[Wilburbean]

Plenty hot in the garage for the glas to set up overnight:

Getting the stock off was harder than I anticipated and what I hoped to avoid by cleaning up the stuff that squeezed out. I used a pick in places to free up the screw and it was tough to loosen, breaking a tip in the process. Went up a size and then was able to free it. Was using a tip that was too thin (correct width) to begin with. Used a mallet to tap out the action. Pic here is it starting to slide out.

 

[Wilburbean]

More pics. The blue/green color is the release agent. The extra stuff that set up overnight is incredibly strong. Much stronger than any other epoxy I've used before and would be interesting to go head to head with JB Weld.

 

[Wilburbean]

Top of the stock looks great on the bedding as does the front of the stock(that takes a lot of the firing forces). The bottom has a large space to house the spring. Looks like some cleanup with an X-acto knife and an emory board. I want the stock tight but not so tight that you can't use your hands to remove it after the tang screw. Unlike before where there was some movement, it's solid now.

 

[CavScout8]

You may want to remove any epoxy from between the rearward end of the top tang and stock. If that area ends up picking up any recoil (or just shock/pressure), it can blow a chip out rather easy.

Grain, shape, and cartridge recoil depending. You can probably get away with not worrying about it, but maybe something to double check my info on, and fix if it's correct.

Looks fun, though tedious trial and error. AKA: good practice

 

[ktr]

Looks good. Trim the excess flashing of bedding matr'l away carefully from the edges. Don't worry too much about the xtra tight fit. Once you get all the release compound off the metal and the epoxy bedding , and the metal in and out of the stock a few times it'll go much easier.
You don't want it to be easy, then your are back to where you were.

When I glas bed an action with tang(s) like this I usually place a layer, sometimes two, of plain simple scotch tape over the end of the tang. This before any release compound so the tape sticks easily to the metal. The tape goes just around the radius of the end of the tang,,not up along the sides at all.
Once in place, youput release compound rightover the tape and the rest of the metal.
When glas bedded, the tape provides a nice even thin gap betw the end of the tang and the wood itself.

Once the glas has set up and you take the metal out of the stock, remove the tape and any release compound. When you replace the metal, the space taken up by the tape layer(s) will be a perfectly even thin space of a few .000 at the very end radius of the tang(s). Hardly noticable and even then it it does look very professionally done.

Many center fire rifles and shotguns have a very slight relief cut there to avoid a chipout as described already.

 

[Wilburbean]

Great tips, thank you KTR!

 

[Wilburbean]

I used some old light fixture mounts to put on the stocks. I can then lock the stem in the vise and rotate as needed.

 

[Wilburbean]

Did a first coat 50/50 Tru-oil and mineral spirits to help it soak in. Not sure that is needed but a lot of folks have videos on Youtube recommending it. I applied it with my fingers. Let it soak in and dry for two hours. It's 95 here so it probably dried much faster than that.

 

[Wilburbean]

Need to put a few coats on the pump furniture. The color is as it was with no refinishing.

Cleaned up a couple of screws today and used this carding wheel from Brownells. This wheel is amazing and won't take off bluing just orange rust.

 

[Wilburbean]

Between the coats of Tru-oil, I used 00 steel wool on the dried stock per the instructions on the Tru-oil bottle. I did three coats this way.

These pics were taken when it was just applied and wet. It dries to a more satin finish.

 

[Wilburbean]

Final coat for the day on each piece:

 

[Wilburbean]

During the finishing of the original stock, I tackled the new stock very generously given to me by Fushigi Ojisan.
I ordered up a new repro buttpad and had marked the wood around it. The picture was posted earlier in this thread. There was about 1/8 inch on the right and 3/16 on the left with the top and bottom pretty much matched. I used a orbital sander with 60 grit to get down to the line on the butt. Once there I used 100 grit to smooth out the stock and get down further and installed the new pad and sanded them together. From time to time I would use a straight edge to make sure that I wasn't getting hills and valleys.

