Colorado Redneck
New member
Going to start by admitting that my wood working and gun smithing skills are way down on the low end of capable. A couple years back I bought a new Ruger Hawkeye Predator that had beautiful laminate stock. It only had one draw back---no thumbhole. So last fall Richards shipped a "straightline thumbhole" cut out of Claro Walnut to me. To say the least, it was rough. Having done a couple of other Richards Stocks in laminate, it was surprising how rough this was, but being retired, it looked doable. Not going to make this a long story, but here is a before and after picture. It is going on its first prairie dog shoot tomorrow.
As an aside, the gun has been very good as a shooter. It has a couple thousand rounds down the tube, and will still shoot a 5/8" group of 5. When finished inletting, I took it to the range, and it needed some more work. The barrel channel is now opened up and then I did a bubba job of bedding. It shot a 7/8" group of ten rounds, which is acceptable. If it turns out that it needs glass bedding that will be the next facet.
As an aside, the gun has been very good as a shooter. It has a couple thousand rounds down the tube, and will still shoot a 5/8" group of 5. When finished inletting, I took it to the range, and it needed some more work. The barrel channel is now opened up and then I did a bubba job of bedding. It shot a 7/8" group of ten rounds, which is acceptable. If it turns out that it needs glass bedding that will be the next facet.