doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com New Sterlingworth Stock Help

I bought a 12-ga. Sterlingworth that I would like to get a new stock for. The stock that is on the gun is not original and was not done very well. If I get a stock that is semi finished who do you suggest I use for this? I would like to try and do the final sanding finishing and checkering myself. Can I get custom dimensions for cast and drop and LOP? Do they need the existing stock to copy from and how well does this work since it is a poor fit to start? Any help and advice will be appreciated.

Bill G.

Wenig will give you a stock that they leave extra high and fat to let you work down for drop and cast. You would establish your own length of pull and pitch. Give them a call and discuss it with them.
bill

Bill,
You being a handy guy, I'd suggest that you first put mold release on all the metal (I use an aerosol because it's easy and applies evenly), then mold the existing stock to the metal using Devcon Aluminum or Steel epoxy or the Brownells equivalent. You might have to route out some wood in the inlet area to insure the bedding material has some area to get into.

Once this is done, I glue on blocks of wood (often pine or whatever's laying around) to build up LOP or comb dimensions. On the larger areas like the comb, I use Bondo to fair and contour it. I've used Bondo to mold to the barrels to form the barrel channels in a forend pattern also.

I think you're getting the picture on this. Once you're happy with the pattern, the stock machiner or stock maker will have a target to shoot to and no excuses on dimensions. Even Wenig should be happy with this type of pattern.

For someone to machine the wood, I've used several duplicating craftsmen, but could not recommend any of them.

Donnie Gemes at Show Me Gunstocks has a wonderful Fox stock pattern.They can fit stock also . Bobby

Bobby,
How's their prices? More importantly, how's there on-time delivery?

Bill G: I had a very good experience with Wenig. My original NID stock was way to short and low and I lengthened it with a piece of pine and added bondo to the comb to bring it up, contoured the whole thing so it was the shape I wanted and fit me like a glove (checked it on the patterning board and sanded/shaped accordingly until it was throwing the pattern exactly where I wanted it from a low gun position) then sent it to Wenig with instructions to duplicate the stock plus 3/32" on all external dimensions. Got it back, sanded to "fine tune" (again based on tests at the patterning board, i.e. take a little off here, leave a little there) and it came out great. When I shoot this gun I don't even have to think about where the barrels are in relation to the target, the gun is an extension of me! I highly recommend Wenig, they did a great job quickly for a fair price, and gave me a grade of wood better than I ordered. Great outfit.

Chuck, thanks for the vote of confidence that I am so handy but I am more like you and much more at home in the metal department. Here is another wrench I'll throw in. What do I do if I want the new stock to be a Straight Grip and the stock is now a pistol grip. Do I have to shape the pistol grip for them to copy the stock.

Bill G.

Post deleted by Bill G.

Well if you like metal work, the change from pistol to straight grip should be fairly simple for you. You need to extend the trigger guard, bend the top and bottom tang up and re-drill and re-tap the rear pin. Why so many changes? Well, short trigger guards look poor on a long straight grip. The angle of the tang needs to be higher so the comb does not look three inches high and like a bird's beak when you raise the comb. Change the tangs and the threads will not work on the rear screw/pin.

Now I know that you can skip all the above steps but if you can handle the metal work easily your final product will be much nicer if you do make the changes. The above steps are well coverd in Steven Hughes' book on fine doubles and custom stocking them. Easy find on E-bay for just a few dollars and worth the read.

Have had 2 encounters with Wenig's, both good. They will accomodate you to any stage of the process, your wood or theirs. Send your stuff to Marsha and she'll tell you how much and approximately when. They call and email when you stock is ready to be shipped. I was very pleased with both turn/rough inlet jobs they did for me and I felt their approximation of time was accurate enough.