The finished stock

[AZHoosier]

Well, I have the stock finished and on the gun. Next will be ranging it. I hope to do this pretty soon. However we're expecting snow in the next few days and I'm in the middle of an archery Javalina hunt. Soooo It will be a while I think. I certainly like the wood from Gunstocks Inc.

[b44mag]

hey that's 1 sweet looking stock.  how heavy is it now . is that a 22 in  standard barrel . while I'm asking what caliber is it . oh and where do i get one
 but really that looks great . 

[jrhweldon]

very nice , quite striking , while the buttstock is a bit radical for my taste it is very beautiful hope it shoots as good as it looks excellent work     jrhweldon

[Doug K.A.]

That looks awesome! What caliber is it?

[burntmuch]

Very nice

[knight0334]

Very nice work!!

What recoil pad is that?

[AZHoosier]

Hay folks,
Thanks for the nice comments.
It's .243 youth rifle that my grandson had so the rifle is self is light and short, 20 inch barrel. Using a Conair non-certified Weight Watcher bathroom scale it weighed in at 9.8 lbs. Most will not like the weight but since I'm building it for stationary varmint hunting and killing paper and cardboard it is exactly what I want, heavy and since it's a youth model weight had to be made up with the stock. The stock was purchased at Gunstocks, Inc. a GBO sponsor. It's the Stinger Model, the wood is their Fiddle Back Maple finished natural, no stain. The forend is the Varmint/Target. Later on I plan to get other barrels such as the .204 and .308.  I also plan to get them in the heavy bull barrels if they're available.  (jrhweldon), they have a roll over cheek model that would probably be more to you liking since the stinger is more radical than you like. The recoil pad is a Morgan from Cabela's  . It's adjustable vertically as well as tilt top and bottom. The forend is bedded with RV Silicone and hoping for good results. From the posts I've read it should be just the thing. Maybe later I will go to glass bedding. I have a lot of adjustments I will have to do according to the posts, FAQ's and accuracy information. But it's started. I wish to thank all of you for your ideas and suggestions you've put on the forum. They have and will help even more in the future.
As Tim has noted to me before, the .243 in the light weight models are not one of the most accurate rifles. If it doesn't work out, then I will of course go to a heavy bull barrel. That seems to be what is in the future for the gun from what I've seen so far. I will keep the light barrel as I have a grand daughter that is possibly getting into hunting and my daughter is engaged to a fellow that has a 7 year old son,,,,,, WOW!!!! Another hunting partner on the way!!!!! Yeee Haw!!!!

Bill

[quickdtoo]

Very nice work, Bill! It isn't that the Superlight is inaccurate, they're just very finicky to find an accurate load, several members here have very accurate 243 Superlights, and with that bedding technique, I think yours can do fine with the right load.

Tim

www.gunstocksinc.com

[PHATINJUN]

Bill I have read all I can from gunstocks web page but since you got one I got a couple of ?you can post here or send me a PM. First  from what I gather the small spots that are near the lower grip have to be expected they say but what did they grade yours at? as I understand they may not be on the other side off stock are they on yours? Did you cut to length or did you give them a length you wanted and have them cut it then added the butt pad ? I really want to do a maple on my .225 rechamber but am gonna stain just a touch darker not much just a little and am gonna use the forearm you used but mine will have a 24" bbl. But can't decide whether to go with the stinger or the rollover or what grade to have in the wood but from what I gather they grade mostly to your advantage do ya mind telling what the $were for your grade?By the way that is one very good looking rifle you did a fine job on it!!!! thanks Kurt

[AZHoosier]

Hay Kurt,
Thanks for the praise. It is highly appreciated. Can't wait until you get yours done so we can see it. Now to try and answer your questions.

The "spots" do not go all the way through. I don't know if they still have what used to be called "Birdseye Maple." My father who was a master craftsman used to make a lot of things out of it. Beautiful wood. That wood had many, many of the spots. Almost all Maple has the spots I think. It's from the forming of the twigs and branches from what I understand.

As far as the grade is concerned, I didn't have a choice I don't think. When I called in the order the very pleasant lady took the call and the grade of wood was not discussed. So, I'm not sure at all as to what grade it is. I'm not sure if there is a choice of grades for the Maple. The waves are beautiful though. I, personally wished it had more of the spots in it also.

I did not specify the LOP for the stock. So, I believe it came at about 15 or 15 1/2 inches. I wasn't concerned about it since I planned to put the adjustable recoil pad on. Knowing the pad would be much thicker I knew I would have to make the cut to fit me even if they cut it down and since I wasn't sure of the thickness of the pad I didn't specify the LOP. I made the measurement from another gun I have, made the adjustments for the pad, cut it and prayed as the saw made the cut!!!!! Measure twice, cut once. I measured at least 5 times!!!!

I think I've answered all of your questions. If not please ask. I will do my best to answer any you have. I can't wait to get it out to see if I can kill some paper and cardboard.

I do realize there are not to many folks that like light colored stocks. The stain will look just great I'm sure. I'm just a natural wood type of guy. I've seen stained maple, looked really good. I do expect some photos to show up when you get it done. Want a real challenge? Do some checkering yourself!!! My Dad used to do it a lot. I tried it once...... You don't want to know!!!!! It got really ugly!!!!! Slow is the key ---- Very, very, very slow.

Best of luck with your project.
Bill