Thread: Carbon wrap complete

Well I have finally done it. It’s not pretty in places, but that just gives it a bit of character.
I have it sanded down to a 1200 grit paper, and think I’ll leave it there. I could give it the full cut and polish, but I was always wanting to go with a more matte finish. This way I don’t need to paint it

The gaps and holes that can be seen are from when I was a touch vigorous with initial sanding and broke through the carbon. Subsequent resin coats have filled the holes though and now it’s even all over. In hindsight I should have started with a black layer instead of going straight to the timber so my mistakes would have been slightly less obvious 😂

I also was trying to avoid having a seam along the fore end so tried to wrap one single sheet and fold it along the rifle with a seam on the top of the but stock, but the result was a bit of a messy uneven wrap around the grip and but stock. If I ever did this again I would definitely use two sheets and sandwich them together. Would make a much cleaner and tighter finish.

Ah well I’m pretty happy for a first attempt.

It’s light as anything (I’ll try borrow some scales this weekend). Just need to mount the jandal recoil pad then reassemble the whole thing

All up this cost me about $140 in parts. Labour on the other hand……

Nice. It’s a learning experience aye. Did you carbon wrap an existing stock? Or make your own stock?
Did one myself during and after the last lockdown. Getting the carbon cloth into the wrist and grip areas is challenging.

Ha yep sure is! Many mistakes were made. I’m sure that if I did it again I would do a much better job of it. I made the stock from powlonia

Yours looks great man!

Thanks, had a few holes or gaps to fill in places, got some black tint to colour the epoxy and used that to bog the hole then sand back. Hard to see with a black tinted base layer. Same, did mine using paulownia- inspired by the posts from @Scot Cowan. Will definitely have a crack at another one this winter. Need a light weight stock for my Model7 708.
The other mistake I made is not going thin enough on the paulownia stock shaping as I underestimated the build up you get with several coats of epoxy & CF cloth.

Very happy with that weight! That’s with sling studs, bottom metal(plastic) and jandal recoil pad.

Now just need to reassemble and get to the range

Nice work

Turned out better than mine.

Took it to the range today to sight in. I’m pretty happy with the result. The groups have widened slightly more than with the previous stock, but that was 400gm heavier and I had done a full bedding job with Nathan fosters bedding kit. This one only has the front action/recoil lug and rear tang bedded using JB Weld. A bit rough but clearly works ok
This is still a dead wallaby/goat within 200m!
What I am pleasantly surprised about is how well the 64gn shot. This rifle is only a 1:12 twist, so I thought 55gn was my max. It even had a similar POI to the 55’s.
Very happy Chappy indeed

pay to check that the mag box is not binding as this can cause fliers. The PMC & Hornady both show 2 touching then one left and high. Been caught out on binding mag boxes on three different rifles now.

Rather than carbon could you use fibre glass resin and mat to coat the stock? It would be easier wouldn't it? Would it add any strength?

Originally Posted by Tahr

Rather than carbon could you use fibre glass resin and mat to coat the stock? It would be easier wouldn't it? Would it add any strength?

What did you use to shape the paulownia?

Originally Posted by chainsaw

pay to check that the mag box is not binding as this can cause fliers. The PMC & Hornady both show 2 touching then one left and high. Been caught out on binding mag boxes on three different rifles now.

What do you mean by mag box binding?? How is it fixed?

Originally Posted by Tahr

Rather than carbon could you use fibre glass resin and mat to coat the stock? It would be easier wouldn't it? Would it add any strength?

Yep I imagine it would. The powlonia is already a fairly strong wood, just soft and easily dinged. Several coats of epoxy over the top should be plenty to give it extra strength. I suspect using glass fibre is about as tricky to use as carbon fibre. If I was going to make another stock I wouldn’t bother with either tbh, just straight epoxy resin

Originally Posted by Stocky

What did you use to shape the paulownia?

I used an old bastard rasp to shape it, then just sanded it smooth

Originally Posted by Delphus

Yep I imagine it would. The powlonia is already a fairly strong wood, just soft and easily dinged. Several coats of epoxy over the top should be plenty to give it extra strength. I suspect using glass fibre is about as tricky to use as carbon fibre. If I was going to make another stock I wouldn’t bother with either tbh, just straight epoxy resin

@Brian made one and simply polyurethaned it and its standing up ok.