GunStocks Inc ?

[just bill]

How much work (inlet / finish) is involved with there Walnut stocks for Handi rifles.

Do they provide a shoe with it BTW?

Its winter,  I need a project,  was thinking about making a Walnut stock for my Hornet.

Thanks

[Doublebass73]

I'm curious myself. I'm thinking of buying a full choked 20 Ga. Pardner
for a turkey gun then buying a straight walnut buttstock with a walnut
schnabel style forend from Gun Stocks.

[PHATINJUN]

I don't know if you have tried the search feature yet that may give you some hits. But I think Fanner50 has used them a few times . I'm waiting for a gray/black lam Stinger that I ordered last week. Kurt

[quickdtoo]

I got a set off ebay, they're roughly finished and shaped oversized, the forend has a small channel in it but needs to be cut deeper and wider, no spacer or even drilled for one. It was waaay more work than I have the patience for, so I sold it to knight0334, he did a fine job of finishing it, but it's just not a matter of a little sanding and putting a finish coat on em. 

Tim

[PHATINJUN]

AZHoosier did a very nice one in birdseye maple I believe maybe you could pm him to repost the pictures as they died with the old servers. Kurt

[rex6666]

I am glad i read this, was thinking about a thumbhole from GSI . I am not much of a wood butcher, so i guess i will have to look for one else where.

[navylawdog]

I am glad i read this, was thinking about a thumbhole from GSI . I am not much of a wood butcher, so i guess i will have to look for one else where.

Don't let it discourage you. It really isn't that hard. If you started at say 6:00 in the morning you could have it completed by later that night. Of course that all depends on how many coats of finish you put on it. It's a good time, you get to see something that looks really boring and plain come to life and you have the satisfaction of knowing that you did it, and plus it gets you away from the rest of the world for a while. Give it a try you might like it.

Navylawdog

[AZHoosier]

AZHoosier did a very nice one in birdseye maple I believe maybe you could pm him to repost the pictures as they died with the old servers. Kurt

We're going to give this a try. Hope the link works for the pics. The fore end I purchased is the Target/Varmint. It had a wide channel I believe was for the heavier barrels. Since I was converting a youth rifle this gave me a barrel channel that was actually a bit wider than I wanted but it worked out just fine. After bedding the barrel lug with RTV it worked out for the free floating. Actually more space than really needed. There is no spacer with it. To get it to fit you need to make a shim as there is roughly a 32nd of space between the spacer and the fore end. It's necessary to fit the stock also to the frame, which is understandable. It comes with a longer bolt for the stock as the original one is to short. So, basically, fitting is needed to attach the stock to the frame, a shim for the spacer and bedding. Then once this is done you finish it in whatever manner you wish. Length of time for the finish depends on what you use and how many coats of finish. I used Polyurathane. I first used the caned and a brush. Due to the many different contours in the stock, running is a definite problem. After several attempts I finally went to the spray can and did it in VERY light coats. I wanted a high shine so I used the Gloss version. If I had started with the spray can I beleive I could have got the finish done in just short time. Maybe even in one day as you don't let the coats dry completely or you have to wait at least 24 hours then sand and coat again. There are many methods of finish, it's your choice.

I was well satisfied with the product.

Here's the link.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=iaycf46.c3qp77e&x=0&h=1&y=o1nie8

Hope it works.
Bill

[Hammerspur]

AZH,
That maple looks great... I have a bull bbl. .223 with the blonde pallet stocks, been thinking of re-shaping it and giving a shot at 'faking' the striping to get that look.
Also thinking of getting some GSI black/gray bits for another project.

...you don't let the coats dry completely or you have to wait at least 24 hours then sand and coat again.

There's the ticket!  Do that in my refinish jobs. When friends ask about my procedure for applying finish, it starts with
     "First, ignore the directions on the can." 

[AZHoosier]

Thanks Hammerspur, I appreciate that. When you get done with your stock I really want to see it. It has amazed me what some of the folks on here have done with their stocks. Also, I made a mistake on the time to let the finish rest if you don't get another coat on within two hours. You have to wait 72 hours instead of 24. The finish I used is made by Minwax. I like the stuff. Fred M does a fantastic job on his. You can find info on how he does it in the FAQ stickys.
Best of luck to both you guys with your projects.

