Where do you buy your stock blanks?

[JonBishop]

I’m wondering where you builders buy stock blanks. I have an original Brown Bess barrel and lock I would like to make functional. It’s an IMA parts set.

Thanks, Jon

 

[Col. Batguano]

English walnut would be the correct wood for it, but you can make American walnut work too. It's a little more open grained and "chippier" than English to work, (so a little bit of grain filling will be required in finishing) but a bunch cheaper and easier to find. There are any number of suppliers that can help you with what you're looking for. Take a peek at the "suppliers" tab in the forum index.

For that gun you don't want spectacularly figured wood, so any number of places will have what you need. For that matter even your local hardwood dealer may have boards thick enough for you. Just make sure to pay attention to the grain direction through the wrist area particularly.

 

[sleepingbulldog]

IMA used to have replacement stocks available. I think they were made of some kind of Indian or Nepalese wood but I've seen guys online who stained them to look correct.

 

[rich pierce]

Dunlap’s is where I usually get mine. If you want a true Bess look at posts on builds by Smartdog. Or go full on colonial and build a parts gun with Bess parts stocked in whatever.

 

[JonBishop]

IMA used to have replacement stocks available. I think they were made of some kind of Indian or Nepalese wood but I've seen guys online who stained them to look correct.

The IMA stock is the reason I want to get a blank. I think I’ll be time ahead going with a blank instead of trying to fix this stock. And I just want to try a sort of scratch build. The IMA stock is fully inlet with all hardware attached. It just will not make a functional firearm. Or, I can’t make it so. The hardware seems fine to me. I’ll reuse it.

Jon

 

[JonBishop]

Dunlap’s is where I usually get mine. If you want a true Bess look at posts on builds by Smartdog. Or go full on colonial and build a parts gun with Bess parts stocked in whatever.

Thanks for the tip. I think this is the way I’ll go. The plain maple is, to me, the way to go. I’m not going all historically accurate or anything. Dyes and wood stains should make things look close.

Jon

 

[Ray Settanta]

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The IMA stock is the reason I want to get a blank. I think I’ll be time ahead going with a blank instead of trying to fix this stock. And I just want to try a sort of scratch build. The IMA stock is fully inlet with all hardware attached. It just will not make a functional firearm. Or, I can’t make it so. The hardware seems fine to me. I’ll reuse it.

Jon

I was thinking of purchasing one of the IMA kits. What do you think is the reason why it will not make a functional firearm?

 

[rich pierce]

A good inexpensive book is “Of Sorts for Provincials”. It’s for an earlier period but a cool book chock full of inspiration.

 

[JonBishop]

Ray, the reason being is that I paid quite a bit for this parts set and the pre- inletting and hole drilling is off by a lot. My estimation of course. A new stock from IMA is $300 dollars. I don’t want to take that chance. I have seen you tube videos of these shooting. Could I get this stock to work, yes. Given the time and not caring about all the wood I would have to add and remove, or that it would be hard to make look right. The pictures hopefully will tell you more.

Jon

 

[Capt. Jas.]

You want English walnut. Ron Scott is probably your best bet for that these days if you build from a stick. He can be reached on the ALR forums and I have bought some musket grade plainer pieces from him in the past.

 

[Ray Settanta]

Jon,
thanks for the reply and the pics. I see what you mean about the stock.

 

[sleepingbulldog]

Oof, that inletting is ugly. I don't blame you for starting with a blank.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Who ever did that inletting needs to be sent to the Tower!

 

[JonBishop]

I talked to Dunlap today and for what I’m looking for they have what I might want. The prices on their website aren’t current. A bit more expensive. That’s expected though. My concerns with this is that the website is not secure. When I clicked on the phone number and called, it went to a voice mail of a different number. I called again just typing in the numbers and a foreign gentleman answered. His name is Daniel. Seemed very helpful. Gave me a $20 dollar discount no less. I’m operating from a phone. The scam stuff lately has me gun shy. Has anyone had dealings with Dunlap lately?

Thanks, Jon

 

[Col. Batguano]

Daniel is the right guy. He is very helpful. It's not a re-routing of your call to India, like when you're at a McDonald's drive through.

 

[TNBandit]

It appears they sent you a completely different style of stock than I got when I purchased my kit about 4 years ago. I was able to get my parts to fit pretty well but it's certainly not a drop in job. Have you called them or is it too late for that because you've already done some work to the stock ? They're fairly easy to deal with. My first lock was missing parts and they shipped me another one along with a pre-paid return label to mail the other one back.

 

[david w]

I've bought srocks from Pecatonica in the past with good results.

 

[JonBishop]

View attachment 111458View attachment 111459 It appears they sent you a completely different style of stock than I got when I purchased my kit about 4 years ago. I was able to get my parts to fit pretty well but it's certainly not a drop in job. Have you called them or is it too late for that because you've already done some work to the stock ? They're fairly easy to deal with. My first lock was missing parts and they shipped me another one along with a pre-paid return label to mail the other one back.

Hi, TNBandit. Yes I had already started inletting the barrel. If you can tell from the pictures in the previous post, to get the tang and breech in the right place the tang screw will be in the wrong spot. I could plug the hole and re-drill, or weld the tang and re-drill. That’s not to mention the lock pre inletting or the horrible pre fit hardware inletting. I was disappointed to say the least. I went ahead and ordered two blanks from Dunlap. One for the Bess and the other for a future project.

I've bought srocks from Pecatonica in the past with good results.

Thanks for the reply. I actually plan on giving Pecatonica a call tomorrow.

Thanks, Jon