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Building a Pattern Stock Presented by Larry Potterfield | MidwayUSA Gunsmithing - YouTube
Channel: MidwayUSA
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The pattern stock is used in a
duplicating machine to create the final
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stock of near-final dimensions. The
easiest way to make a pattern stock is
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to start with a factory stock, then with
some Bondo, a rasp, and some elbow grease,
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you can create a fitted pattern stock.
For this project
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we're using a Remington 700 ADL. There
are five critical areas that need our
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attention. First is the thickness and
shape of the action area from front to
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back as this affects strength, appearance,
and feel. Second is the length and
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roundness of the forend as this
affects both appearance and feel and
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third is the dimension of the grip both
circumference and closeness or openness.
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This affects the feel as well as the
control of the trigger when firing and
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fourth is the length of the stock. This
affects both the mounting of the gun the
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comfortable positioning of the trigger
hand and to some extent the eye relief
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of the scope, last is the height of the
comb as this affects how easily the
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scope or sights line up as the gun is
mounted. Before I can begin altering the
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dimensions of the stock it must be Inlet
for the larger aftermarket barrel. This
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is not precision work as we're creating
a greatly oversized barrel channel which
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we will fill in with Bondo.
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Since I plan to glass bed the
finished stock and free float the barrel
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I'm adding two layers of bedding tape to
the barrel for clearance. Now I can apply
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some paste wax as a release agent to the
barreled action and using a bit of Bondo
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bed the barrel channel. This ensures the
inletting can be properly duplicated. I
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like to start altering the external
stock dimensions at the action area.
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First I measure it for width at the
front, rear, and center of the action.
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Since I prefer the action area to be
around two inches wide for this rifle
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and the sides parallel we just need to
scuff the surface of the stock, mix up
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some Bondo and add enough to get the
desired thickness and shape. Note that
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I'm putting most of the Bondo in the
middle of the stock. One of the great
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properties of Bondo is that it sets up
quickly so we're able to work almost
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right away.
Now Bondo is very abrasive and will dull
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a good file rather quickly so I use an
old file rather than a new one. I'm using
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a Nicholson 49 in this case, but any
coarse file that will remove the
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material will work fine. This job is
easier if you take the time to level the
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stock on the centerline before you start.
Since the sides are designed to be
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parallel we can use a level for
verification. Now we can begin working
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the other side after leveling it off the
centerline, that looks pretty good. All
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that's left is to round the bottom of
the action area blending in the sides
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with the bottom of the factory stock.
I clean everything up and set the top
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rails along the action to 1/8 of an inch
width. The forend is next. On a 24 inch
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barrel I prefer a nine and a half inch
forend, so I'm going to shorten this one
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a bit. This forend is pretty flat on
the bottom. My preference is for a forend
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that is nearly round at the tip and
tapered nicely from the action, like this
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one. This forend is also wide and bulky
nearly 1.6 inches in diameter.
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I prefer a slimmer forend about one
point three inches in diameter at the
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tip. To get started I simply make up a
1.3 inch cardboard circle.
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Our barrel measures 0.8130" at the
forend tip. I'll add that number to the
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desired width of the top rails which is
1/8 of an inch for a total of 1.063
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inches. This width is marked on the
circle which locates the top of the
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template. Now I can mark the centerline
of the circle, then the location of the
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barrel channel and top rails, and cut it
out. Now I can mark the forend tip.
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The forend should be a straight taper
from the front of the action to the tip
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of the forend, so we'll need to remove
material. I start by filing a flat on the
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bottom, confirming that my line is
straight using a straight edge. Now I can
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add a bit more Bondo, mark the width of
my top rails, and file a flat on each
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side. Now each of these edges needs to be
filed flat. You can see at the top edge I
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am maintaining the rails at 1/8 of an
inch.
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Sometimes it helps to add a little stain
so you can see your progress.
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One more filing off of the corners and
I'm ready to carefully blend all the
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edges into a nearly round shape. The
result is a pattern with a pleasing
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slightly petite feel. Now I can
concentrate on the grip area. The two
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most important areas are the
circumference and distance from the
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trigger to the front of the grip cap. The
circumference of most rifles typically
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falls in the range of 4 and 3/4 to 5
inches. I've made a series of dowels, the
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largest matching the factory
circumference, which is a bit too large
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for me. The 4 and a half-inch dowel is
just right and the four and a quarter
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feels too small. To ensure the right
circumference I'll use a grip cap of the
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same measurement. You'll find that
generally, the grip cap is nearly
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identical in shape and circumference to
a cross-section of the wrist at its
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thinnest part.
