Gunsmithing Updated 2/20/24 Wood upgrade for Lever guns?

[HSNARC]

I ordered a Rossi m92 20” in .44 mag, it’ll be at my FFL in a week. $632.78 after tax didn’t seems like a bad deal.

The reviews online seem pretty decent, fit and finish seem to be decent for most.

I will defiantly be adding some sort of apature or ghost ring sight in the rear.

I realize .44 mag in a 6lb gun shouldn’t be much of a recoil issue but I just really hate metal crescent style buttplates. I’d really like to upgrade to a “shotgun” style stock with a rubber pad and more of a pistol grip (336/1886) style.

I’d really like to upgrade to a “fancy” wood something with a lot of color and grain black, French, English walnut.

I can do the shaping and finish myself, but I’m not precise to cut the inlet. Is there anyone out there that sells a 90-95% inlet unfinished stock for the not-exact 1892 copies?

I found a guy called Treebone and his stuff is cool but his site says the non Winchester guns are all different dimensionally.

I have several pieces of very figured black walnut that have been air drying in my garage for several years. I cut the trees and hacked out some very cool crotch pieces. It would be rad if someone could rough out the shape and a correct inlet for my gun.

Any ideas?

 

[KYAggie]

I’m not sure who could do the inletting on your wood, but Boyd’s does make stocks for that gun. I put one on my carbine last year. I highly recommend getting it unfinished no matter what wood grade you buy, if you buy a Boyd’s stock.

I have a Winchester/Miroku 1886 I would love to restock as the finish on the factory stock looks like plastic and the shade is chocolate milk. The wood underneath looks promising, but I’m still trying to decide if I should strip it and refinish or find some new wood.

Gunsmithing - Rossi 92 and Boyd’s wood

I thought we had a lever gun section, but I can’t find it so I’m posting here. I have a Rossi 92 carbine in 44 mag. I hate the curved butt plate so I bought a Boyd’s stock set for it. They say that it will need minor fitting. Yeah. A little more than minor. I had to sand quite a bit to get...

www.snipershide.com

 

[HSNARC]

I’m not sure who could do the inletting on your wood, but Boyd’s does make stocks for that gun. I put one on my carbine last year. I highly recommend getting it unfinished no matter what wood grade you buy, if you buy a Boyd’s stock.

I have a Winchester/Miroku 1886 I would love to restock as the finish on the factory stock looks like plastic and the shade is chocolate milk. The wood underneath looks promising, but I’m still trying to decide if I should strip it and refinish or find some new wood.

Gunsmithing - Rossi 92 and Boyd’s wood

I thought we had a lever gun section, but I can’t find it so I’m posting here. I have a Rossi 92 carbine in 44 mag. I hate the curved butt plate so I bought a Boyd’s stock set for it. They say that it will need minor fitting. Yeah. A little more than minor. I had to sand quite a bit to get...

www.snipershide.com

What grade was the one in your thread? Looks great.

 

[KYAggie]

Thanks. It was standard grade. I’ve read in forums that you pretty much have to go to the top grade to get any better looking wood. The middle grades are hit or miss apparently.

I want more red in my Winchester stock, so I’m considering finishing it with Herters French Red stock filler with Minwax Antique Finish on top. We shall see.

How to Use French Red Stock Filler - Gunsmithing Journal

French Red Stock Filler great tool to help finish your gunstock. This is an great alternative to wet sanding your stock trying to fill the grain.

kurtthegunsmith.com

 

[K80/6.5]

Wenig Gunstock can make you a stock as fancy as you want.

Wenig Custom Gunstocks

wenig.com

I have a custom made stock for my K-80 from wenig and I love it. The specialize in shotgun stocks but also make rifle stocks.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Why put upgraded wood on a shitty Rossi? At that point you could have bought a Winchester and had a better rifle and nice wood.

People make no fucking sense.

 

[KYAggie]

Why put upgraded wood on a shitty Rossi? At that point you could have bought a Winchester and had a better rifle and nice wood.

