Several comments and/or questions about the bending process shown:
It appears that the bending jig shown in photo 1 does not have any side to side clamping on the action or the head of the stock. It also appears that the heat is applied near the trigger plate, rather than farther back down the wrist. So it appears the intent was to bend the stock beginning in the trigger plate area, rather than farther back down the wrist of the stock. Using this specific technique, have you had any problems with the cheeks of the stock pull away from the tangs or the action? It sure appears in the last picture that the stock bent right in the trigger plate area - without any issues.
It appears that this system has been succesfull using temps only up to about 190 degrees, which is lower than I have seen others use. I was instructed by an experienced stock bender to get the wood temp up to the 250-260 degree range before bending. I have bent several stocks using that target temp and the stocks did not seem very "pliable" until the wood temp got up in that range.
I have been involved in softwood lumber manufacturing for years and the industry developed "high temperature" drying back in the '90's, in part based on the theory that the wood had to get above 220 degrees to be above the "plastic limit" of the wood. The high temp dried lumber came out of the kiln straighter, but slightly (5 - 10% loss of bending strength) weaker than lumber dried using conventional temps of about 180 degrees. I am a little surprised that 190 degrees has proven adequate to bend stocks.
