Thread: Remington 788 Restoration

Toby, flip it over and do it from both sides (yes a lot of innuendo was used in that sentence - insert Beavis & Butthead laugh)

kj

Originally Posted by greghud

if you REEEEEALY want a boyds, it can be done.
may I suggest you don't waste your time with pine, you will just end up investing a bunch of time and end up with a unusable piece of wood.
I made a ply stock for my daughter and it worked out real good.















there is a lot of time invested in making a stock from scratch. don't waste it on shit wood.
greg

Nice job. You could have made her a leftie ya meanie!!

Im just using pine to test the water, see what acually is involved before I commit myself to too much $s
its h4 if that makes any difference haha.

Iv got a couple of laminated 8x2'' planks Iv been carefully looking at as donors if i decide to go for it

Made some progress with the stock...


Used a cabinet scraper to get all the old varnish and crap off. Spokeshave to clean up the sides - got a bit of tear-out, but still looks a lot better. Re-shaped the grip part of the stock with a rasp, made it a bit thinner and more comfortable for my hand. Cut 3/4 inch section off the back to make space for the limbsaver, and to use for plugs.


The old buttplate holes. Used a carving chisel to slightly concave the butt, so that the limbsaver plate mounts nice and flush. The previous buttplate holes were drilled out to 6mm for plugs.


The previous sling stud holes, drilled out to 8mm for plugs


All old holes plugged, new holes drilled for the limbsaver.

Bit of sanding left, then stain & oil.

Very nice so far. What kinda wood are they? The old mans 788 is exactly the same grain pattern, I re-stained while at school at did the blueing. Quite soft wood from memory

Puku, this one is maple, it's pretty hard.

I've read some of the 788 stocks were also made from birch.

Going to use a Mirotone stain, a friend of mine made it up to some secret recipe, he uses it to make Macrocarpa look like Rimu

Originally Posted by ebf

If I start another woodworking project without finishing the coffee table legs, my wife is going to staple my nutsack to the workshop door...

I know Mrs EBF, I do believe she would too !!


Tim

Righto, done with the stock for now. Next time you see it, all the bits and pieces will be attached





Detail of the plug repairs on the previous sling stud holes. Matching the grain with end-grain is a breeze, with long grain it is a hit-and-miss thing - the rear plug matches ok, the front one is a bit light. Did a bit of research on optimal placement for toe-end stud. Seems like 2.5 to 3 inches from the toe is about right. Had a look at my other rifles and kinda went for the average of those. If it is right at the toe, I guess it makes the toe swing forward once it is slung on your shoulder.

Also did the grinding of the limbsaver. RTFM does have some benefits ... the trick about freezing the pad and then using 240-grit sandpaper lubricated with WD-40 to smooth the outside of the recoil pad works like a treat. Will definitely do that to my limbsaver on my Omark as well, looks real nice.

So several more coats of oil, then install the sling studs and recoil pad.

Next: sanding the barrel.

Flying along today...



Barrel sanded. Used cloth backed 180, 240, 320 and 400. Then wet-and-dry 600 and 1000. The initial 180 was lengthways, rest across (shoe shine).

Looking good. Well done

kj

Stock has come up nice.

Adds to its value of it to you when you put the hard work into it

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Abe, when you sand/polish barrels, what grit do you normally go up to ?

Originally Posted by ebf

Abe, when you sand/polish barrels, what grit do you normally go up to ?

1200 if going to blue, but in no expert in that side my results are mix an match so I job that out mate to save me the hair pulling hassle

Talking about wood, got a bunch of rimu from the house renos that would be big enough to make a stock. Got some matai too. If you want to score some let me know and come get it before someone chops it up for firewood

i have filled up 6 skip bins with rimu from a house we are working on over the last two weeks, seems such a waste