Wouldn't turn my nose up at a stainless/synthetic rig for special duty.....it'd hafta have a black scope on it tho........

Other than that I'm partial to wood and blue, some wood and stainless combos are right smart looking too.......

This is one of my latest projects...77/50 inline.......




From scratch........ya can't just pour this stuff in a mold...................

Your work? wildswalker? Not bad. You do the inlay also? Nice.

Standby Bushy....gotta go fetch you a pic of some inlay.........

Yeah....I've done a little bit of inlay work.........<grin>

Now thats good work!

Good job Wildswalker

Dimitri

Hummmm...May have to send him my T/C .50 Hawkens. Nice clean work.

Just something I do when I get bored.............<grins>

Gentlemen

It would appear that we have amongst us, someone who actually knows what they are doing.

I knew that there would be at least one! Well done, Wildswalker.

D

Daveyboy said it all! Nice work!


SHOOTIST

Bushmaster wrote:

And it will kick just like a Missouri Red Mule (had one. Mule that is).

Hey Bushy.....you can get another one on or about the 12th of July.


Cheers, Vince

Hey Wild man. You do as good a job on a stock as I've ever seen. Your inlay work is very artistic and absolutely beautiful. Have you given any thought to doing a little engraving and gold inlaying on the metal of firearms? It appears to me that you have the patience, skill and the artistic flair to do a good job of it.

Be interested in seeing the finished stock on your 77/50 inline.

Thanks for the pics mate.

Cheers, Vince

Generalizations often neglect specifics and this subject is a good example.

Cost has been a prime motivator for rifle manufacturers in the useage and promotion of synthetics. Articles several decades ago bemoaned the increased problem of finding good walnut for riflestocks then and worried about future supplies. Synthetics answered some of the supply matters and the gun rags promoted the advantages of synthetic over wood to ease the acceptance of a non traditional material. Different hardwoods have been introduced on a wider basis, too.

Synthetics can vary vastly. Injectional molded stocks are the cheapest to produce and are seen on many low end rifles. They work well. OTOH, hand layed fibers can often be as costly as premium wood and allow the useage of imbedded blocks for stablization and accuracy. Synthetics can be lighter as well when compared to dense walnut and concurrent with the fad toward ultra light rifles, they offer weight advantages. Those synthetic stocks offer improved strength as well.

Wood stocked rifles have been used and are being used in the worse of weather conditions. Today's chemistry has given us methods of sealing and protecting wood that weren't widely available until recently. Many use a combination of linseed oil and polymers to provide the rich luster and depth of grain many value in prized firearms.

As a generalization, we spend much more time looking at our firearms than actually using them. We take them out of the safe at home and oil them, wipe them down caringly and put them back. We look at the rifle when we stop and rest on a long uphill hunt. For some, rifles transcend being mere tools for taking game or recreational and competitive shooting and become statements of craftsmanship and aesthetic expressions. Statements about self. In that latter catagory, seldom would one find a synthetic stock.

Wood has a natural beauty and a warmth absent in the artificial stocks. Wood shows a caring of manufacture, some superb, some mediocre, you pick. Wood is at home in the desert, the mountains, the plains.

Its not just a tool, its a rifle and it has a wood stock.

Wood is my preference. I have one or two laminated stocks. Most of the synthetic stocks hold no appeal for me. All the best...
Gil

Vince....I don't want to get off topic.........<grins> with talkin' about my "work". Sometimes I get carried away with pics......

No, I've not given thought to doing any engraving...I work metal for a living...on the heavy side of it and pretty much dislike messin' with it for fun...sometimes I make a hunting knife though or a throwin' hawk...that's fun


Wood work sooths the soul for me and I occasionally take it out on an innocent rifle once in a while......sometimes I take it out on stuff like rocking chairs.......

I did polish up the metal on that 77/50 and sent it off to my smithy guy...got it back today infact and it looks real nice...guess I polished it up good as he did nothing with it 'cept dip it...Even the slotted screws I made outta hard bolts came out deep and blue....everything is almost pure black in color......

Thanks for the nice comments though...and I WILL post pics when it is done...might be askin' ya'll here what checkering pattern would look good on it...

It sounds like I am in the minority here with most of my guns being synthetics with matte finished metal. I love the look and feel of the wood but when crawling around the brush or in mud up to my A$$ waterfowling, I'll take my synthetics for ease of clean up and "don't care if i scratch it" ability.

I was in a goose pit a few years ago with a hunter who had a beautiful high grade Benneli. As the sleet and snow and mud inside tha pit acumulated through the morning he fussed over the gun incessently. I grabbed my synthetic 870 and threw it in the mud, picked it up and shook it off and killed a goose that was working the hole. I did not say a word but I think he got the message I can appreciate a fine firearm but I put my money into utility.

my pistols are stainless with rubber grips too......