Author Topic: Wooden Stock Question?? (Read 625 times)

logo10 · « **on:** February 15, 2009, 07:43:35 PM »

ok I have a weatherby vanguard 7mm mag and i bought a wooden stock for it that came off a 7mm weatherby mag. It fights perfect except for one part. The barrel doesnt sit right and one side theres a gap in between the stock and barrel on one side and on the other theres not one. what could i do about this??

dud · « **Reply #1 on:** February 16, 2009, 02:57:01 AM »

wrap a piece of sandpaper around small deepwell socket and sand tight side of channel to even it out.then oil wood or wax to seal channel from moisture.

jro45 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:15:51 AM »

I would use a dark sandpaper and with the barrel in slide it to make a mark where it needs to be sanded after you have sanded out that side.

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #3 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:29:22 AM »

I free float the barrel on all my bolt guns. In this case the work is already half done.

As the other said, get some sandpaper and get to work. I find looping it around a Magic Marker works well.
When you are done you should be able to reseat the action and slide a dollar bill between the barrel and the wood, all the way back to the action. If not, keep sanding.

For sealer I use a rag dipped in polyurethane and coat the freshly exposed wood.

logo10 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:46:19 AM »

Ok will do, but why would it be like this?

Val · « **Reply #5 on:** February 16, 2009, 04:41:19 AM »

Could be due to warpage of the stock over time, the wood used for the stock could have had too much moisture in it when it was fabricated (wood to green). It may have been a poorly fabricated stock.

logo10 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 16, 2009, 05:02:41 AM »

if i do the above mentioned with sanding to make it even can i expect any accuracy problems?

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #7 on:** February 16, 2009, 09:01:56 AM »

Quote from: logo10 on February 16, 2009, 05:02:41 AM

if i do the above mentioned with sanding to make it even can i expect any accuracy problems?

To answer your previous question first, there are a number of reasons. Stock warpage is a common cause (laminated stocks are much less prone to warpage), as is poor alignment while machining the barrel channel.

The effect on accuracy is difficult to predict as the current accuracy is unknown. My guess is that if the barrel is touching the stock on one side that you will get horizontal stringing as the barrel heats the wood it contacts. (The same is true for barrels that touch the stock underneath, the result being vertical stringing.) You will also likely get different points of impact with changes in ambient temperature and humidity.

Floating the barrel eliminates these problems. As I said, I float all my barrels, and for just this reason. My first centerfire, a 7mm Rem Mag, proved to be impossible to zero - the longer I shot it the more the POI shifted up and to the left. Floating the barrel fixed the problem.

There is a theoretical downside to floating the barrel, however. While floating keeps the poosition of your groups from shifting, it is possible that group size may increase slightly. On a hunting rifle (which all of mine are), it is much more important to maintain POI than it is to maintain minimum group size. In spite of the theoretical downside, most target and varmint rifles are free floated.

So what has free floating done to my rifles? Week after week, month after month, I am able to go to the range and not rezero my rifles. When I go hunting I don't worry about shifts in POI. Group size, as best I can tell, has not been affected. Here are a few 100 yard examples:

.257 Roberts Ruger M77