People make no fucking sense.

Depends. Do the Japchester Miroku 1892’s have the same safety a Miroku 1886 has? I think they do, but I’m not certain. If they do, that’s reason enough to get a Rossi. As far as upgrading the wood goes, the Boyd’s standard stocks are not that expensive. I bought my Rossi 44 carbine for $400. I’m still well under the price of a Winchester/Miroku even with a new stock. I do have a Winchester Miroku 1886 and while the wood is likely decent, the finish is not.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Rossi’s are trash, they’re basically the Taurus of lever guns... ohh wait, they make shitty revolvers too. You’ll spend as much money putting nice wood on one as a Winchester costs.

You can buy winchesters from various dealers and see pictures of the actual gun you’re getting and pick what you want. You can do the same on gunbroker. If you don’t like the finish add more oil, you should do that to a wood stock anyway.

Buying a bargain bin lever gun and then blowing money on upgrading the wood is fucking retarded. Period. It’s like buying a 2wd truck and then lifting it and putting mud tires on it.

 

[KYAggie]

Buying a bargain bin lever gun and then blowing money on upgrading the wood is fucking retarded.

Thanks for adding exactly no useful information to the topic. Also, I want to thank the designers of this forum for giving us an “ignore” feature so we can ignore people who have no useful information to add to a thread other than insults.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I gave useful information… don’t buy junk.

 

[Changed]

I wish I could find a synthetic stock and forearm for my marlin 336. Any ideas.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Buying a bargain bin lever gun and then blowing money on upgrading the wood is fucking retarded. Period. It’s like buying a 2wd truck and then lifting it and putting mud tires on it.

Coming home on the crosstown on Wednesday I saw a silver club cab dodge 2wd lifted with mud tires.

The license plate read 2wd girl.

That told me all I needed to know.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Wth that ^^^^ said, us poors still like pretty rifles. A nice stock on a rossi ain't hurting anyone.

How many Remington 700s were done at the custom shop? In the end its still a 700, but it looks better.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Coming home on the crosstown on Wednesday I saw a silver club cab dodge 2wd lifted with mud tires.

The license plate read 2wd girl.

That told me all I needed to know.

It’s really a thing down here and I don’t get it. They’ll spend 8-10K on a lift, KFC bucket wheels, and mud tires for a 2WD truck for the look of an off-road vehicle when they could have just bought the 4WD with off-road package for 4K more and had an actually capable off road vehicle and not tell the world they’re autistic.

Wth that ^^^^ said, us poors still like pretty rifles. A nice stock on a rossi ain't hurting anyone.

How many Remington 700s were done at the custom shop? In the end its still a 700, but it looks better.

The point is that for the same money one could have just bought the better rifle from the get go and had a quality firearm and nice wood.

 

[roostercogburn98]

It’s really a thing down here and I don’t get it. They’ll spend 8-10K on a lift, KFC bucket wheels, and mud tires for a 2WD truck for the look of an off-road vehicle when they could have just bought the 4WD with off-road package for 4K more and had an actually capable off road vehicle and not tell the world they’re autistic.

At least they isn’t squatted like the dumb shits do round hur

 

[FredHammer]

I gave useful information… don’t buy junk.

Unless you are going to help the dude with wood suggestions for the gun he already bought, your present input on his choice of firearm is worthless. You beating him up on the choice of firearm is absolutely retarded.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Unless you are going to help the dude with wood suggestions for the gun he already bought, your present input on his choice of firearm is worthless. You beating him up on the choice of firearm is absolutely retarded.

Well genius, if he hasn’t transferred it yet he can likely still return it and all he’ll be out is shipping costs. That’s a lot smarter than polishing a turd.

 

[FredHammer]

Well genius, if he hasn’t transferred it yet he can likely still return it and all he’ll be out is shipping costs. That’s a lot smarter than polishing a turd.

