Norma Jean is ready for Primetime/Re-finishing stock

[Desert Fox]

Per dubyam request:

Applying finish on a rifle stock is the easiest part. The inletting, fitting, profiling and bedding are the most difficult part. Remember the stock comes semi-inletted. You have to open the barrel channel to match the contour of your rifle barrel. You need tools for this. I use Gunline Bedding tools to open the barrel channel. You can get it from Brownells. I use wood file to shape the stock. For sanding, I start with 150 grit sand paper and finished it with 400. Used sanding block when sanding. Now, before applying the finish, you have to decide whether to pillar bed or just epoxy bed the action to the stock. When all of these are done, you can then apply the finish. I use Minwax Helmsman Spar Polyurethane in spray can. You can get this at any Home Depot, Lowes or even Walmart.

Applying the finish:

If you own an air compressor, give the stock a blast of high pressure air to get rid of dust particles. Then wipe the stock thoroughly with rags soaked with either turpentine or acetone. Hang the stock at shoulder height using wire hook made from wire hanger. Shake spray can thoroughly and position the nozzle 8 to 10 inches away and spray the stock in slightly overlapping stroke. Apply thin coat. Do not overspray to avoid runs and sags. Wait about about 2 to 3 hours (depending on the ambient temperature) after every coat. Sand lightly, using 400 grit sandpaper or #000 steel wool for every coat. Apply a minimum of 8 to 12 coats to have a durable finish and voila!!! you're done.

 

[jmad_81]

WOW :shock: ! That is one of the most beautiful rifles I think I have ever seen! That is some damn fine work!

 

[cloverleaf]

Wow! That is just impressive on so many levels. Looks to me like you can pillar bed rifles in the side for extra ammo money. Very nice! CL

 

[Elkman]

DF

Beautiful work great job !!!!!!

 

[6mm Remington]

Way to cool! I bet you are like a kid in a candy store just waiting to get it out to shoot! Very nice job you did on it by the way. :grin:

 

[6mm Remington]

DF- Did you happen to see that over 1100 folks have looked at your posting just hoping to see some gun porn, and brother you sure didn't let anyone down! :mrgreen: :shock:

What stock is that? Was it from Boyds?

 

[C.Smith]

That is a very nice looking rifle for sure. Great job on the finish.

Corey

 

[buckfever]

WOW, WOW, and WOW damn thats nice. I would be afraid to scratch it.

 

[Desert Fox]

Thanks Gentlemen.

What stock is that? Was it from Boyds?

The Stock is Richards Microfit Dual Grip design.

The last picture was taken by my friend Frank, right after the rifle claimed it's first victim during our hunt in Texas last December. The small whitetail buck was taken at a distance of 603 yards with a single shot. The 140 grain Berger Hunting VLD obliterated the deer's internal organ.

The details of the shot was posted here.


Desert Fox
Post subject: Re: Long Range Shooting / "Hunting"Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 10:53 pm

Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:03 pm
Posts: 1010
Maybe my last posting of a 603 yards kill must have spawn some raw emotion here regarding this very touchy subject. Sorry about that . Let me begin by saying that before you pass your judgement on some of us who practice the craft, why not have an open mind. I can't consider myself a long range hunter yet by any means. I am however is a practitioner of the craft. I had only 3 - 600 + yards kill in my belt. All three were one shot one kill. I missed a total of two... all clean missed. One a 645 yards and another a 700 + yards. As you can see there's only a few animals I've killed at long range. That's because, I don't do these often. The condition have to be close to perfect before I pull a trigger on an animal a long ways away. I spent quite a fair amount of money and time honing my skill. I owe it to the animal I hunted... and that includes vermin.

Here's how I pulled that 603 yards shot just to give you an insight as to how's it's done.

The ballistic data of the 140 grain Berger Hunting VLD I used on this hunt, was already pre-loaded in my Dell Axim Pocket PC loaded with Exbal Ballistic Program, when I left California. This was the result of months and months of extensive load development and testing and fine tuning. I'd practice shooting often with my rifle to a maximum distance of 600 yards, about the limit of our club shooting range, and I had complete confidence that the rifle and bullet were up to task.

It was late in the afternoon, the sun was just above the horizon and the temperature was dropping like a rock. I kept checking and crosschecking the data coming out of my Kestrel so that I can update the data on the Dell. For 30 minutes, I was watching the doe grazing at the edge of a food plot 300 yards away. I have 3 doe tag. Twice, I talked myself out in shooting the doe. Something inside me kept saying, just wait a few more minutes. Then out of nowhere, the small buck appeared. I grabbed my Swaro Laser range finder and ranged the distance. Three quick reading confirmed that the buck was 308 yards away. Only one problem however,,, there's a group of cows directly behind the buck. So I waited. In the meantime, I took one more reading with my Kestrel and it showed that the temperature had dropped a few more degrees, down from 55 to 44 degrees, the barometric pressure dropped a notch also, from 29.15 to 28.05 inches. The humidity remains constant however at 27%. I hurried up and updated all the numbers on the Dell and ranged the buck again since it started to moved towards the middle of the field, following the doe. The swaro reads 580 yards now and the buck was not stopping. Finally at about 600 yards, both the doe and the buck stop for a bite. It's now or never! I made three quick successive readings with the Swaro and the average distance I was getting was 603 yards. I grabbed my Dell, punched in the number and push re-calculate. The result was instantaneous. The elevation calls for a 10.75 MOA correction from my 110 yards zero, Wind was coming from northeasterly direction at a steady 3 mph from 4 oclock. This was about 3/4 MOA of correction according to Exbal which is about 5" at that distance. I know just from my observation during some of my shooting practice that the 140 Berger will have a spin drift of about 4.5" at 600 yards, which will almost canceled out the wind of the moment. I spun the Vortex turret counter clockwise and stopped right at 11 MOA mark. I clicked back once and hold the crosshair steady at the center of the deer's body, just slightly behind the shoulder and applied a steady rearward pressure on the trigger. I was oblivious of the of the rifle going off. All I saw was the deer flipping on it's side. It was probably dead before it hit the ground.

_________________
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth"

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

[JD338]

D F

Beautiful rifle!

JD338

 

[SJB358]

That is one awesome rifle DF! Scotty