April 11th- Why I love wood stocks!, and other musings.

April 11 – The Stock

Time to talk a little about stocks and wood craftsmanship. 

Original stocks on firearms were obviously made out of wood, and craftsman specialized in manufacturing just these parts, with other craftsman focusing on the metal parts of the gun. 

Most people a couple of hundred years ago did not buy a fully functioning firearm at one time.  Rather, they saved their pennies and bought them piece by piece.  (This charming practice was really relegated to the days of the muzzle loader, prior to the invention of the smokeless cartridge that we know today)  Real enterprising salespeople would try and move product by assembling the whole firearm and selling it at a “discount” over the cumulative price of buying the whole thing part by part.

These salespeople would advertise their firearms as coming “Lock, Stock, and Barrel” (Ever wondered where that phrase came from?)  Literally the “Lock” (the part of the gun that includes the trigger) the “Stock” (the wooden part of the firearm that allows you to hold and shoulder it), and the barrel, (the tube that the powder and projectile are flung from.

Stocks have developed in functionality and fashion pretty much as everything else has.  The newest advent is the “Synthetic” stock…or as I like to call them…”the cheap plastic ugly things.”

To be fair, synthetic stocks perform exceptionally well, and depending on the circumstances (Like climate zones with radical temperature or moisture changes) they perform far better than wood stocks.   And let’s face it, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…..I just don’t like the way they look…and since I’m the one building this thing, I win.

All of my firearms I hunt with are mounted on wood stocks.  I just think they are more romantic, and hell, I’m a romantic.

I will say that If I were to ever get the opportunity to do a mountain goat hunt in Alaska I would probably seriously reconsider my passion for wood and switch to synthetic for that hunt,…but since just  the idea of climbing cliffs in Alaska exhausts me, I’ll probably let someone younger and in better shape fill that tag.

  

The best material for a stock is Walnut, and it has to be carved, sanded, and “patterned” (chiseled out), to allow for proper fit on the shooter as well as proper fit on the metal components of the rifle.

Here is the stock I’ve made in it’s “almost” finished form.  It is still “raw” (no stain or protection on it) and the checkering- the rough patterns that go on the wrist and the fore end of the stock have yet to be carved in.  That will all take place after I bed the rifle to the stock.  Since I want to have completely flush contact between the receiver and the stock I will be pillar bedding and glass bedding the rifle.  We will talk about that process next time! 

 Here is the roughed out walnut stock...now we need to place the barreled action in it to see if it "fits".

 Holly Crap!  It does!  The barreled action is "dry fit" to the wood stock and secured with bedding screws...those "T" shaped screws near the tigger guard and under the front of the receiver. They will come into play on the next part when I pillar bed, and glass bed the receiver and barrel channel.