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Tribute to Sawdust

24K views 88 replies 41 participants last post by  Bumper 
#1 ·
Well, when I first saw the pictures of the Polar Bear by Sawdust I knew right then and there that there just had to be one like it my future. Unfortunately, my wife also saw the picture and ... well you know the rest. She hounded for me months, so here is my first effort. She won't let me shoot it, but she has shot a best of .175" for 5 rounds @ 50 yards with Wolf MT. Well, I lied a little. She did let me sight it in for her.

Sawdust, you the man for coming up with this design!! I did change a few things. I made the forend just 3" wide to better fit my rest and included the gripcap within the curved lines of the grip. Those aluminum pieces are fun to make but time consuming with limited metal working equipment. I ended up buying a small vertical belt sander to shape the flats and outside curves and I already had an oscillating spindle sander for the inside curves.





BTW, the stand is just for display. It's not a shooting rest.

The rifle started out as a gunshow find. I removed the paint and polished out the receiver and trigger guard. Barrel is a GM 18" SS. Hammer is a VQ and the rest is pretty much the standard fare of RFC mods. No high dollar trigger guards or anything like that. I used the standard carbine stock as the base for the modded stock. Paint is the Duplicolor Mirage Ice. Got it at Wally World.

I actually built it last winter and finished it about last March or April. I don't have a digital camera and just recently figured out that Wally World will give (sell) you a CD of the jpeg files along with those old fashioned photoghraphic prints. Darn, every time I get enough money for a digital camera, I end up buying another 10/22. Well, maybe someday. It sure would make posting pictures easier.

I have put my camera money to good use, however, and modded a couple more stocks since last March. Stay tuned.

Again, my hat is off to the design genius of Sawdust.
 
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#4 ·
Looks nice, is that a BSA contender scope? Put one on my wife's 10/22 and she loves that gun! Went a little different with her stock and I used a fluted barrel, but the thing was I built the pistol grip and thumbhole to the size of her hand ...... I can't come close to getting my thumb even half way through it!



Dave Z
 
#9 ·
Very, very nice. When I saw Sawdust's original rifle I remember thinking "That is too neat to be the last one. He may have started somthing here"......turns out it was true. Color selection is beautiful. So now you are building yours? :p :t :t
 
#11 ·
My thanks to all for the compliments.

The work presented by Sawdust and Squawsach has certainly been an inspiration to me, but there has also been many, many other examples of fine and creative work presented here as well. I have studied and admired each of them. I encourage anyone interested in creating their own stock to likewise study the pictures of others work, ask questions if necessary, and then to go ahead and give it a try. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish. It will require a few basic tools, but more than that, it will require time, imagination, and patience.

Ozob, I'll take some better closeups and post them to better reveal the details. I actually took these pictures as snapshots to show to a friend whom I recently visited.

Chunckchuncker, I am very flattered that anyone would ask me to build them a custom stock like this. However, the amount of time involved just simply makes it impractical. Thanks for asking anyway.

Vincent, yes, I am building mine. Actually it's already done. Since you asked, I'll throw in a few shots of it. The finish on this one is Duplicolor Metal Specks in Retro Red. 10 coats of clear topcoat, all from a rattlecan. Now I've got to figure out how Tuck does it. The man's a true artist.






Here is also a shot of the stock with the forearm already shaped and the butt stock glued up ready for shaping.


 
#12 ·
hipshot,

That is a real nice job!!! and whats the old saying about imatation and flattery :D

I've got another low dough project that is going to be in the works that while it will be semi-close it will be different. Once I get the ball rolling on it I'll update you, just have some other projects (non-gun related) that have priority.

Dave Z

Edited to add, I like the color choice on yours ...... very cool!
 
#14 ·
Wow!

Now you've done it! You raised the bar and given me and Sawdust a much needed excuse to build another stock. Oh ****! I am the biggest fan of the guys who take that nasty little peice of fire wood that Ruger calls a stock and makes something out of it. Those two stocks you built should be put on the the opening page to RFC. They are the best I've seen. So tell me, will you ever buy another aftermarket, cookie cutter, stock? I won't, building these things is way too much fun.

There's seems to be more folks building stocks from the firewood attached to the 10/22's. Users like SimonFencer, markdperkins, gmcfixer, shamus, and others including myself are trying their hand at the stock building thing and I love seeing what they produce. I would like to see more. I consider the working of a stock by a individual to be art and RFC is the gallery I go to.

A bunch of folks here at RFC are going to be looking a your stocks and they might think, man I wish I could do that. So tell us Hipshot, do you think the average person who has enough mechanical ability to change the hammer in a 10/22 could build a stock like your's if they tried? Well, maybe not the first one they did. You did a **** good job on those. But after building a couple, I think that many people would be very surprised with their finished product.

