if I tell the NRA, SCI and everyone one I know that BofA is not firearms industry friendly?”
“You have to do what you must” he said.
“So you are telling me this is a politically motivated decision, is that right?”
Mr Fox confirmed that it was. At which point I told him that the meeting was over and there was nothing let for him to say.

I think it is import for all Americans who believe in and support our 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms should know when a business does not support these rights. What you do with that knowledge is up to you. When I don’t agree with a business’ political position I can not in good conscience support them. We will soon no longer be accepting Bank of America credit cards as payment for our products.

Kelly D McMillan
Director of Operations
McMillan Group International, LLC



Ok,....so there you have it,....I don't have any accounts with BofA, but it looks like we have a credit card in the safe for emergency purposes....I'll have to rectify that next week.

April 19 - 13 Rules for a Gun Fight

Ok....so I'm taking a break from working on the Remington for a couple of days.  Perusing one of my forums I saw this.  I believe the actual credit goes to Col. Cooper,...It's been a while but I seem to remember reading this list a number of years ago in an article written by him.  Regardless of the credit, and dismissing the "tongue-in-cheek" style....this is a pretty good list!

1. Guns have only two enemies: rust and politicians.


2. It's always better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.


3 Cops carry guns to protect themselves, not you.



4. Never let someone or something that threatens you get inside arms length.

5. Never say, "I've got a gun." If you need to use deadly force, the first sound      they should hear should be the safety clicking off.

6.  The average response time of a 911 call is 23 minutes; the response time of   a .357 is 1400 feet per second.

7.  The most import rule in a gunfight is: Always win - Cheat if necessary.

8.  Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets....You may get killed with your own gun, but he'll have to beat you with it, because it'll be empty.

9.  If you're in a gunfight:

If you're not shooting, you should be loading.

If you're not loading, you should be moving.

If you're not moving, you're dead.

10.  In a life and death situation, do something....It may be wrong, but do something!

11.  If you carry gun, people call you paranoid.  Nonsense! If you have a gun, what do you have to be paranoid about?

12.  You can say "stop" or "Alto" or any other word, but a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is pretty much a universal language.

13.  You cannot save the planet, but you may be able to save yourself and your family.

April 18th- The Waiting Game

April 18^th – The Waiting Game….

So…if you have ever hired a contractor, or in the case of many of you, sent your guns to a gunsmith for repair you know what waiting is all about.

As you can see from my past blogs this Remington project has been moving along at a fairly steady clip….until now.

Before I can go any further though, I have to wait for the bases and rings to arrive from my vendor.  Until they get here all I can do is stare at this thing and admire how far we have come.

 The original firearm, out of the box and looking as plastic as ever.  Crappy action feel, a trigger that feels like it takes to hands to pull it, and a barreled action that bounces around in the stock when fired.

 Everything broken down and the stock in the trash where it belongs.

 Then rifle mounted in the new walnut stock, the lugs lapped, the barrel free floating, the receiver pillar and glass bedded, and the trigger pull reduced to a 2.5lb pull.

See…the bases and rings are going to hold the scope in place.  Until they arrive my "tester scope" will continue to sit in the gun closet. 

I’ll go into detail on what bases and rings are and how they are installed on the next blog entry, but suffice to say that for my purposes I need them, because I need to put a scope on this rifle.  See, the whole purpose of the rifle is to be “super accurate”.  At a hundred yards the only way to check for that level of accuracy is with a high power scope.

You may notice that the rifle already has iron sites attached to it, and may be wondering why I need a scope in the first place.

Glad you asked.

The iron sites are there for four reasons:

1)    They came with the gun so we consider them “bonus”.  Most modern sporting rifles do not have iron sights from the factory and they need to be installed by a gunsmith if you really want them.  Most shooters could care less, so they are rarely present on a modern sporting arm.

2)    They look kinda cool.  Again….bonus!

3)    They serve as a “backup”…..See a scope is only as good as the environment it finds itself in.   In really severe fog or rain a scope is basically worthless.  You’re target needs to be at least 25 yards away for the scope to function properly and have a focus that is relatively clear.  If the fog is so thick that you only have 20 yards of visibility, your hunt is done for the day.  An Iron sight has no such limitation,…so just remove the scope and rings in camp and hunt to your hearts delight….(in miserable foggy conditions).

4)     Wounded dangerous game.  This is the worst of the worst.  You’re out hunting dangerous game and you ended up wounding the animal.  Now aside from feeling like crap that you wounded an animal, you potentially put an innocent bystander in danger.  Dangerous game that is wounded could care less who the shooter was…all it know is that it is pissed and in pain and will extract revenge on whoever comes along.  So…it is your responsibility to get in there and finish the job,…even though doing so puts you in jeopardy as well.  The last thing you want in this scenario is a scope that won’t focus because you are too close.  So, before you go after the critter you better take the scope off and switch to iron sights.

So….we will wait for a little while longer for the bases and rings to arrive.  

Once they arrive and the scope is mounted, it will be time to head out to the range to check the performance of the rifle and make sure everything is functioning properly.

