Making a rifle stock

T

trg42wraglefragle

New member
Hi there.
Im wanting to make a new rifle stock for my tikka t3.
Im going to carve the shape of the stock out of insulating foam and then fiberglass over the top.

But im not sure how im going to bed the action.
Id like to make an aluminum bedding block for it and then glass skim bed over the top.
Does anyone have any close up pictures of aluminum beddingout of an HS precision stock or something similar?
Or any advice on how to go about it would be very helpful.

Sam
 
I wish you luck on your project. The recoil lug on the T3 is in the stock, not on the barreled action. Besides the concern about bedding the action, installing the recoil lug will be extremely important.
 
First,I have never made a composite stock.So,what do I know?
The ones you buy have a composite inner structure,then a mold is gelcoated,fabric stuck to the gel,then the foam is injected.A challenge will be:
Laying up fabric over foam and wetting out on a non-mold surface,you will have cosmetic issues.If I had to do it with my lack of skill,by the time I was done fairing and filling,I might have a stock that weighed more than I hoped.
If I was going to do it anyway,I'd look at an Aircraft Spruce catalogue,and a Systems West Epoxy catalogue,and learn about carbon fiber tape and kevlar and all the stuff available and how it works.I might also look at something like devcon titanium putty.I might look hard at model airplane balsa,too.
Then I might put resease agent all over my barreled action and just start building structure a zone at a time,thinking recoil lug area,triangles,gussets,bulkheads,etc,using balsa,circuit board material that is epoxy based,or whatever to spread load.Build structure from the steel out
Then shape and fair what you have.Around your bulkheads and such,you may tak an exacto knife and trim a chamfer so when you skin it,it will make a filet.

Place re-enforcement for swivels,etc.Vacuum bag it when you skin it.

If it does not work out,at least you put release agent on,you did,didn't you?
good luck.
 
might want to try the fiberglass on a piece of foam before you go to the trouble. The fiberglass might melt the foam.
 
I guess I am ignorant of modern materials, but I wouldn't think insulating foam would have enough strength to resist even moderate recoil. I'd give it two shots before it came apart, one if it is in .338 Win Mag.

Jim
 
My .375 Taylor and my 30-338 are in foam core glass-kevlar stocks.It is not as simple as putting a layer of cloth over foam.The foam simply supports the shape.It is akin to the old aluminum skin over balsa or honeycomb composite structure.
I have thought about it,and I can get a real nice stock for the actions I use from HiTec Specialties.20 oz,.You might check with McMillan,they may be able to make a Tikka work in one of their stocks if they bed it.
For myself,that is how I prefer to go.
However,respecting the OP's vision,it can be done.He may get what he wants.Or he may learn a great deal.The education of the project is worth something.Try.See what you get.
 
Folks in the RC aircraft and target shooters have been doing this for years. The data is out there.

It is easy to make something heavy, it takes good engineering to make it light and strong enough.

By all mean the OP should build his stock. Heck you never know in 5 years we may all be wanting to replace our out dated HS stocks with one of his new stocks!
 
The insulating foam I have seen is nothing but styrofoam; I don't see a styrofoam stock, even wrapped in plexiglas, standing up to much recoil.

Jim
 
i would just buy one but ive got a lot of spare time and not so much money, so im gona give it a go.
I know its been done before, a mate of mines uncle has done the same thing for his 7mm08.
Im only doing it for a 223 so it should be fine.
the only trouble im going to have is making a bedding block fit the action right and then attaching it into the stock.

Ill give it a go some time soon and let everyone know how it goes
 
For people who really know about strong, cosmetically pleasing glass work, visit Classicmako.com. Yes it's a boat site, but beleive me you will learn tons about fiberglass materials and tecniques there. Boat guys tend to like guns too. Good luck and take pictures.
 
There is a product called Renboard that is almost lioke a board made of body putty.Some folks use it when testing CNC programs.Whether it is Renboard or body putty,I have seen a pink,dense material in the action area of quality composite stocks.
Do not attempt to mix polyester and epoxy resins .Uncured,you may get a violent reaction,but polyester does not even stick well to cured polyester.Use epoxy
To the end grain,balsa has good compressive strength
There used to be a canoe company,I think it was Geodisic Aerolite,that made a geodisic structure with kevlar yarn wet out with epoxy,and skinned it with some fabric and maybe aircraft dope,these were approx 12 lb solo canoes.
I guess I would start by creating a recoil lug bulkhead or structure,maybe kevlarfelt or glass mat?Then I might make a seies of forend cross section stations of balsa or epoxy glass shim and heck hotmelt glue them to the barrel
Over these,then,maybe I would lay out a pattern of carbon fiber tape,triangulated and cross braced
Maybe wet out with an air brush.I am just making up BS here,I have not done this.I am just suggesting it can be built like an airplane or a boat.
Bulkheads,stations,triangles,strong,stiff low stretch materials,A high tensile skin,Then the spray in expanding insulation/floatation urethane foam gives backing to the skin.
if I was going to build one,that would be my approach..
You might look at Lone Wolf stocks,too,for ideas
Laminating balsa,fabric,and resin might give a light,strong stock.You could create fiberglass I beams and H beams,within the balsa
 
generally speaking epoxy resin is easy to work with as far as repeated coats. unfortunately it has a quick setting time (about half an hour!). coats can be re-applied without surface prep. end results are a much stronger product. polyester resin takes longer to set but requires cleaning between coats. polyester resin has wax in it which needs to be removed before subsequent coats. the wax protects the resin from oxygen in order to harden properly. the polyester resin can be used with polystyrene foam or polyester fabric to create some extrodinary shapes. i would suggest reading up on fiberglassing techniques to better understand what you may be getting yourself into. i'm just hitting the tip of the iceberg with my comments. i've built two woodstrip sea kayaks and researched fiberglassing for nearly two months before trying! i would check out West Systems epoxy and fiberglass products for more info.
 
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