Benchrest Stocks ?

Thanks guys i have got alot of good information(food for thought). But now i have to go out on the limb here(dont worry i've been out here before).
I was thinking about trying a Shehane baby tracker stock, in the laminated wood. my thought behind this is i can control the straightness and shape of the stock before i finish it and i have added it up, should be able to make weight(i have a scale now). If i had a balance issue or tracking problem, I could go down to a 36x scope and add more weight to the butstock.to test it.. so i feel it may give me more flexability at less cost than some.If it does not work or i dont like it. I pop it out,get another action and have a sweet varminit rig..lol..
What would be your thoughts on this? good,bad..ugluy..
 
Sounds like a winner.
Let me know what the final weight of the stock is I would like to try it.
 
FBecigneul, yes..I'm a amiture stock worker,but i used to work on my days off for a master stock maker(american gun makers guild) . we restored clasic american double's.
and he built some of the best,clasic custom rifles in the country.his fit and finish and checkering is out of this world. well im good with,files,chisles and fair at finishing.
It would have to be sealed first, so the finish does not sink into the wood. then i also know a first class air brusher, he said yea he could mix us a finish that would be like glass with out being thick. So i think it can be done.
 
mark-x said:
FBecigneul, yes..I'm a amiture stock worker,but i used to work on my days off for a master stock maker(american gun makers guild) . we restored clasic american double's.
and he built some of the best,clasic custom rifles in the country.his fit and finish and checkering is out of this world. well im good with,files,chisles and fair at finishing.
It would have to be sealed first, so the finish does not sink into the wood. then i also know a first class air brusher, he said yea he could mix us a finish that would be like glass with out being thick. So i think it can be done.
Click to expand...


Well mark, I now enter quietly on tippytoes......... but FBbrrRraNnNSCiisSSS hasn't ever bitten before ;) so here goes........

You AGAIN got some great information, but I'll add something to tell your friend the airbrush guy. Tell him this is WOOD. And not walnut nor maple neither.....The last Shehane "Obeche wood" stock I sealed just sucked up product like there was no tomorrow. (Luckily this gun finishes out over 50lb!) But IMO thinning the mix might make sealing the thing harder. I've only worked on three Shehanes but they were all really open pored wood. Basically squirt/sand back to wood. Squirt/sand back to wood. rinse and repeat

and repeat


and repeat


:)


It'll be fun either way


al
 
Al I have heard that they can suck up the finish..I will use small trial and error spots, and some master stock maker trickery..My plan will very on results but will probably
be a sanded in clear expoxy.sets up in like 5 mins..as a sealer..and depending on how it looks,may just leave it like that.
dembart also makes a thick sealer filler,dries very fast..thin with MEK and brush on.. finish will set on top of it.
al since you have worked on a few, what were they for? and how did you like them?
 
Last edited:
rs ewb butt.jpgls rwb.jpg



I like them. They don't come "straight" but IMO that's just wood...... I had this thing kicking around for over a year without any finish on it and it wandered about like the proverbial little duckie looking for it's mother. One of the others was a heavier wood and was more stable. I say "more" stable, wood is still wood.



I've fiddled with a couple 600yd guns and a multi-purpose varmint/F-Class. I've seen a couple more as finished off by others and all the ones I've handled have really open grain but they're all this colored plywood style. I'm sure choice of wood makes a big difference. The pix attached are of my 300WSM project, I took the pix because I was applying finish and snapped the stock completely through at the wrist. My fault entirely, it started as a Big Dawg cut in the 'Obeche' wood and I weakened it substantially making the hannle the way I wanted it. I was hoping to make a Light and Heavy both by using removable steel weights but the wood wasn't strong enough. It's now supported by an internal steel frame from the inch-thick steel buttplate, through buttstock, wrist, trigger area and clear up to the 5"X12" steel forearm rider. The wood is just a decorative covering for the steel framework. The framework is true and shoots fine bare, looks kinda dorky though :)



These pix were taken about the time I got the wood sealed and it started to take some topcoat. I've got probably 12-15 more layers of clear on it since. She's perty shiny now. I'll guess it's got nearly 10oz of urethane on it!

