BLASER WOODEN STOCK CUSTOMERIZATION
Something a little different.
How we did it.
At R.J Blackwall’s we are often asked to do small custom jobs on shotgun stocks and forends such as reshaping the pistol grip, forend and comb shape. After completing the wood reshaping we then follow up with a Best London Finish.
Whilst standing on a peg waiting for some action during a pig drive in Hungary with my Blaser R93 Black I suddenly found myself looking at the stock shape and finish on my own rifle and started to think what how I could improve it. Firstly the Bavarian cheek piece had to go then the Schnabel on the forend. Also like a pretty girl in a sack, I knew the wood under the factory finish was wanting to show its figure off a little more.
Step 1
So firstly I started with the Bavarian style cheek piece. Now there is a reasonable amount of wood to play with here so after making several detailed measurements I started filing up the cheek piece. I wanted a more classical English Holland & Holland style shape, with a swept beaded edge.
This was easier said than done, due hogs back style stock. As I am using a scope and not open sights I did not want to reduce the comb height, otherwise I would not be able to mount the rifle consistently.
Once I was satisfied with the stock and cheek piece shape I turned my attention to the forend. I started by reducing the overall length of the forend by 1 ½ inches, this also luckily removed the Schnabel on the end. I then proceeded to reshape and profile the top edge of the forend making sure it followed the contour of the barrel.
Next I milled out and rounded of a new ebony forend tip. Lastly and most importantly I made sure the barrel was floating which unfortunately it was not before I started this process.
To finish the stock (Best London Finish) I papered back the whole stock with 240 grade paper, then dropping to a finer 1200 grade paper. The idea is to raise the grain each time using various degrees of paper grades.
To get the finish I applied a little red oil to bring out the colour. Following the red oil I used a linseed-based mixture, with a hardening component added to it.
Lastly using our own special/secret formula we build up the coats, we apply up to and over 60 coats of secret formula. This brings up the final colour and brings out the best finish.