markkw
03-08-2008, 06:11 AM
I saw another thread recently about a pre-carve stock and had to add that I am a victim as well. I got one of those "can't pass it up" deals at the last gunshow I did...fellow came by my table with a "for sale" sign hanging off a rifle that looked like it would be a nice project gun for my sons soon to be wife so after a little price haggling I got it.
The OEM stock was split bad and I wouldn't have taken a chance on repairing it even thought it likely would have held but nonetheless, the deal included a pre-shaped & inletted aftermarket stock. There was some paperwork wrapped around it and I read the first few lines of "Thank you for purchasing XYZ brand American walnut stock and you'll find this project satisfying. Start by by sanding the stock using a piece of paper wrapped around...." at that point the paper went to the circular file and I started working on the stock. About ten minutes into the project, the wife did me a favor and burned the garbage from the shop so I have no clue what the name of the stock mfg was.
My initial thought was whoever shaped the stock used a dull cutter because there were chunks knocked out of the wood all over the place. I go on to find that the inletting wasn't oversized to start with but if I was to try smoothing it out to match the depth of the missing chunks, it would have been seriously oversized. I'm going to be the only one who will likely see the inside anyway so I'm not happy with it but proceed anyway. The screw holes didn't quite line-up with the action but I was able to shim the rear inlet rather than move the holes, since it looked okay I decided to just bed the whole action and be done with it. I wasn't too thrilled with the light profile barrel nor the barrel channel so I went ahead with a full bedding job from end to end.
Next day, all was good with everything fit perfectly, barrel & action snapped into the bedding like a hand in a latex exam glove. I started on the outside...remember that little line about hand-sanding with a block....forget it! Out came the 6" orbital with an 80 grit disc just to get it somewhat close to where it needed to be. Once I got it fairly decent, I figured I'd do a finger relief on the forestock - took the chisel to it and found out instantly why the pre-carved surfaces were all blistered....cheap imported hybrid walnut! It's the real fast growing crap they use for cheap wood-face cabinets, very soft and brittle, it tears & breaks-out before it'll cut. I did manage to get it half-way decent looking but there is no way it'll take any kind of carving so I stabilized the grain on the outside with resin and shot some poly over it to create a plain but functional stock. Needless to say, this isn't going to my new daughter!
Caveat Emptor!
The OEM stock was split bad and I wouldn't have taken a chance on repairing it even thought it likely would have held but nonetheless, the deal included a pre-shaped & inletted aftermarket stock. There was some paperwork wrapped around it and I read the first few lines of "Thank you for purchasing XYZ brand American walnut stock and you'll find this project satisfying. Start by by sanding the stock using a piece of paper wrapped around...." at that point the paper went to the circular file and I started working on the stock. About ten minutes into the project, the wife did me a favor and burned the garbage from the shop so I have no clue what the name of the stock mfg was.
My initial thought was whoever shaped the stock used a dull cutter because there were chunks knocked out of the wood all over the place. I go on to find that the inletting wasn't oversized to start with but if I was to try smoothing it out to match the depth of the missing chunks, it would have been seriously oversized. I'm going to be the only one who will likely see the inside anyway so I'm not happy with it but proceed anyway. The screw holes didn't quite line-up with the action but I was able to shim the rear inlet rather than move the holes, since it looked okay I decided to just bed the whole action and be done with it. I wasn't too thrilled with the light profile barrel nor the barrel channel so I went ahead with a full bedding job from end to end.
Next day, all was good with everything fit perfectly, barrel & action snapped into the bedding like a hand in a latex exam glove. I started on the outside...remember that little line about hand-sanding with a block....forget it! Out came the 6" orbital with an 80 grit disc just to get it somewhat close to where it needed to be. Once I got it fairly decent, I figured I'd do a finger relief on the forestock - took the chisel to it and found out instantly why the pre-carved surfaces were all blistered....cheap imported hybrid walnut! It's the real fast growing crap they use for cheap wood-face cabinets, very soft and brittle, it tears & breaks-out before it'll cut. I did manage to get it half-way decent looking but there is no way it'll take any kind of carving so I stabilized the grain on the outside with resin and shot some poly over it to create a plain but functional stock. Needless to say, this isn't going to my new daughter!
Caveat Emptor!