Choice of firearm wasn't the point/crux/purpose/reason for his post. Like I said, you offer nothing but shit posting.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Choice of firearm wasn't the point/crux/purpose/reason for his post. Like I said, you offer nothing but shit posting.

What exactly have you brought to this discussion?

 

[Bigfatcock]

If you’re looking for a lot of marble then I’d choose English or French walnut.

 

[FredHammer]

What exactly have you brought to this discussion?

The audacity of the guy shit posting, contributing nothing relevant to the thread, asking me about my contribution....Well, not shit posting like you that is for certain. I don't have to bring anything to the discussion because I don't have the answer the OP is looking for. So, I watch the thread for education on where one would get items requested. I know that must just blow your mind. Unlike you, I'm not going to interject "I like pickles more than tomatoes". Because that is about as constructive as you are.

 

[FredHammer]

I ordered a Rossi m92 20” in .44 mag, it’ll be at my FFL in a week. $632.78 after tax didn’t seems like a bad deal.

The reviews online seem pretty decent, fit and finish seem to be decent for most.

I will defiantly be adding some sort of apature or ghost ring sight in the rear.

I realize .44 mag in a 6lb gun shouldn’t be much of a recoil issue but I just really hate metal crescent style buttplates. I’d really like to upgrade to a “shotgun” style stock with a rubber pad and more of a pistol grip (336/1886) style.

I’d really like to upgrade to a “fancy” wood something with a lot of color and grain black, French, English walnut.

I can do the shaping and finish myself, but I’m not precise to cut the inlet. Is there anyone out there that sells a 90-95% inlet unfinished stock for the not-exact 1892 copies?

I found a guy called Treebone and his stuff is cool but his site says the non Winchester guns are all different dimensionally.

I have several pieces of very figured black walnut that have been air drying in my garage for several years. I cut the trees and hacked out some very cool crotch pieces. It would be rad if someone could rough out the shape and a correct inlet for my gun.

Any ideas?

If you want to shoot the gun before you figure out the fancy wood, you can get a slip on recoil pad that eliminates the sting of those crescent buttstocks. I have a couple crescent stocks I swap this pad between. You can insert whatever thickness foam you need. Etsy or Amazon I believe. Just Google the name:

 

[Modoc]

Not so much for the OP, since we just stripped the Rossi stocks and then used Watco Danish Oil Stain and Tru-oil (since moved on to other rifles).

I have a pair of Browning B-92s and a Winchester 1886 Extralight (Mirouku) that Zi hated the Plasticy finish on. After stripping the finish off using a cabinet scraper they were finish sanded and oiled up using Birchwood Casey’s Tru-Oil. One of the big advantages is that if I bump something I’m not getting big dings in that polymer finish.

I just remembered, @HSNARC you might look at VTI Gun Parts and see what they have for 90% inlet stocks for Navy Arms/EMF 1892’s

 

[HSNARC]

I sort of chose the Rossi because I knew I was going to mess around with different wood/stock shape and that seemed a little sacrilegious for a marlin or Winchester.

Also if I have 650 in the Rossi Id need to spend $500 on wood to get close to the bottom trim Winchester. Also sub $2k winchesters have boring run of the mill wood and crescent buttstocks too.

I don’t think recoil will be too much of an issue with .44 mag but I just really hate the look of the crescent.

 

[Modoc]

I don’t think recoil will be too much of an issue with .44 mag but I just really hate the look of the crescent.

Both of my Brownings in 357 and 44 Mag are carbines with the carbine pattern butt plate. Neither are “Bad” recoil wise with full house loads.

A crescent butt takes a different body position to shoot comfortably. You need to be standing more perpendicular to the target with the toe of the stock going into your arm pit and the heel riding up over the shoulder(ish). This is different from the butt being tucked into the pocket of the shoulder while standing more square with the target.

 

[KYAggie]

You need to be standing more perpendicular to the target with the toe of the stock going into your arm pit and the heel riding up over the shoulder(ish).

Exactly. I also find it helps to raise my right elbow instead of having it tucked in by my side.

