A before image:
As I began digging into the rifle deeper and discovering it's unfinished chamber, and need for stocks, I decided an original Rolling Block Sporting Rifle pistol grip lower tang should replace the military lower tang. So I fitted the pistol grip tang, and made a new mainspring to accomodate the new lower tang shape.
I ordered a stock from CPA, and after digging through my stock spares I discovered an original Sporting forearm for the same heavy #5 octagon barrel, and mounted it on the barrel also. Once the stock arrived from CPA I found it was poorly inletted with the top tang being way too shallow, and bottom tang being twice as deep as the tang was thick! So I removed wood inside the top tang area, and cut shims and glued them into the lower tang area to shift everything downward. Then fitted the action to the stock. After fitting the action it also revealed the whole stock was 3/16"-1/4" oversized in every direction possible! A test fit of a Creedmor sized buttplate showed it was the same around that buttplate, so I began downsizing the stock using my spoke shave, rasps, files, and finally sandpaper in various grits.
After getting the stocks roughed in, and final shaped, I began applying finish. The first 8-9 coats soaked in so fast I could recoat in just minutes! The walnut seemed to be porous, and soaked up finish like a sponge! It eventually got enough finish soaked in where it slowed to twice a day, and the last couple coats took a couple days each to dry, and began to show sheen finally after about 14-16 coats were built up and wet sanded.
The forearm was chemically stripped, and being an original it only took a few coats of finish to match it to the buttstock's sheen. Luckily a little testing of various stains on the buttstock prior to finish resulted in a decent color match between the old forearm, and the new stock wood. So got lucky there.
I finished the stock enough to assemble the gun yesterday. But had to finish ream the .35-40 Maynard chamber, and polish out the new lower tang, and blue it first. Got it all together, but after it's got a week or two of cure time I'll pull the wood again, and rub it out using rottenstone powder, and then wax and buff it before reinstalling it again.
I added a stud to the barrel for a breech seating tool, and once I build the tool I'll be shooting it as a breech seater using the bullets cast from the 190 gr. Darr mold that came with it. I also cut a front sight dovetail, and D&T holes for a Soule long range tang sight, so it can be shot using iron sights, or the scope bases it came with.
