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)