I really have enjoyed working on my “trash” Rossi. I took it apart and worked the trigger and action over; it’s smoother than my EMF, Marlins, and oh my goodness, my Winchester. Because of what I learned working on the Rossi, I will be tackling my Japchester this winter. It’s a takedown, which makes it easier, but I’ll be throating it for 500 grain bullets, doing something to the god awful trigger, stripping the plastic finish off and staining it, and drill and tap it for a Providence Pattern 21 sight. I’ll post my progress.

 

[Mike Casselton]

It’s really a thing down here and I don’t get it. They’ll spend 8-10K on a lift, KFC bucket wheels, and mud tires for a 2WD truck for the look of an off-road vehicle when they could have just bought the 4WD with off-road package for 4K more and had an actually capable off road vehicle and not tell the world they’re autistic.



The point is that for the same money one could have just bought the better rifle from the get go and had a quality firearm and nice wood.

I get what you're saying. Lipstick on a pig.

 

[Mike Casselton]

At least they isn’t squatted like the dumb shits do round hur

Coming back from grocery shopping today there was a pair of Polk County lean, AKA the Carolina squat trucks at Beef O'Brady's.
All jacked the fuck up, chrome, powder coated track bars and axles. Wheel spacers and LEDs. God knows what else.

I call it tiny dick syndrome.

 

[Modoc]

I get what you're saying. Lipstick on a pig.

I see that here all the time, Shiny Mall Crawlers all over.

All 3 of our vehicles have rock dings, mud/dust, chaparral pin stripes, and weird stuff in the bed/cargo area (feed, tools, rigging, etc.).

Why have it, if you don’t use it?

 

[Modoc]

Coming back from grocery shopping today there was a pair of Polk County lean, AKA the Carolina squat trucks at Beef O'Brady's.
All jacked the fuck up, chrome, powder coated track bars and axles. Wheel spacers and LEDs. God knows what else.

I call it tiny dick syndrome.

And probably blasting FGL/pop country

I bet the bed will never smell/feel Fuel, feed, or sh*t

 

[Bigfatcock]

Coming back from grocery shopping today there was a pair of Polk County lean, AKA the Carolina squat trucks at Beef O'Brady's.
All jacked the fuck up, chrome, powder coated track bars and axles. Wheel spacers and LEDs. God knows what else.

I call it tiny dick syndrome.

Still not as gay as the Jeep Gladiator.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Still not as gay as the Jeep Gladiator.

We had one as a rental in MT earlier this month. I was actually surprised that I didn't hate it.

Could have just been distracted by the mountains though...

 

[roostercogburn98]

Still not as gay as the Jeep Gladiator.

They aren’t all bad. The diesel version is kinda fun

 

[Modoc]

They aren’t all bad. The diesel version is kinda funView attachment 8249519

I’d consider one if it could safely pull and STOP my 26’ TT (9k lbs). If the ‘93 Bronco dies it might be an option.

 

[lash]

Coming back from grocery shopping today there was a pair of Polk County lean, AKA the Carolina squat trucks at Beef O'Brady's.
All jacked the fuck up, chrome, powder coated track bars and axles. Wheel spacers and LEDs. God knows what else.

I call it tiny dick syndrome.

And probably blasting FGL/pop country

I bet the bed will never smell/feel Fuel, feed, or sh*t

Did you know that in SC it is actually illegal and ticket worthy to have more than 3” difference in height front to back because of those atrocities? They’re actually dangerous since seeing the road is an exercise in itself when the hood takes up half of your view and you can’t actually see the brake lights of cars in front of you.

 

[lariat]

To the OP @HSNARC: it’s America. Find the wood you want and make the rifle you want. If you want cocobolo, mahogany or balsa, you do you. The thing that has been brought up a couple of times is inletting. Fit is important. If you don’t know how, send it out. If you don’t don’t know how but want to diy, go for it.

Learning. That’s more than half the frustration and fun in this game. From shooting, working up loads to gunsmithing. Beats the TV hands down every time.

