# Gunstocks



## HomeBody (May 30, 2012)

In my intro thread I showed a pic of two sets of stocks I was working on. 
intro

The rifle is a Winchester M-92 .218 Bee made in 1917. The wood is from a stump I had milled several years ago. I lost a lot of the good figure due to cracks and pockets toward the bottom of the stump.
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## HomeBody (May 30, 2012)

The shotgun is a Winchester M-12 20 ga. with a solid rib made in 1937. The wood was purchased from Fajen Stock Co. and is likely MO walnut. I also stained this wood with an alkanet root substitute. The carving took about 2 months and was done totally with a Dremel. Thanks for looking. Gary
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## woodtickgreg (May 30, 2012)

Beautiful work for sure! The detail on the shotgun is amazeing I'm curious what the cost of the blank stock was for the shotgun. Do you do these for yourself or do you commision them?


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## Twig Man (May 30, 2012)

Awesome work and beautiful wood!!


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## HomeBody (May 30, 2012)

woodtickgreg said:


> Beautiful work for sure! The detail on the shotgun is amazeing I'm curious what the cost of the blank stock was for the shotgun. Do you do these for yourself or do you commision them?



Thanks Greg. Those feather crotch stocks are really high now, but I bought this set in '86 I think. The AAA butt stocks, semi-finished, were $104 back then. The matching forend was $56. I made up a bunch of them over the years, wish I had saved some.
Right now I'm doing this for myself to finish these unfinished projects that have built up on me. I'm being coerced as we speak by several friends trying to get me to do one for them. The problem is pricing (for the carving). It's a labor of love that takes way more hours than anyone would want to pay for...except maybe those 1%ers.:blum2: Gary


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## txpaulie (May 30, 2012)

Awesome work Gary!

I've made a coupla stocks over the years, and have had issues with the inletting of the action...:dash2:

Any tips or tricks you are willing to share..?:i_dunno:

I've a coupla dozen dry, and drying blanks, waiting for my skills to match their figure!

p


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## Mike1950 (May 30, 2012)

Both are very nice but that shotgun is incredible- The piece of wood and the craftsmanship are perfect.


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## scotirish (May 30, 2012)

*Very nice work.  My dad made custom pistol grips so I know, somewhat, the amount of work that is needed to do the carving. The love you have for this is obvious. Keep it up and enjoy it. *


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## LoneStar (May 30, 2012)

WOW ! I'm blown away by your carving. Not only is the work beautiful, but what a perfect design too. I'm also curious about your design, where you came across the pattern or did you make it ?


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## DKMD (May 30, 2012)

Beautiful work! I love that you used the carving only to accent what is already a magnificent piece of wood! I wish I had the skill and patience!


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## Kevin (May 30, 2012)

Gary, that's just superb craftsmanship in all respects. Thanks for showing us that, very inspiring!


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## HomeBody (May 30, 2012)

txpaulie said:


> Awesome work Gary!
> 
> I've made a coupla stocks over the years, and have had issues with the inletting of the action...:dash2:
> 
> ...



It's a really slow process. I use inletting black, which is lampblack mixed with oil. You paint the metal parts with the black and press it against the wood. With small sharp chisels remove the black and a bit of the wood under it. Over and over, repeat until the action fits into the wood. Lots more to it than that, but that's the basics. Gary


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## Dane Fuller (May 30, 2012)

Awesome work, Gary. The carving is stellar!


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## HomeBody (May 30, 2012)

Joe Rebuild said:


> Beautiful work I really like the carving.
> 
> Does the carving design have any historical, geographical or family significance or is just a very good choice of design?



The pattern is an old Winchester pattern that was used between about 1875 and 1925. It was called "Style A" carving. I had to modify the original, which was for a rifle, to fit the much wider shotgun forend. I drew all of the designs on mylar sheet stuck to the wood and transfered my design with a pin prick. Removed mylar and followed the dots to carve it.

This is a copy of a tracing made by one of Winchesters engraver/carvers, C.F.Ulrich, in 1912. It was made by laying a piece of paper over the carving and rubbing it with a soft pencil. I used all of these motifs in my carving, but rearranged and expanded them.
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This is the outline of my modified design.
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The grip I carved is very similar to the original. The only mod I made was to make the scrolls smaller. Winchester carvers were in a hurry so made large scrolls to save time. I wasn't in a hurry so made them smaller. I made them small in the forend as well. Gary


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## NeilYeag (Jun 1, 2012)

Gary, really stunning work.

Neil


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## Talisman1A (Jul 16, 2012)

NeilYeag said:


> Gary, really stunning work.
> 
> Neil


 BEAUTIFULL WORK, I've thought about doing some carving and checkering. Figure it would be similiar to somethings I've done with my artwork , with a bit of training , a possible thing I could do. But the skill, you're showing here has me impressed and scare to begin at the sametime


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## ripjack13 (Jul 17, 2012)

Wowzerz man! That is just a sight to be seen! I love seeing all the old carving details on stuff. You sir...did a great job.


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## Dusty (Jul 19, 2012)

Great job on the stocks. Your carving with a Dremel is fantastic. A hand held power tool like that only takes one slip to ruin the entire job. I carve stocks every day with a 2 1/2 hp router, but I use a duplicator that makes it harder, but not impossible to mess up. Your fit on the Winchester looks great too. Inletting on tang type split stocks is tricky. And drilling a through bolt for butt stocks that requires it is tough to keep straight. 

Hal Dougherty


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## HomeBody (Jul 21, 2012)

Dusty said:


> I carve stocks every day with a 2 1/2 hp router, but I use a duplicator that makes it harder, but not impossible to mess up. Hal Dougherty



You have a duplicator? Do you duplicate stocks for other people? I just sent some blanks to Macon Gunstocks to turn but would just as soon send the work to a forum member. PM me and we'll talk gunstocks. Gary


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## HomeBody (Aug 11, 2012)

Updating this thread with some new pics. The heat wave drove me into my basement for a couple weeks so I decided to carve the Win. M-92 while I stayed cool. This is the same gun as pictured at the beginning of this thread. I really like the deep oak leaves. They provide a super grip and you can see them from across the room. Gary
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## Dusty (Aug 11, 2012)

Your oak leaves are a fantastic addition and make for a very attractive rifle. Back in the 1960's when you could buy a Martini Cadet action for $10, I didn't have $10 extra to buy one. I wish I had. I always wanted a varmint rifle in 218 bee made on one. I did buy a Ruger #1 in .22 Hornet before they quit chambering the #1 in .22 Hornet.


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 11, 2012)

HomeBody said:


> Updating this thread with some new pics. The heat wave drove me into my basement for a couple weeks so I decided to carve the Win. M-92 while I stayed cool. This is the same gun as pictured at the beginning of this thread. I really like the deep oak leaves. They provide a super grip and you can see them from across the room. Gary


Wow, Great carving, very tastefully done! looks very nice! Great job! well done!


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## Bluestingray (Aug 12, 2012)

Wow! Thats magnificent! The feather grain makes it a perfect project from the very start. I expect to see that in show a few hundred years from now.


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## barry richardson (Aug 16, 2013)

I'm blown away by your carving! Never seen anything close to that done with a dremel!


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## LSCG (Aug 16, 2013)

amazing work!!!!


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## scrimman (Aug 17, 2013)

FANTASTIC carving and design, brah!


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