The snaps don't show anything useful, just were in my photo cache.

al
 
Last edited:
BTW, I'm currently working with larger cartridges and am learning a lot about stock stability. My "best" and most accurate platform is a Borden glue-in in one of Jim's BR stocks. It's incredibly stiff. I'm learning that stiffness is HUGE as recoil impulse increases. For little stuff up to 308 many stocks are stiff enough, jump up to WSM and stiffness may become an issue. I've recently been playing with a big 338, tried 5 different stocks before re-inletting my 20yr-old McMillan original Heavy BR stock as a test bed. The old one with the 3" forend flutes running clear back to the trigger. This old dog has been filled and re-inletted until the entire midsection is epoxy. It's heavy, it's clunky and it's STIFF.

Without going into detail I'm currently leaning towards the idea that the entire stock is the critical "stabilizer" for the system. Kinda' like the stabilizers you see bolted onto unlimited target bows.... lotsa' work to do here before I have any valid opinions. I'm definitely gaining respect for the skills and experience of the stock designers. If I had to build a 6PPC right now for someone I'd probably use the stock Jim's shooting in the top picture of this link. http://www.bordenrifles.com/aboutus.html

For that matter I'd probably have Jim build it. I say this knowing the risk of having this thread summarily edited for naming names so read it quick.

al
 
Al
I have a couple of these stocks on Jims web page, and one with Jims Rimrock action. I like them very very much, and boy oh boy do they sure shoot!! One thing for sure, I dont have to worry about if my firing pin needs worked on or not! I also have a 30BR in one of Jims stocks. The design of that stock, is so that the felt recoil of that 13.5# 30BR is almost none existent. The same barreled action in another stock, and your shoulder hurts after a match. Lee
 
alinwa said:
For that matter I'd probably have Jim build it. I say this knowing the risk of having this thread summarily edited for naming names so read it quick.al
Click to expand...
Al, for the umpteenth time, we can't edit posts. It is all or nothing. And I guess the policy has changed a bit since the 1990s, when Wilbur himself gently chided me (as only Wilbur can do) for mentioning Dave Tooley as the gunsmith I went to.

It did seem a bit odd even then. Anyone can read equipment reports, and while they're notoriously inaccurate, they do list certain components & skilled people. But I also understand Wilbur's position, (1) real peoples livelihood and reputation are at stake, and (2) an advertiser is an advertiser.

It might be nice to throw in one of the usual disclaimers "One of the many fine gunsmiths, Jim Borden, ..."
 
When did Charles E. go from curmudgeon to super moderator and can a person be both at the same time?
Click to expand...
The super moderator bit was Wilbur's idea. I remain, hopefully forever, a tried & true curmudgeon. That has to ride on top of any other "title."

Charles
 
alinwa said:
View attachment 11975View attachment 11976



I like them. They don't come "straight" but IMO that's just wood...... I had this thing kicking around for over a year without any finish on it and it wandered about like the proverbial little duckie looking for it's mother. One of the others was a heavier wood and was more stable. I say "more" stable, wood is still wood.



I've fiddled with a couple 600yd guns and a multi-purpose varmint/F-Class. I've seen a couple more as finished off by others and all the ones I've handled have really open grain but they're all this colored plywood style. I'm sure choice of wood makes a big difference. The pix attached are of my 300WSM project, I took the pix because I was applying finish and snapped the stock completely through at the wrist. My fault entirely, it started as a Big Dawg cut in the 'Obeche' wood and I weakened it substantially making the hannle the way I wanted it. I was hoping to make a Light and Heavy both by using removable steel weights but the wood wasn't strong enough. It's now supported by an internal steel frame from the inch-thick steel buttplate, through buttstock, wrist, trigger area and clear up to the 5"X12" steel forearm rider. The wood is just a decorative covering for the steel framework. The framework is true and shoots fine bare, looks kinda dorky though :)



These pix were taken about the time I got the wood sealed and it started to take some topcoat. I've got probably 12-15 more layers of clear on it since. She's perty shiny now. I'll guess it's got nearly 10oz of urethane on it!