Somebody stated once on another forum many years ago on castbullets when we were all bitching about lead and antimony percentages: lead comes and lead goes, but time it just goes. These are wise words. Enjoy your project, spend YOUR time in YOUR life doing what makes you happy while you can. There will come a day soon enough that this situation won’t be the available to you. I had a mentor that drove that point home when he got brain cancer. I learned to reload from him, how to make self bows and lots about life as a young pup. When he got cancer I learned the lesson that time matters and experiencing life is important. So take that rifle and enjoy the process; every success and mistake is a learning experience. Maybe you’ll get the privilege of passing that knowledge on to someone else someday.

 

[Bigfatcock]

Honestly, inletting isn’t that difficult. It’s just removing wood in a certain shape until the item you want to put in it fits.

I mean, making a stock isn’t too difficult. A bit time consuming, but not too difficult.

 

[KYAggie]

Beats the TV hands down every time.

That's the absolute truth right there. I hate TV, there isn’t anything even remotely worth sitting and watching anymore. I would much rather be piddling in my gun room on some project.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Did you know that in SC it is actually illegal and ticket worthy to have more than 3” difference in height front to back because of those atrocities? They’re actually dangerous since seeing the road is an exercise in itself when the hood takes up half of your view and you can’t actually see the brake lights of cars in front of you.

I've said the same thing.
How the hell do some of those idiots see in front of them?



I think the next step in stupidity is to do the lean back on a jacked up 2wd. Install a set of tiny rims and tires. Space them way out and then do the stupid camber mod.

 

[roostercogburn98]

I've said the same thing.
How the hell do some of those idiots see in front of them?



I think the next step in stupidity is to do the lean back on a jacked up 2wd. Install a set of tiny rims and tires. Space them way out and then do the stupid camber mod.

They like replacing wheel bearings

 

[n2ishun]

I'd give these guys a ring for an inletted stick of nice wood.....

Richards Microfit Gunstocks

Dunno if they'll do a Rossi or not....but I'm sure a phone call isn't too tough on a big strapping lad like yourself.

If you want the *quality* stuff to finish out the wood (and yes they have things to change color tones as someone asked above).....

Finishing Supplies - StewMac

www.stewmac.com

You will not be able to find better, anywhere, for any price.
Envision the finish on a 1957 Les Paul worth an easy $50-60k or a 1934 Martin D-45 worth $100k+++ and you might see where this is going.

 

[Bigfatcock]

You’ll have better natural color in air dried walnut vs kiln dried.

There are many ways to skin the cat for color.

Alkanet will give a nice deep red.

If I wanted a warmer more natural walnut color then I’d start with a reddish orange alcohol based stain. Let dry and then use a darker walnut stain or glaze.

I like true oil. Never had a hard time getting a really good finish.

Timberluxe is my favorite, but buy the small bottles because it’ll gel in the bottle in about two weeks after opening.

 

[n2ishun]

You’ll have better natural color in air dried walnut vs kiln dried.

There are many ways to skin the cat for color.

Alkanet will give a nice deep red.

If I wanted a warmer more natural walnut color then I’d start with a reddish orange alcohol based stain. Let dry and then use a darker walnut stain or glaze.

I like true oil. Never had a hard time getting a really good finish.

Timberluxe is my favorite, but buy the small bottles because it’ll gel in the bottle in about two weeks after opening.

If you think you can get a good finish with true oil, you've never seen a good finish.

Here's a tip....
Purdey, Westley Richards, Holland & Holland (etc) all use Nitro Cellulose finishes.
If you want nice, don't go to Home Depot for the materials.

 

[Bigfatcock]

If you think you can get a good finish with true oil, you've never seen a good finish.

Here's a tip....
Purdey, Westley Richards, Holland & Holland (etc) all use Nitro Cellulose finishes.
If you want nice, don't go to Home Depot for the materials.

Cool story.

