got the metal in, roughed in the basic lines, probably bed next and fine tune final deminsions after that.

The problem with semi-inlet stock blanks is their pattern is a little too big sometimes.

bought a casting of a butt-plate and re-cut the checkering by hand, will touch up the high spots (overruns) before bluing. The dark wood is sweat, I kept shouldering it to make sure I had the right drop at the heel for my scope before final fitting the butt-plate. My shop isn't air conditioned and I usually come out soaked from head to toe. That english walnut turns purple where I handle it.

Well I wasn't able to use the nose cap I made out of the bayonet lug. It didn't allow for enough taper in the stock. Also the forward sling swivel needs a 1 inch diameter cylinder to attach to and the O.D. of that nose cap is 1.25" so that was definitely another factor. Anyway, I made another one (actually 2 more, but the first one was a reject.) and I really like it. Looking back I'm glad I did. I contemplated making an ebony one which would have been a lot easier. I guess it's personnel preference but the steel one seems to be more in line with what I want. I consulted old catalogs and some of the original Mauser models type M later catalogs show model numerically 615 didn't even have a nose cap. The wood is so thin in this area I wouldn't think that this would contribute to longevity. I'll be able to post a pic later tonight or tomorrow.

turns purple aye???
I guess you will be able to stain it very easy in the shade you like. our native Rata timber has a purple/burgandy type colour to it and looks great, that colour would be unique and really make your smoke pole a one off and easy to tell its yours!!

Yeah, that would be cool if I liked that color but I was hoping for something in the warmer hues. How hard is Rata, like walnut, maple, rosewood, or ebony?

yes its fairly hard. burns plurry good. its a wierd sort of a tree, starts out as a vine growing up another tree and gets bigger and bigger till it takes over the host tree. the honey suckle or rewarewa we have is very very hard and has a honeycomb grain better than oak. its harder than Aussie hardwood!!!

fnuser, you are making great progress. Looks good.

Thanks Slim, I saw your family portrait, That looked like an awesome hike. Elvis have you ever held a piece of our Mesquite? is it similar to that? I'm trying to figure out how much it would cost to get a chunk. Well I got all the parts on except the grip-cap and trigger. After I put on the nose-cap and front swivel that goes through the band I glassed the barrel channel. So I don't want to move it. I know I promised pictures but I'll post them while I'm trying to decide which grip-cap and trigger to use.

MOUNTED

Its great with a project comes together! You are making more progress than me. Slow down!

that looks like a 1-4x leupold on there? hope so as they are great, my big bro has one on the bush rifle and I drool every time I see it.
havent seen that wood YET!!!
that sling mount looks different cant say Ive seen one mounted there before??

Hey that's lookin really good FN! Mesquite is pretty hard on tools, you'd have a bear of a time doing carving that stuff up. I know a guy in Az. that makes cabinets out of it and it's full of knots and holes that he just leaves in it for style.

Seeing your project makes me want to go back and work on wood stocks. After I get my all metal/plastic AR rifle put together, I'll have to restart my two wood projects I have in the safe.

Thanks everybody, the scope is a Weaver V-4.5 Steel tube. The Rings and bases are Buehler, Orinda CA. The Bases were for an F.N. so I had to cut an additional radius into the front of the rear to clear the clip slot. And an angle on the rear for my bolt handle. I have held off stylistically speaking until I get the grip cap on, Midway had the Jerry Fisher's on sale so I got one of those coming along with a Timney for the trigger. Looking at Mauser catalogs got me wanting to try to make that little round that looks like they started to make a bracket under the bolt handle and bolt release. Their ejection ports were practically non-existent and I like a little canoe shape under there.