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The next project is to determine the
distance from the front of the pistol
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grip to the middle of the trigger.
Because the pistol grip on the factory
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stock is too close for me as evidenced
by my finger wrapping well over the
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trigger. I'll need to move it back so the
front pad and my finger touches the
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trigger. I'm making a mark of one quarter
of an inch, then removing that much
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material from the front of the grip and
trying it for fit, that's about right. Now
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I can file the bottom of the grip flap
and install the grip cap being sure it's
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in the center of the grip. Next, I blend
the lines accordingly. Now I file the
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sides flap maintaining the same width as
the grip cap. These lines can now be
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blended together to carry the dimensions
of the grip cap all the way to the
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middle of the grip.
After which I can blend the area from
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the rear of the action to the middle of
the grip. Now I have a grip that feels
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good and positions the middle of the
front segment of my trigger finger on
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the middle of the trigger no excuses now.
Let's talk about the length of pull. This
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is the distance from the center of the
butt to the center of the trigger. It's
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important because it affects the
mounting of the gun. If the length of
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pull is too short your nose will hit
your thumb each time you shoot. If it's
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too long the heel will catch on clothing
or your armpit and prevent fast mounting
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of the gun. To dial in the length of pull
on our pattern stock, we can shorten the
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stock or add cardboard spacers if we
need to add length. Now the length of
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pull on our pattern stock major is 13
and three-quarter inches which is nearly
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perfect for me.
Next, we can address the Coleman
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cheekpiece. The Coleman cheekpiece
determine the relationship of the eye
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to the scope and the sights. We're most
concerned with the side-to-side position
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of the cheek piece and the height of
the comb. To adjust the thickness of the
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cheekpiece we took a solid steel rod
and drilled a hole down the center. With
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this mounted in the rings on the rifle. I
shouldered the gun pointing it at a
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target on the wall with my cheek welded
properly to the stock. In this case the
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cheekpiece is a little thick and the
combs too high. I'll remove material from
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the cheekpiece and the comb, checking my
progress as I work. It's important to
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move slowly removing a small amount of
wood at a time until your eye is
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perfectly centered in the tube, that's
about right.
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In some instances such as if your eye
lines up like this, you may need to add
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material to the comb and cheekpiece using
Bondo. Since the recoil pad needs to be
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removed before I send the stock to the
duplicator we'll install this wooden
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spacer. First I remove the factory recoil
pad the white spacer and scrape away any
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remaining glue.
Now I can locate the screw holes, drill
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pilot holes, and screw on the spacer. Once
the spacer is in place I can address the
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toe line. I'm using a rasp to remove
material and a straightedge to check my
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work. I continue removing material until
the toe line is straight. Now using a pair
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of round files, I can clean up the area
right behind the grip cap. Since the
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wooden space is a bit wider than the
buttstock I'll file it down to match the
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buttstock. Once that's done I can tie the
grip into the buttstock. You can see
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there's a bit of a high spot on the grip.
I'll strike a line from the grip to the
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center of the buck and file it flat,
again using a straightedge to check my
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progress. Now I filed two additional
flats one above and one below the center
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flat. After filing those out I'll repeat
the process on the other side of the
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stock. The flutes need to be scuffed so I
can fill them in with Bondo.
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I'll also fill in the rear swivel stud
hole at this time. After cleaning up the
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Bondo I mark the location of the new flute
so that they are around an inch and 3/4
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in length and point toward the toe. A
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round rasp is used to cut the flute so
it's about a quarter of an inch below
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the comb. Once the flutes cut to depth we
can remove this fat area below it and
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blend the flute into the grip. This
process is repeated on the other side so
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there's about an eighth of an inch
between the flutes, I'm using a small
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file to reshape the point of the comb,
pretty good. Now I can detail the stock
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by rounding the sides and smoothing
everything up. Since we still have a
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series of flats I just need to file down
the corners and blend everything
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together to get a nice rounded buttstock.
If you prefer a palm swell, which I do,
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it's a simple thing to apply a small
amount of Bondo to the palm area, lay
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some thin plastic over the bond, then
shoulder the stock and squeeze until the
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Bondo fills up the palm of
your hand. It's best to go slow
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adding small amounts of Bondo until the
grip perfectly fits your hand. Now I can
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clean it up a bit this will increase the
circumference slightly, but won't change
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the position of your hand. Now we have a
nearly perfectly fitted pattern stock
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that you're ready to be sent to the
duplicator.
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