Stage 6: Proof and Finishing​

All Purdey guns are proofed at the London Proof house which has been located at its current home since 1675. All Purdey guns have been proofed at the London proof house since James Purdey started his company. During the finishing process, which can take up to eight weeks, the walnut stock will receive a daily meticulous oiling, which are repeatedly polished-off until the grain takes on a rich and lustrous glow, whilst all parts are polished and the final assembly regulated. The gun is fired for the first time at Purdey’s Shooting School, based in Royal Berkshire.

Stages Of Gunmaking

Founded in 1814, James Purdey & Sons, or simply Purdey, are renowned for bespoke sporting shotguns and rifles, and luxurious clothing and accessories.

www.purdey.com

That’s just Purdey.


Westley Richard’s:

Stock Finishing at Westley Richards​

Unlike painted or sprayed-on surface finishes, a traditional oil finish on a best gun or rifle from Westley Richards is applied by hand and given time to air-cure before being hand-buffed. This way the finish lives ‘in’ the wood, rather than ‘on’ it.

The oil-finishing process takes several weeks to complete. Each walnut blank behaves differently and varies in the amount of oil it absorbs and the time it takes to dry.

Film Shorts - Stocking & Stock Finishing at Westley Richards / The Explora - Premier Online Field Sports & Gun Journal

Not an easy task with the equipment and new knowledge required. However, with a background in moving image and the photographic departme

www.westleyrichards.com

lol at the big gun makers spraying your $10,000 stock with lacquer. Just stop before your information causes someone to fuck up their stock.

 

[n2ishun]

Well of course.
Wood can only be destroyed by coating it with a material designed to coat......wood.

How silly of me to think otherwise, eh ?

 

[FredHammer]

I'll tell ya'll something. A thin coat of 100% tung oil allowed to bake in 70-75F direct sunlight will cure to a beautiful and hard shell in a couple hours.

 

[Haney]

If you think you can get a good finish with true oil, you've never seen a good finish.

Here's a tip....
Purdey, Westley Richards, Holland & Holland (etc) all use Nitro Cellulose finishes.
If you want nice, don't go to Home Depot for the materials.

 

[Bigfatcock]

Well of course.
Wood can only be destroyed by coating it with a material designed to coat......wood.

How silly of me to think otherwise, eh ?

Nobody said the wood would be destroyed.

You posted 100% false information concerning what finish was used by some of the best makers on earth as if it was the gospel truth.

Lol when your DEET or cleaning solvents eat your lacquer.

 

[n2ishun]

Did I ?

You went to alot of trouble to post up what amounts to nothing.

Oh, that's wrong is it ?
What does all that fluff you posted say they use ?
Oil, right ?
What kind ? Some proprietary unicorn fluffer oil ?
Extinct whale oil ?
Used motor oil ?
What exactly ?

Nitrocellulose is EXACTLY this...
C6H8O9N2

Figure shit out on your own from there.

BTW, seems like it makes a helluva wood finish to me, dunnit ?

 

[Bigfatcock]

Did I ?

You went to alot of trouble to post up what amounts to nothing.

Oh, that's wrong is it ?
What does all that fluff you posted say they use ?
Oil, right ?
What kind ? Some proprietary unicorn fluffer oil ?
Extinct whale oil ?
Used motor oil ?
What exactly ?

Nitrocellulose is EXACTLY this...
C6H8O9N2

Figure shit out on your own from there.

BTW, seems like it makes a helluva wood finish to me, dunnit ?

View attachment 8250662

I can see the craftsman lovingly hand rubbing nitro lacquer into the stocks. Oh, wait, they don’t because it’s impossible because lacquer is nitrocellulose in a solvent that flashes off quickly.

Yes, lacquer makes a beautiful finish and is great for guitars and furniture. Not so much for your firearm that you’re lugging around the woods while covered in bug repellent, and then spill some gun solvent on. At least current lacquer doesn’t crack over time like the old stuff did.

You were wrong on your original post, poorly deflected on your second post, and are more wrong on this post.