[just bill]

Yea..........I like the fiddle back maple too    Normally I don't like maple on bolt actions but it looks real nice on a Handi.

Others-  I think you can make the pallet wood Birch Handis look good refinished.  I for one certainly like home made Birch cabinets.  I am not a wood worker actually..........a former tin knock/smith    But I beleive the pallet wood is birch.  I re-finshed one last winter during cabin fever with my son for fun.  But,  I went with a dark stain after striping and sanding........that was a mistake IMO with Birch.

To do it again (and I may just buy another from here  )  I would go with a Blonde/Honey on the Birch.  To many rifle manufactures when they use Birch on certain models rather than Walnut try to make it look like Walnut (dark). 

Birch is a fine hardwood.  Like Maple much more common and less costly than American Black Walnut.  I just think it looks better,more natural..........light,blonde,honey 

[fanner50]

Sorry I got here a little late I was working on a black/gray lam Stinger all weekend. I modified the cheek rest and fit the varmint for-end to my 17 HMR Handi. Dura-coat on the frame and barrel is German Olive Gray and I'll do a trigger job and reassemble this week for shooting next weekend. I have used Gunstocks Inc stuff on all of my custom stocks that aren't synthetic. For-end in-letting is very little work and there are tricks to locating the saddle as well as finishing the edges. I put the saddle in place with a little drop of glue on it then install the for-end. Let it sit till the glue dries then remove the assembly drill the screw holes and install the screws. Mark around the saddle with a fine pencil to give you a line to shape it to. Take the screws out and slide a thin knife between the for-end and saddle to separate them and start sanding/shaping until you are happy. I do 60 grit then 220 then finish with 400.You can use Linspeed or True Oil or any type of finish you want. I used some True Oil on this one but will use Dura-coat on the next one. The people at Gunstocks are good to do business with also. When you are done you'll have something you did to make that rifle distinctly yours.
Good luck on your project. - Fanner 50 aka Gary 

[PHATINJUN]

Gary when you get that G/B Stinger done please post picture I have the same on order .I have sprayed my barrel with Steel-It stainless steel pigment paint and it looks very good and I know it is durable as I have used it for years at work in high corrosive wash down areas. It accually ends up looking like the satin French gray finish others are doing to stainless barrels. It goes on about 2-3 times as thick as other spray paints so I have used just one coat . It is also a polyurathane but wears like epoxy.I'll try and post pictures when finished. Kurt

[rex6666]

PHATINJUN
Can you buy this Steel-it paint you spoke of or is it a trade secret.
I think i wood like to do my 204 ruger (barrell and frame) BBL with it if it wears good
then montcarlo plastic stock and varmint plactic forend painted the same.
I love good wood, but this gun is going to be my coyote/PD gun, i hate to scratch a
pretty stock, this way i can redo.

[Hammerspur]

Phatinjun,

Please do post pics, I'm anxious to see that barrel paint!

[knight0334]

The Gunstocks Inc wood do need some fitting along with a full-fledge finishing.  As quick(Tim) mentioned, I got my set off of him.  They took alot of work to get up to the standards that I had set.

Forearm:
Barrel channel needed widening for a heavy Ultra Varmint barrel.
the mounting surface for the spacer needed sanded down to fit the spacer(was oversized).

buttstock:
I had to do the length of pull cut due to not getting GSI to fit a recoil pad at purchase.
I also sanded down the neck of the stock to have a smooth/flush fit with the receiver

both forearm and stock:
sanding, lots of sanding..  starting at 60grit and worked upto about 1500grit.
whiskering the wood twice before going to next finer grit
multiple test fitting
steelwooled the wood with 00000 grade wool
somewhere between 25 and 30 coats of True Value's Tung oil - steelwooling the coats as directed on the bottle.

The entire process took me a couple months with about 2-4hrs each evening, plus 4-16hrs each weekend to get to what you see in the pics at the following link.

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,97911.msg1098276412.html#msg1098276412

[PHATINJUN]

justbill hope you don't mind the thread hijack. Stainless Steel Coatings Inc. www.steel-it.com you can buy factory direct but I got mine from McMaster-Carr cat#7703T65 was like $22 with shipping for 14oz can but you can do many bbl with a can . I have done my fluted 204 and tapped the fluting before painting looks pretty cool also did the .32 H&R magnum I will try to post pictures tomorrow. Kurt