DaveG Custom Stocks

This stock was commissioned by a friend of mine who lost someone close to himself. The gun originally belonged to the gentleman that passed away, and then was acquired by my friend. He contacted me about carving a piece to commemorate his friend, and this is where we have gotten to thus far-

The blank was a hand selected graft between English Walnut in the butt section, and American Black Walnut along the forearm, with the graft running right through the wrist area of the stock. The blank presented plenty of challenges, as is often the case in highly figured wood. Just to make things even tougher, we decided to use polished alloy for the accents. The Aluminum grip cap is contoured to complete the bottom finger groove, as well as palm support. The line between wood and alloy is undetectable to the touch. Not an easy piece to carve! These first picts are after the first "spit" coat of finish, and there will be plenty more depth showing in the wood as the finish starts to come up. There will be several other billet built polished pieces added to the action to complete the package.

I've got several underlever type guns in the works for some of the FT guys. I've spent a considerable amount of time rethinking some of the adjustable hardware pieces. Main concerns are ease of use, and most importantly strength and rigidity. I've prototyped some new hardware, and put the pieces through the ringer trying to find fault, readjusted, remade, and tested some more till I came up with the newest configuration of pieces that will be used in the newer stocks.Here's a prototype piece coming together for a TX200 action. (Pardon the crappy picts, as we have been dodging snow squalls, and freezing temps for the last several days, and it will be quite a few more before better weather does make it's way in for some better picts...)

Right now the stock is only at 80grit, so there is work left to be done. Features include a removable knee/palm rest, which slides in a beefy accessory rail on the belly of the stock. There is quite a few adjustments in this piece that will allow the end user to tailor the fit to their needs. Tweaking the center of gravity is also possible here... Right now I have it set up so that the center of balance, action mounted w/scope, is right at the front of the palm rest, which allows the gun to just sit in my hand while shooting off hand (testing fit and feel in the shop). Cheek is adjustable up and down, right and left. Length of pull is adjustable, as is up down, and toe in/out on the pad. I tend to use a shorter LOP while crunched up in the seated FT position, as opposed to shooting off hand.Removing the knee rest carves off enough weight to allow me to use the gun off hand for hunting or plinking without sacrificing anything in the ergo's dept. Brings the weight right into the range of the HW97 in a factory lam stock, but with better balance and improved hand position.

After a bit more test fitting and playing, I decided to make the adjustments on the new hardware a tool free affair. Who wants to be fiddeling with tools while squating in an FT lane preparing for a shot?

The same type of knob was also added to the butt pad assembly. Adjustments are now a quick one handed affair. I also provided some additional fasteners in discreet locations that will allow one to really lock everything solidly in place when they find their own personal sweet spot(s). Unlocked, one can quickly remove the knee rest with a twist of a knob, and if you're like me, go from shooting paper, to stripping the gun down in a couple of seconds, and head out into the back woods to bust some squirrel heads.

The completed stock features an adjustable length of pull, toe in/out and hieght on the pad. Adjustable cheek piece for hieght, as well as right/left orientation. Full anitomical grip with a thumbs up trough in addition to the through hole. The knee/palm rest adjusts for hieght, forward/backward as well as axis orientation. The rest is quickly removable via a hand knob. LOP and hieght of the knee/palm rest are adjusted using a tool free hand knob. All posts are marked for quick reference between adjustments, which makes it easy to go from a knee shot to an off hand shot, back to an off the knee shot, returning the rest to your original possition in a matter of seconds. Also really good if you go from a flat shot, to one with lots of uphill inclination. A quick drop of the rest will keep you heads up without having to lean way back to get the angle.