Shotgun Butt Stock Question

[Cole Roberts]

Haven't been around for a while, busy end of the school year and busy summer but I have a question. I was asked by a friend today how hard it would be to make a butt stock for a shotgun. Truthfully I have never made one and could use some guidance and advice. Tips or plans or anything that might be helpful I would love to hear.

 

[mredburn]

What kind of shotgun? modern? antique? If you take your time its possible but it is not easy. I have a shotgun blank set for a two piece shotgun in walnut if your interested. DO you have the original to duplicate that would really help.

 

[Smitty37]

Butt

Haven't been around for a while, busy end of the school year and busy summer but I have a question. I was asked by a friend today how hard it would be to make a butt stock for a shotgun. Truthfully I have never made one and could use some guidance and advice. Tips or plans or anything that might be helpful I would love to hear.

It takes time and patience and a pretty good penchant for hand work. It is fairly easy to find blanks in various woods in "gun and shooting" magazines. There are a number of measurements you need to understand before you start so you might want to start by doing some reading on such things...unless your friend knows exactly what he wants. Blanks are fairly easy to find just google on shotgun stalk blanks and you'll get plenty of places to go looking.

 

[Cole Roberts]

Well he told me he is looking at buying a new gun, so it would have a composite butt on it, but he has always liked the look of wood. There weren't any options besides composites and they don't really sell replacements so he thought about just making one. So yeah modern gun with old butt on it. If you know where any tutorials are online, I did a google search on it didn't get any results.

 

[mredburn]

Modern is better, nothing like trying to inlay the side lock plates. Stock fitting is an art. He might be able to buy a replacement stock for the gun from a stock making company easier than having you make one. I have never seen a tutorial either. I looked at some serious duplicaters for a side by side my dad wanted me to do bu we didnt have a complete original stock. I got close but it lacked a lot. Have you checked ebay to see if there is a replacement wood stock or one from an older model that would fit?

duplicator link http://www.wood-carver.com/unigemini.html

 

[Cole Roberts]

Ill look into what you suggested, he doesn't have much experience in woodworking in general and was going to take his time and just do it as a side project during the school year. I will try to get a more accurate gun model and checkout ebay. Also, instead of doing a 2 piece, would a 1 piece work as long as the wood is dried quite well. I have seen 1 piece stocks on a few shotguns/rifles and I think that would probably be easier for him to do.

 

[mredburn]

The only one piece stock shotgun stock Im aware of are bolt action, the rest are usually 2 pieces the Butt stock and the Fore arm. One of the more difficult things he will have to do if its a two piece is drill the hole through the butt stock for the bolt that attaches the stock to the gun.

Mike

 

[rjwolfe3]

There are some excellent books out there and a video or two. I am working my way into gunsmithing but I have not made a stock yet. I would try it on some practice wood before you use anything expensive and there are some expensive pieces of wood out there for gunstocks.

 

[pencrafter]

I have built several stocks over the years both from scratch and from inleted blanks. If this is to be a standard wood stock I would highly recommend using a Rienhart Fajen 90% inleted blank. All it requires is final inleting, shaping, and shaping. A search on the net will bring up many companies that sell these.

 

[Mickey]

Unless he is really good he's better off leaving it to a gun maker. The final fit has to be perfect or it'll show like crazy and will drive him just as crazy. Especially if he spent several hundred on the stock blank. It is NOT as easy as one might think.

 

[Smitty37]

Nah

Unless he is really good he's better off leaving it to a gun maker. The final fit has to be perfect or it'll show like crazy and will drive him just as crazy. Especially if he spent several hundred on the stock blank. It is NOT as easy as one might think.

I did a stock years ago and so did my brother. Neither of us were woodworkers...and if you are careful, get proper instructions, have a ton of patience and don't try to hurry the job you can get a perfect fit with just barely passable skill. When I sold the guy the buyer asked to see my shop when I told him I made the stock from a blank.

 

[Smitty37]

Not an option

Ill look into what you suggested, he doesn't have much experience in woodworking in general and was going to take his time and just do it as a side project during the school year. I will try to get a more accurate gun model and checkout ebay. Also, instead of doing a 2 piece, would a 1 piece work as long as the wood is dried quite well. I have seen 1 piece stocks on a few shotguns/rifles and I think that would probably be easier for him to do.

That wouldn't be an option for most single shot, double barrel, or slide action shotguns. They are designed for and require a 2 piece stock. Restocking shotguns is not really all that uncommon and there are books and drawings out there somewhere that will give you more information than you'll ever need about how to do it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hand shaping and fitting can be done. But it requires a great deal of patience and time. Some specialized tools might be needed. And the final sanding and finishing can consume even more time. As others have pointed out, you can buy semi-finished and inletted stocks. This is not a simple task, especially for a first timer.

 

[Cole Roberts]

Well thanks for all the info, I have relayed all of it to my friend and I will let him make the decision on what he personally thinks he can do or wants to do. If you all have any other info or ideas, I will still love to hear them in this thread or by pm. Thanks again for this quick response, this question was just popped up on me yesterday and I thought you all would have the best advice.

 

[titan2]

Modern is better, nothing like trying to inlay the side lock plates. Stock fitting is an art. He might be able to buy a replacement stock for the gun from a stock making company easier than having you make one. I have never seen a tutorial either. I looked at some serious duplicaters for a side by side my dad wanted me to do bu we didnt have a complete original stock. I got close but it lacked a lot. Have you checked ebay to see if there is a replacement wood stock or one from an older model that would fit?

duplicator link http://www.wood-carver.com/unigemini.html

Getting one of those 'Gun Stock' duplicators and copying the stock would sure give you one EXPENSIVE shotgun!!!


Barney

 

[CV Wood]

I agree with Mickey. If you have not fitted a stock you should fine some one that has. Not only can it look bad but if a stock is not fitted right it can affect the performance of the weapon also. There are some places out there that offer premade stocks. Just search the web.

 

[Rfturner]

I have not made a stock myself but I know that it takes ALOT of patience. I have refinished a few stocks and just to do that I had about 10 hours worth of work over the span of about two weeks just to prep it for finish. I was going to replace the stck on a gun that I own and I practiced on a few cheap pieces of pine for an idea of the difficulty of the project. It is challenging but rewarding knowing that you made it.