Can anyone custom inlet a stock?

[bowhunthard88]

I have a HEAVY barreled 6mm International on an old Shilen action (3 action screws), and was wondering if someone has the capabilities to make a stock that will fit the rifle and pillar and skim bed it.

And also what stocks are available as blanks?

It has an old school wood laminate benchrest stock and I would like to use it for coyotes.

 

[Kevin Cram]

Check with Joel Russo. He makes some great laminate stocks. He may be able make you something that will work.

 

[shortgrass]

Please clarify a bit. Are you looking to go with a laminate, wood , or synthetic? Are you calling a pre-shaped piece a 'blank'? Are you looking for 'machine' inletting or by hand? I am a "stock maker" and have made 9 by hand from a blank (a chunk of wood not pre-shaped or inletted by machine) and countless pre-inlets (those machined for shape & inlet on a 'stock duplicator').lightbulb

 

[bowhunthard88]

To be honest, I ultimately would be looking for a synthetic stock. I'm looking for something durable, weather-proof, etc. Machine or hand would be fine as long as it was done "right".

 

[shortgrass]

For a synthetic, MPI of McMillian may be able to help you.

 

[blacktails]

Contact Chad Dixon at LongRifles, Inc, who posts here as NesikaChad. Pretty sure that for his gun builds, he does all of the inletting work himself.

Here is what is said on his site: "The use of unpainted, unfinished, and uninletted stock blanks is a vital component of this process and is why LongRifles Inc. will only build rifles on stocks that are free of any/all finish and inletting work".

Pictures of his work look very good.

 

[NesikaChad]

Blacktails is correct.

All of my stockwork begins with an uninletted blank from any quality stock manufacturer.

This is a cardinal rule of my shop.

I generate all of my inlets as a 3 dimensional CAD surface model of the particular action I am working with. It's then increased in size by .05" in every direction. All epoxies shrink. The better ones keep it down to around 1-2 percent. My bedding process ensures that the action has a uniform film of resin at every contact point. This way at least the amount of shinkage is uniform at all points.

From there the inlet of the stock is performed using a 4 axis CNC vertical milling center. I machine the inlet using specialized tooling that I either buy off the shelf/and or make or have made. (it's a significant investment) Tool paths are generated in such a way that the stock retains crisp edges at the show line (the days of wood exploding/shredding/ripping from the edges are gone for me)

I also measure each barrel individually and generate a surface model of it as well. It's cut at the same time as the action inlet. I do this a bit differently though. +.030" on the sides and +.060" on the bottom at the belly of the channel.

Here are some sample photos of recent and old (5+ years old gun in the last photo, picture was taken a week ago):

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

If you'd like to know more, just shoot me an email or PM.

Chad

 

[bowhunthard88]

Blacktails is correct.

All of my stockwork begins with an uninletted blank from any quality stock manufacturer.

This is a cardinal rule of my shop.

I generate all of my inlets as a 3 dimensional CAD surface model of the particular action I am working with. It's then increased in size by .05" in every direction. All epoxies shrink. The better ones keep it down to around 1-2 percent. My bedding process ensures that the action has a uniform film of resin at every contact point. This way at least the amount of shinkage is uniform at all points.

From there the inlet of the stock is performed using a 4 axis CNC vertical milling center. I machine the inlet using specialized tooling that I either buy off the shelf/and or make or have made. (it's a significant investment) Tool paths are generated in such a way that the stock retains crisp edges at the show line (the days of wood exploding/shredding/ripping from the edges are gone for me)

I also measure each barrel individually and generate a surface model of it as well. It's cut at the same time as the action inlet. I do this a bit differently though. +.030" on the sides and +.060" on the bottom at the belly of the channel.

Here are some sample photos of recent and old (5+ years old gun in the last photo, picture was taken a week ago):

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

If you'd like to know more, just shoot me an email or PM.

Chad

PM sent.