I suppose I could start working on the finishing of the stock, but that would make little sense if I have mechanical problems with the firearm itself.  Once the gun is determined to shoot well then it will be time to clean up the stock and apply the finish.

Hopefully I’ll be blogging about the next process soon!

Sitting in Aliso Viejo CA, waiting for the UPS man to show up!

April 16 - The Recoil Pad

April 16 – The Recoil Pad

Every job, no matter how enjoyable has at least one component that is a major pain in the ass.

This brings us to the recoil pad.

Back in my posting about stocks I mentioned the pros and cons of synthetic vs. wood stocks.  One point that I left off (intentionally), is the fitting of the recoil pad. 

See…Synthetic stocks which I don’t particularly care for, they have established geometry’s which means they can only accept “made to order” recoil pads.  Wood stocks don’t have this luxury.  Simply stated there are no rubber recoil pads that offer an off the shelf “exact” fit to your stock….you have to make it fit.

Why do we need recoil pads in the first place?  

Glad you asked.  

Remember back in physics that law that stated that every action has an exact equal opposite reaction?  Well,  the explosive force of the cartridge in the rifle chamber that propels the projectile out the muzzle at 2200 ft per second has a whole lot of “opposite reaction” attached to it.  Some calibers are small enough that the explosive force necessary is minimal.  For these guns the recoil pad is slim, and sometimes hard,…the only real purpose is to protect the stock from wear and tear.  In the old days, (I mean really old days…think Daniel Boone), there was no recoil pad at all, just a slab of brass fitted over the stock.  Now days though, with larger caliber rifles there is a whole lot of rearward movement every time the rifle is fired.  Without having some serious protection fitted to where the rifle is wedged into the shooters body, you could only fire two or three shots before you threw the rifle in the trash and sat in the corner and cried. (I know…I’ve sat in the corner and cried a couple of times…but that is another story).

So…how do we make a chunk of rubber fit properly to a piece of wood and make it look “natural”.

First we need to make a template using the end of the stock as a guide.  I stand the stock on the recoil pad and scribe a “cut line” into the rubber with an awl.  Then I rub chalk into the pad to make the scribe line stand out.  Next I put on my reading glasses…not because they offer protection…but because I’m getting too damn old to see anything up close without them. 

I need to be close because I’m going to be removing the excess rubber with a belt sander, and the last thing I want to do is remove too much. 

Grinding the recoil pad....who knew that rubber could turn into a gas and get into EVERYTHING!

Here is another little problem that you encounter in the process….the comb of the recoil pad…the top part the matches up to the comb of the stock is easy enough to grind since it sits at a 90 degree angle to the pad.  It’s the toe (the opposite end that is a problem)…see the toe needs to follow the same angle as the toe of the stock and the only way to get this angle correct on the grinder is to have a magical degree of steadiness, or cheat and use a jig….I always cheat when I have the option.

So now I am covered in rubber from the grinder, but I have a recoil pad that looks like it will fit so its time to do a “dry fit” and see if it worked.

 Well...looks like it fits!  Hmmm...mabye I should consider becoming a hand model...

Looks like it fits.  Now all that is needed is to mark the screw holes on the stock, drill pilot holes and screw the pad into the stock, making sure to place grease on the head of the screws so that they don’t mar the rubber as the sink into it. 

The first thing you notice is that the whole assemblage looks pretty damn ugly.  That is to be expected, a grinder only does rough work.  Now I need to switch to sand paper to smooth out the rough grinding lines and reduce the wood on the stock slightly to match any low points where the wood meets the rubber. 

 220 grit sand paper gently smoothing out the scuff marks on the pad.  Notice the high tech jig I have the pad mounted on?  It is a scrap piece of pine.

 And there you have it!  The recoil pad is fitted!  The extra length of the pad also has the benefit of increasing the pull of the stock,...extending the dimensions of the stock from 13 inches from trigger to butt to a little over 14 inches....this "fits" better for most adults.

Now that everything looks right I apply a little Turtle Wax to brighten the pad and begin the long process of sweeping up the shop.  Little bits of rubber are on everything that is within 10 feet of my sander.

If I ever finish cleaning up the next step will be to install the bases, rings and scope!  

April 13th - The Moment of Truth!

April 13^th- Did the bedding process work?

Ok…the time has come.  This beast has been sitting under pressure for the last 24 hours, and just casually looking at it I can see that the flash of bedding compound around the barrel is as hard as a rock.

Moment of truth time….

After removing the bedding screws I’m going to gently….repeat gently…try to remove the barreled action from the stock.  What I am most concerned about is having missed a section of metal when I was putting on release agent.  If I did, then that portion of metal is going to be permanently welded to the stock.  When I go to remove it I could very easily end up breaking my stock in half and having to start all over again.

Less of a problem, but still one that I’m concerned about is that the bedding compound did not flow over everything evenly and I’ll have pits and holes where everything should be perfectly smooth.  If this screwed up it’s not the end of the world….I can just fill in the imperfections with new compound and wait another 24 hours.

Finally, did the bedding compound set the pillars properly?  If this failed we have more of a problem.  If they did not set properly they will have to be chiseled out. (Good luck) and re-set.  That will be a daunting process.

