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

Bill G.:

If you're willing to sacrifice your existing stock then, yes, it'd be easier to whack off the pistol grip, fit up a long-tang triggerguard, do any tang-bending needed and THEN fit and bondo-up the old stock as a template to send to the duplicators.

I think a straight grip Fox is about the most attractive gun imagineable. I've done a couple of them now and have had to bend the tangs very little but did need to mill a little bit of metal off the bottem-end of the lower tang where it follows the contour of the pistol grip. How much tang-bending you do will depend on how the geometry works out to get the finished look and dimensions you want.

BTW I've also used Wenigs and been very happy with their work.

Bill

KY, you are right on with Hughes' book. It has a lot of great information. I have a 16-ga. fox that I am working on that was inspired by bbman3's that has been posted here many times. I am nearly done with all of the metal work and I will have a custom stock done for that one by Doug Mann. It sounds like many have tried Wenig's and were satisfied. Someday I'll pst pictures of the completed jobs.
Thanks for all of the help.

Bill G.

Bill,
Doug Mann and Oscar went thru how to straighten/raise the frame tangs on a Fox for me a couple year back. Basically, the upper tang gets straightened from the line it projects from the frame at about the point where it comes off the hole for the toplever. You can straighten it by simply heating it with a propane or oxy-acet torch and squeezing it in some alum softjaws of a vise. Then the lower tang of the floorplate needs to be raised to keep the distance between the upper and lower tangs the same as orig to allow the orig screw to fit. This will raise the triggers and require a refit to the sears, if I recall correctly.

You don't need to raise/straighten the tangs to make a straight stocked Fox, but it'll look twice as good if you do. If you don't raise them, the upper tang has this curvature downward and it looks conflicting to the straight line formed by the bottom of the stock from butt to grip area. My Savage made SW already had higher tangs than my Philly guns and only required a little straightening of the top tang with no lower tang adjustment to get the right lines.

Doug had some pics that showed straightened tangs on his finished guns vs. some others that didn't. It's worth the work IMO.

Of course, once you're done with the tangs, the stock won't fit and you'll definitely have to do the Devcon bedding thing to make a pattern around the grip area. Use the Devcon in the inletting area because it's stronger and will hold up to the stylus of the pantograph and some shooting if you need to.

Bill,
This just came to my doorstep today. The Bondo and addition of the wood on the butt and comb is apparent in the pic. The blank didn't look anywhere near that nice before the machining. I'm thrilled with the way it came out, both the wood and the machining.

Chuck,

Thanks for posting your photos. I was following what was being described in this thread, but as it is said, a picture is worth a thousand words...your new stock has terrific pattern.

Duke

Chuck,

Very nice looking stock. Funny how a few get better when machined while too many get worse when worked. Fagen once did a very fancy stock for me, but could not grade it until it was turned. They said that English Walnut often went up or down in grade when turned more often than any other type of walnut. I guess they did not want to loose the chance to charge extra for a blank that turned out better than it looked like it was before machining.

I have one English blank that is what looks like a perfect exibition stock blank on both sides but gets very plain looking towards the center when viewed from the ends. Afraid it will become the plainest looking stock possible after machining unless it has some hidden beauty within. Your stock gives me hope.

Jon,
Honestly, I picked the most subtle, conservative blank I had for this gun, since it's a GH grade. I didn't want to over do the grade of wood on a low grade gun. The blank turned out much higher figure than I ever expected. I suppose I can live with it if I have to.

Chuck,

I can't wait for you to offer a price list with your posts. Thanks for the help. I hope mine turns out as good. I hope I can find a plain piece of wood that good also.

Bill G.

Chuck:

Yes, you should be thrilled, that's beautiful!

Thanks for the info and sharing the pictures, this is extremely helpful and exactly why this board is so interesting and informative.

Bill

Chuck, i sent you a PM. I want to buy some wood from you also! Bobby