I had flattened the bottom of the pad using a full sheet of sanding paper on a flat surface. As you can see the boundary sanded together creates one that you can't feel with your eyes closed.

 

[Wilburbean]

Broke out my buffing wheels and hoped that I had some compound and a wheel for plastic. I did and it was the first time that I polished plastic. It worked out really well.

Turned out pretty good:

 

[Wilburbean]

Time to trim down the stock to meet the action. This was very time consuming and either you have a long way to go or you did too much. Yikes! Was a good patience test for me. When we were doing the inletting, my retired gunsmith friend used emory boards like what they use in nail salons. He loves them and uses a scissors to shape them. The ones that you can get in bulk via Amazon come in various grits and they were very handy while I was doing the work. I started using a red Sharpie instead of my pencil to mark what needed more sanding. Blow off with my air compressor, check fit to action, repeat. Take a beer break and start back in.

I sanded the edge flat to the right level and this pic above shows where the rest needs to be sanded to meet the new level.
These emory boards are 100 on one side and 180 on the other side. I'm a big fan.

 

[Wilburbean]

After getting the sanding done O(I did 220 then 320 grit before I was done)on the new stock I removed the butt pad and polished it as described above.
Mounted it via the butt pad screws on the light fixture and prepped for staining. I wiped the stock with mineral spirits to both remove sanding dust and see if staining was even needed. It was too light compared to the pump fore stock. I decided to use the Non-Rusty version of Casey's Walnut stain. I mixed it 50/50 with distilled water (I have no idea if this is a good idea but I was in the garage where my wife keeps a gallon for the iron so I used some). I then stained the stock.

 

[Wilburbean]

Stain wet:

After the stain dried:

Looks lighter in the pic than in person but it definitely dried lighter than I expected. You can also see my stash of emory boards here.

 

[Wilburbean]

Ok, lots of progress this weekend. I'm trying to get the gun done for July 4th weekend so I can return it.

A question for the more knowledgeable on here. Should I use the Casey's Sealer & Filler on the stock before doing the Tru-oil coats or should I wet sand the Tru-oil for a couple of coats? I did light polishing between coats with steel wool on the other stock but no filler/sanding of the Tru-Oil. I used the Sealer Filler then sanded but I ended up taking off some stain and had to restain some areas. Looking to avoid that with this replacement stock. Several videos on Youtube have guys wet sanding the freshly applied Tru-Oil with 320 grit.

Any insights, best methods welcome! Thank you!

 

[Phil Morris]

Ok, lots of progress this weekend. I'm trying to get the gun done for July 4th weekend so I can return it.

A question for the more knowledgeable on here. Should I use the Casey's Sealer & Filler on the stock before doing the Tru-oil coats or should I wet sand the Tru-oil for a couple of coats? I did light polishing between coats with steel wool on the other stock but no filler/sanding of the Tru-Oil. I used the Sealer Filler then sanded but I ended up taking off some stain and had to restain some areas. Looking to avoid that with this replacement stock. Several videos on Youtube have guys wet sanding the freshly applied Tru-Oil with 320 grit.

Any insights, best methods welcome! Thank you!

If you are using filler/sealer, do it before application of the Tru-Oil or you can skip the filler and apply enough Tru-Oil to fill the pores, sanding between coats. Don't put the sealer/filler over the Tru-Oil.

 

[Wilburbean]

Thanks Phil. A followup question: Do you recommend using filler/sealer or doing it via wetsanding Tru-0il?

 

[Phil Morris]

Thanks Phil. A followup question: Do you recommend using filler/sealer or doing it via wetsanding Tru-0il?

The sealer/filler is designed to sand easily. Sanding the Tru-Oil to pore fill is a lot more work than filling first. Tru-Oil is the standard finish on all my banjo ukuleles. I apply it in multiple coats (6 to 8) with a rag and use white Scotch Brite in between coats to achieve a durable satin finish. High gloss can be obtained with additional coats and some polishing.