If your stocks don't inspire more people to try "rolling their own" stock, I don't know what it would take. Great job.
 
#15 ·
Well, Sawdust and Squawsach were my first inspiration as well. Now this will be added to that. I did a stock already but mostly all I did was sand it down and re-finish it. It was my first attempt at every painting or sanding or anything. I learned an immense amount of trial and error on just that. The next stock I'm doing will be another finish job and I will add finger grooves and a bigger cheek weld area. I already have a stock for that. It will be a wood grain finish for my cousin. I also have ANOTHER stock on the way that will be my toothpic for adding wood to. My first attempt at that. I really appreciate the work you guys do. I usually jump from hobby to hobby until I get bored, but this site has given me a life-long hobby that I can stick to for a long time and not get bored. Thanks to you DIY'ers and RFC :t
 
#16 ·
Hipshot

Those are absolutely beautiful! I don't know how many others can really appreciate the amount of work that went into those two but I certainly can and you have my admiration. Hopefully this will inspire some others who don't have a shop full of tools to turn their creativity loose on a gun stock. Also, thank you for the kind words.

Best wishes

sawdust
 
#17 ·
smoke is gettin fired up

Way to go smoke63b. Get that toothpic, throw it in the shop, slap it around, and make it call you DADDY! If it turns out to be stubburn, just give a shout. It looks like a few folks here have got some good ideas and methods for getting a stock in the proper shape. Good luck. I can't wait to see what you build.
 
#18 · (Edited)
SQUAWSACH said:
...

A bunch of folks here at RFC are going to be looking a your stocks and they might think, man I wish I could do that. So tell us Hipshot, do you think the average person who has enough mechanical ability to change the hammer in a 10/22 could build a stock like your's if they tried? Well, maybe not the first one they did. You did a **** good job on those. But after building a couple, I think that many people would be very surprised with their finished product.

If your stocks don't inspire more people to try "rolling their own" stock, I don't know what it would take. Great job.
I think the hammer change analogy is a good one for the skill level required. So far on my stock I haven't run into anything difficult from a wood working point of view, just stuff requiring patience and a few tools.

Realistically, a sanding block, a drill and drill bits, and a good wood saw and you can do it. Power tools, files, rasps etc just cut the time down.

I studied lots of pictures (thanks to everyone that has posted an "in progress" picture, and to all the stock manufacturers that have such nice clear pictures) pasted a bunch into a word doc and printed them for use in the shop. And the best part is if you don't cut a piece just right, all you have to do is cut another one, or add a bit of bondo.

All of these how to threads are great, they really do inspire, and I'll bet the results turn more than a few heads at the range...especially when you mention that you made it yourself.

If there isn't one now, we need an "it used to be a carbine stock" thread with a link to the original build up thread and each post having maybe three pictures:

A post cutting pre shaping picture
Left side finished
Right side finished

Maybe even make it a sticky so everyone can find it.

Paul.
 
#21 ·
gmcfixer said:
hipshot,

Just curious ..... did you shoot IPSC in the Tampa Bay area around 91 through 97?

Dave Z.
No Dave, I have never shot in competition. I did pack a pistol for the U.S. Border Patrol for 30 years, mostly in West Texas. I retired in '94 and lived in Granbury from '94 thru 2001. Ended up in Florida to be near the grandkids. I do drive a GMC pickup and had it worked on a few times at the Auto Ranch. We may have crossed paths and didn't even know it. Small world, huh? I see where you wrote about spending some time in Pinellas Co. My daughter lived just off Ulmerton Rd for a while.

I'm planning a trip to visit relatives in Granbury in about 3 weeks. I would enjoy meeting you face to face.
 
#22 ·
thumb hole said:
incredible! you really must have some skills, im a wood worker i can appreciate your talent! that being said i have a brand new factory stock i might just cut up! :D
Thumb hole, thanks for the compliment. I really do not consider myself to be any kind of a master woodworker. It's been a hobby since I was in high school, but a Norm Abram I'm not. As for that factory stock of yours, start cutting. I'm sure you can build something that you will be very proud of.
 
#24 ·
RX7-2nr said:
those look sweet. you ought to get some close up pics though.
Funny you should mention that. I spent the entire afternoon shooting a roll of film. Took it to Walmart and got it developed and put on a CD. 26 close ups and not a one came out. Either me, or the flash, or the camera screwed something up real bad. Will try again as time allows.
 
#25 ·
i couldnt get my digi cam to take a good pic of the factory stock that i modified. i took pic after pic as well, but it was usually way too dark in a certain area or somthing. there was always a problem. :mad:

i eventually got good pics though. thats the good thing about digital. i can take hundreds of pics and not pay for developing. :D
 
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