Need to form up the butt and forend.
Used a hand plane to shape the walnut butt . Worked really well as I was able to carry the stock lines right through.
Getting closer.
Switched to my mini-plane.
Some sanding will take care of the rest of the transition.
I removed the deck screw that was holding the forend to the stock for the glue up and cut the forend back a couple inches. Need to keep the stock short enough to access the bulk-fill valve.
Scored a line for the edge of the gas tube channel inletting.
Tried a couple methods of wood removal but settled on a small carving tool. I should have used a larger one, but I didn't feel like sharpening it.
Dropped the stock into a set of padded vise jaws and finished the channel. Test fit the 180 action to ensure that the tube bottomed in the bed and there was adequate access to the gas valve.
Now on to the front. Since short rifles have traditionally been fitted with schnabel-style forend tips, and since I don't currently have a rifle with a schnabel forend...
A drum sander in the drill press allowed me to play with the shape until I was more or less satisfied. I didn't show the absurd amount of stock sanding that followed. I used a random orbital sander starting at 80 grit and successively moved up to 220.
Sanding is almost done. Decided to slightly countersink the bolt that secures the action. Unnecessary, but it should tidy up the lines a bit. Oh, that's a forstner bit to make flat bottomed holes in wood. Blog reader, Josh, wondered about adding a sling attachment to the 180. Strangely enough, I had a spare Uncle Mike's swivel kit (kit #1051-2) in exactly the right size. I didn't take any pics, but I did drill the buttstock with a hole and a counterbore for the screw stud.
The part I dread: What will the chosen stain color look like?
I don't think I showed this earlier. I used the sanding drum for shaping the inside curve.
First coat. Ended up using a Minwax cherry (#235 ) colored stain. Past experience with vintage Crosman stocks tells me to expect a lot of yellow/gold colors.
As an aside, I tried Minwax "Gunstock #231" but it looked pink and fleshy on this particular piece of wood. Not really what I was going for.
I can live with this look.
A few more coats to darken things up then some grain filling after the stain has dried.
One more installment coming after some drying time.
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