The snaps don't show anything useful, just were in my photo cache.

al
Click to expand...

looking closely at your stock, i just gotta ask: What were you doing during the 60's?
 
Not to endorse, but just to give the other side of the equation: Jamie Cass showed up at Hawks Ridge with a 6mm/06 Light Gun, where the "fore-end" looks something like what Gene Beggs uses on his ultralight, and a "butt" that was a small plate mounted to the floor of the action (The Cass bros. used model 70 actions). That allowed him to use a longer, thicker barrel for his 17 pounds.

It shot about as well as his earlier rifle, and the one he just mounted to a 4x4...

I guess you could argue the barrel was the stock, and it was pretty stiff...

* * *

Well, point-blank has all those rules, so that kind of approach is pretty much out, but last I heard, the Beggs stocks have been doing OK. That's for a PPC. I'm ashamed to admit I have one, all put together, and haven't fired it yet. (My interest in point-blank group seems to have evaporated).

Jury is still out, guys.

Edit:

Link to a pictuee of the Beggs stock:

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2008/05/beggs-develops-radical-rig-in-west-texas-tunnel/
 
Last edited:
mark-x said:
Thanks guys i have got alot of good information(food for thought). But now i have to go out on the limb here(dont worry i've been out here before).
I was thinking about trying a Shehane baby tracker stock, in the laminated wood. my thought behind this is i can control the straightness and shape of the stock before i finish it and i have added it up, should be able to make weight(i have a scale now). If i had a balance issue or tracking problem, I could go down to a 36x scope and add more weight to the butstock.to test it.. so i feel it may give me more flexability at less cost than some.If it does not work or i dont like it. I pop it out,get another action and have a sweet varminit rig..lol..
What would be your thoughts on this? good,bad..ugluy..
Click to expand...

The key word was THINKING...It is a tough question..I have been looking at pictures of stocks..all over the net and it looks like i really like that shape of the forend on the leonard stocks and some others that have that forend shape but dont really care for the but stock due to lack of Joy stick rest. it is a tough choice and i dont have unlimited funds.
Thank for all the info i got on this one guys..its been very informational..dont worry Fbecigneul even though my rilfes shoot in a hole,I have yet been able to prove that in a match..i will keep at it, I just enjoy it too much to ever quit..At one time i would get upset throw in the towel(so to speak) if i did not shoot well but anymore i just enjoy shooting and i konw what my rifle can do.even though i cant prove it.lol..
 
Charles E said:
Al, for the umpteenth time, we can't edit posts. It is all or nothing. And I guess the policy has changed a bit since the 1990s, when Wilbur himself gently chided me (as only Wilbur can do) for mentioning Dave Tooley as the gunsmith I went to.

It did seem a bit odd even then. Anyone can read equipment reports, and while they're notoriously inaccurate, they do list certain components & skilled people. But I also understand Wilbur's position, (1) real peoples livelihood and reputation are at stake, and (2) an advertiser is an advertiser.

It might be nice to throw in one of the usual disclaimers "One of the many fine gunsmiths, Jim Borden, ..."
Click to expand...


Ummm, I guess that in my world
For that matter I'd probably have Jim build it.
Click to expand...
is perty perlite and nonthreatening.
 
AMMASHOOTA said:
looking closely at your stock, i just gotta ask: What were you doing during the 60's?
Click to expand...

If you really looked closely you should have noticed the subtle alien head at the finger cutout and THAT should have answered the question.

I could answer the question, but then I'd have to shoot you.

al
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top