So with all that fear and trepidation in mind Let’s see what we’ve done….

Success!  Holy Crap it worked!

So…after the celebratory martini, it’s time to clean this whole thing up…and this is going to take some time, some care, and some really aggressive tools.

First I want to smooth out the flashing along the barrel channel.  That is done with a dremel to remove the bulk, a file to bring it almost flush, and then some 220 grit sand paper wrapped around a steel block to finish.  The steel block is kind of important.  Right now the edges of the barrel channel have a 90 degree edge….I want to keep it that way!

Next we move on to a dental pick.  This is truly one of the greatest inventions of all time.  The pick allows me to rasp out excess bedding compound in the tight crevasses where it doesn't belong.

Now it’s on to the barreled action.  This is going to take some time.  A through coating of acetone, some steel wool, a rag and the wonderful dental pick cleans it up, and brings it back to it’s original look.

Now we reattach the trigger mechanism and the magazine and slip the whole thing back into the stock.

Voila!  Perfect fit!  With the original action screws in place it’s time to do the dollar bill test to see if we still have a free floated barrel.

Looks like we do!

Quick check of the trigger again…yep still working safe and properly, and still set at 2.5lbs.!

Next step is to install the new recoil pad and mount a scope on it! 

April 12 – The Pillars and a free floated barrel

April 12 – The Pillars and a free floated barrel

So in our quest to build a more accurate rifle we have a snug fitting bolt with polished locking lugs, a smoothed out action to make the bolt throw more precise, an improved 2.5 lbs.  trigger, and now we are going to mount this whole contraption on a chunk of wood and hope that everything works out!

Well…maybe not.

Remember in my past updates I mentioned that the curse of accuracy is uncontrolled vibration?  Well,..we can minimize it even further…and here is where things get rather messy.  Not in theory…. Literally messy….you may want to put on some rubber gloves for this part.

Ok…the barreled action is designed to sit on the stock and be held fast with two (sometimes three…but in this case two) “action screws”.  These screws enter holes in the bottom of the stock and attach to holes drilled into the bottom of the action.   The problem is that the material creating tension against the screws is wood.  Wood is a cellulose structure that can change geometry over time through tension, or exposure to the elements.  So…what we are going to do is take the wood out of the equation, and we are going to do it with aluminum pillars.

 These are the pillars. Notice the holes in the center?  They are where the action screws will sit.  These pillars will be embedded in the stock permanently and create a stable platform for the receiver. 

I’m going bore out two 5/8 inch holes where the action screws would have gone to accept the new dimensions of the pillars.  They are adjustable to a point, but more then likely will have to be filled down to fit lengthwise perfectly.  Once they have been dry fit I will need to check the space allowance between the barrel and the wood barrel channel on the stock.

 Thank God for drill presses!  This wicked looking counter bore will open up the stock and create channels for the pillars to fit into.

Here is where we come to the “free floated barrel”.  This really improves accuracy.  When you shoot a firearm the barrel actually “whips” as the projectile travels down it.  Believe it or not that is good…as long as it “whips” the same way each time and is predictable.  When the sights are set (in my case the scope that I will be mounting on it) the whipping action will be accounted for in the scope settings. 

What we don’t want is pieces of wood getting in the way of that barrel movement during the firing process.  So I’m going to carve out the barrel channel deep enough so that when the barreled action is mounted in the stock a dollar bill can be slipped under the barrel and travel freely all the way the “fatter” chamber portion of the barrel, back by the receiver….don’t worry if this doesn’t make complete sense…I’ll post of picture of it after the whole process is finished. 

Ok...so the carving and hole drilling is done. Now it is time to mix up some special glass bedding compound….a mixture that is essentially an epoxy and makes a mess!

The epoxy will dry and hold the pillars in place and also provide a perfect fit floor for the action to rest on.  It will also line the barrel channel and prevent any of the elements from entering the stock from below the barrel and possibly altering the shape of the wood over time. 

Like I said, this is messy.  From having to coat literally everything made of metal with release agent, to stressing out whether or not I’m going to break my stock once the epoxy dries when I go to remove the barreled action, this is definitely not the most fun part of the program. 

But it is something that needs to be done!  With everything in place, the excess glass bedding scraped off and the bedding screws tightened it’s time to turn out the lights and let it cure for 24 hours. 

 Messy!  Here the barreled action has been placed in the stock over the bedding compound.  All of the junk you see on top of the barrel and the receiver is release agent.  When it is all done I will need acetone and steel wool to clean it up.

 Looks like it fits nicely!  That beige stuff you see in the back of the receiver is actually modeling clay.  I use it to "plug" all the holes during this process.  It should all come out relatively easy during the clean up process.

 The bedding compound is starting to set!  See that bead of chocolate pudding stuff along the barrel?  That is the glass bedding, still soft to the touch.  It is the same material that is going to dry hard and hold the pillars in place too.

If everything works out the long process removing the “flash” of the epoxy with a file and using sand paper to “clean up” the stock will consume my shop time for the next couple of days!