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[andy52]

The photos in post #1 do indeed show a lot of wood standing proud of the metal. I'm sure the rifle would shoot, but I commend @kje54 for his willingness to make the effort to get it right.


Nice work, man! You even regulated the screw slots!

Some of the folks on this forum do remarkable work with these production rifles.

Notchy Bob

Thank you, I figured it wasn't that hard to regulate the screws, I also added just a touch of glue to hold them in place on the one I knew probably wouldn't be removed like the escutcheon , I see from the photos I did miss the toe plate.

 

[LawrenceA]

Nice work. What size punch did you use for the nose piece and thimble pins? The smallest I have is 1/8th and it's too large.

I managed to get 0.8mm jewellers punch from fee bay. It is worth its weight in gold for those small pins and smaller

 

[kje54]

I managed to get 0.8mm jewellers punch from fee bay. It is worth its weight in gold for those small pins and smaller

Found a tiny 1/32" drill bit in my bit box, it worked. I have extra 1/16" pins, will probably re-drill the holes for 1/16 and use the larger pins that way if I ever have to take it apart again........

 

[jambuster]

I would say it was factory done. Mine is about 4 years old an looks just like yours. There are a number of people on this site and others that have reworked the stock with great results. I am going to do mine at some point . I mainly want to get rid of the fish belly and remove the excess wood everywhere.

 

[Flinty Scot]

Nice work. What size punch did you use for the nose piece and thimble pins? The smallest I have is 1/8th and it's too large.

I've used small Allen wrenches as pin drifts for the tiny barrel locking pins. Some day I'll get around to cutting it and setting it in a proper handle but it works well, without opening up the hole in the stock.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Lyman (Investarms) .54 caliber Great Plains rifle I got in a trade. Nice looking rifle but it's going to need stock work. Not sure if it started out as a kit someone tossed together of if it somehow slipped past QA when it left the factory.
The inletting is deep sans the lock inletting which is only a hair more than it should be.

That is a fine rifle! My SIL has one ( his first traditional ML) and he kicks butt with it at the shoots.
You say the inletting is too deep, which it is. Question: If you bring the furniture back to flush, how are you going to correct the over sized holes in the stock?
Wood filler will look like wood filler.
If you don't correct that at the same time you are only going to be half correct. It is your rifle and do as you like, I am just expressing my opinion.
It should be a good shooter for you.

 

[kje54]

That is a fine rifle! My SIL has one ( his first traditional ML) and he kicks butt with it at the shoots.
You say the inletting is too deep, which it is. Question: If you bring the furniture back to flush, how are you going to correct the over sized holes in the stock?
Wood filler will look like wood filler.
If you don't correct that at the same time you are only going to be half correct. It is your rifle and do as you like, I am just expressing my opinion.
It should be a good shooter for you.

What oversized holes?
Other than the inletting being off in a couple of small areas that can either be ignored or easily fixed with sawdust and glue there are no oversized holes.

 

[kje54]

I've used small Allen wrenches as pin drifts for the tiny barrel locking pins. Some day I'll get around to cutting it and setting it in a proper handle but it works well, without opening up the hole in the stock.

Never ocurred to me to check my stock of Allen wrenches. Thanks!

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

What oversized holes?
Other than the inletting being off in a couple of small areas that can either be ignored or easily fixed with sawdust and glue there are no oversized holes.

This is an oversized hole. I am not referring to the shadow on the left end either. My reference to oversize, means having to fill with anything. A patch or fill most generally looks like just what it is........a patch. Again I am not telling you what to do.
It is still a great gun, do not get me wrong.
Larry

 

[kje54]

This is an oversized hole. I am not referring to the shadow on the left end either. My reference to oversize, means having to fill with anything. A patch or fill most generally looks like just what it is........a patch. Again I am not telling you what to do.
It is still a great gun, do not get me wrong.
Larry
View attachment 65215

It's a inlet that is simply too deep. Oversized to me means it's cut wider or longer than the hardware that's supposed to fit into it, that would require filler. I'm reworking (rasping, filing and sanding) the entire stock not just the deep inlets to make it all blend together once everything is flush. I've already done that and am reworking the cheek rest, once that's done I'll start the complete sanding process then I have to properly fit the butt plate then oil the wood before putting it all back together again.

 

[Tasbay]

Managed to pick up one of these in 50cal a couple of days ago. Had just been traded in a local gun shop. Manufactured 2013 going by stamp in the box. Wood to metal finish is I think good though the butt plate is hell of a sharp on the shoulder. The amount of rust I got out of the barrel had to be seen to be believed, think it was just shot and put in the cupboard. Cleaned up nice and now that its been shot a few times and again cleaned the barrel came out beautiful. Very pleased with it. Could do with some spare nipples. Unfortunately our Government has decided you need a permit to import anything firearm related,,, Yes even a nipple,,, well that's going to take a while. The days of just on line buying from the 2 major traditional firearm retailers in the U.S has gone for us. No we didn`t have a 2nd amendment... unfortunately.

 

[toot]

terrible, just unexpectable!

 

[McClura]

Nice rifle. I got one in a trade and did just what you are thinking about doing. When you get all of the wood down to the metal parts flush and sanded, ready for finish, here is what I have done on my rifle and others I worked on. I finish the stocks with Tung or True Oil. Just hand rub finish on all of the stock and don't worry about getting too much in the inletting holes. The oil will dry and as you put your parts back on the rifle some of the gaps will be filled by the dried oil and you might have to take small amounts of the dried oil out of the inletting to insert your parts but it makes for a better fit. I goofed on a few places building my first rifles and an old gun smith told about this and it works great. I have even taken a few factory modern bolt guns apart and done this. I'm sure you will have a great looking rifle and be proud you did the work yourself. All of the lines on the stock will flow together.
Good luck, you should have a shooter and one that looks great.
Mike

 

[Flinty Scot]

Never ocurred to me to check my stock of Allen wrenches. Thanks!

None of the punches or sets I could find were small enough. I had accumulated a lot of odd sized Allen wrenches from yard sales but still had to dig for one small enough. Had a gunsmith (not familiar w/ BP guns spread the pin hole on a pistol, using a 1/8" punch. Fortunately, I could swell it back.
I never thought of jeweler's tools.

 

[kje54]

Took the last week and worked on it, still have to switch out the sights fo more PC ones.

 

[Boomerang]

Fine Job!

 

[jhgray]

You've got that rifle looking nice.