when it never fraking ends?
I have a Savage 110 that I used in an experiment with TTI's StraightJacket system last year. The rifle never really fit me well at all, so after I finished up the experiment I started looking for a new stock for it. I looked at several nice, ready to go composite stocks but thought to myself "hmmmm. I don't really have a nice wood stocked rifle. All my wood rifles are kinda plain."
The interwbz led me to
Richard's Microfit Stocks. Pretty pictures, seems like good prices I'll give it a shot. It was advertised as 99% inleted. Sadly, I ordered this prior to OWS so I didn't realize that 99% was actually code for "We want to take your money and make you do the work"*. After I got the stock I had to go buy a set of wood carving tools and make room for extraneous parts that Savage puts in their rifle. Useless things like a sear, trigger and bolt handle. After I got the action to sit in the stock I discovered that a 1 1/4" "barrel channel" wasn't the size barrel that the channel was designed for, but rather the size cutter used to make the channel. So a 1 1/4" barrel doesn't
quite fit. Break out a large socket and some sandpaper. Cue musical montage.
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Finally, now the action fits in the stock. Now I can start sanding the knife marks left everywhere else. Start with 120. Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand. Switch to 220. Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand. Time for 320. Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand. Finally, 400. Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sa-To hell with it, that's good enough. (You've done this before if you just read that and said "He'll regret that later").
Ok. Now it's [mostly] smooth. Let's read the directions on that Tru-Oil. Put on smooth, let dry while hanging, repeat as needed. You're done when it fills the grain. Seems simple enough. First coat, hang and dry. Second coat, hang and dry. Third coat-Oh look! there's the spots you didn't finish sanding. Screw it it's on the pistol grip. From now on that's called "Grip Texture". Fourth coat, Hang and dry. Grain doesn't seem to be filling at all. Maybe I need thicker coats. Fifth coat I put on at the thickness I would use if I was spraying it. Hang and dry. Oh look, it runs, then drys in streaks. Well I have some of that 400 grit left. Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, Sa-to hell with it, that's good enough. What coat were we on again? Cue "Eye of the Tiger" montage.
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Well it's been two and a half weeks of one coat a day and I'm sick of smelling like Tru-Oil all the time so let's call that grain filled enough. Final tune on the trigger, mount the action, drill and install a sling swivel for a bi-pod, bolt up a spare scope I had lying around. Yea! It's a rifle again. Sadly, when I finally got this thing assembled it was too dark for photo's. Several people have told me it looks great, but since I know exactly where all the imperfections are, that's all I can see. I need to go shoot it soon, because right now I see 7 months of messing around culminating in a bumpy, streaky stock. Sigh.
I'm sticking with black and FDE plastic for a while. I seriously could have machined a stock from billet aluminum for less time effort then I have tied up in this laminate stock. On the bright side, the rifle seems to fit me a whole lot better. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rub hands down with mineral spirits to try and remove the "Eue de Birchwood-Casey" and pour myself a Scotch. Thanks for listening to me whine.
*Research leads me to believe that Richards is on a par with other "unfinished" stocks, I apparently just bit off more than I could chew.
