New stock and forend for a double barrel shotgun

[REB1136]

I am looking for someone who can make me a new stock and forend for a double barrel shotgun.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Have you looked at this website?
http://www.gun-parts.com/doublestocks/

 

[Red Leg]

Having a new stock made is like buying a car - you can pay a little or as much as you can imagine. You need to tell us what we are looking at, but the bolsters and reinforced water table looks maybe German or Belgian? Some JP Sauers were built with that type action as were a lot of guild guns coming off the continent (and some cheap Spanish boxlocks.) If that is true, you are looking at a $450 - $750 gun depending upon the quality of the barrels. The worn screw slot at the joint tells me someone has been inside of it with an improper tool. Assuming it is a Continental gun, having a stock built from a blank to fit this gun would be expensive. Depending on the quality of the blank, anywhere from $1800 to the sky is the limit. You could easily sink well over two grand into it and still have a $900 dollar gun coming out the other end. If the gun is what I assume it is, no one will have a spare stock that will simply fit it like a mass production gun.

Unless this stock is badly broken in some way that I can't see, I would have it restored. A good stock man would refinish, get rid of the stains, refresh the checkering, and give it a proper oil finish. You can get that done for under $500 - probably under $300. I have used Turnbull https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/product-category/the-showroom/custom-reproductions/ to restore the stocks of a couple of doubles, but he is at the expensive end for such services.

 

[rookhawk]

A stock and forend for a double gun will run you 1-3 years of wait time and $2500-$3500 in labor. The wood materials will cost from $300-$5000 in addition.

Alternatively, it appears there is nothing wrong with your current wood to my eye, other than its ugly. As @Red Leg said, a proper, professional strip of the horrible finish, a gentle pick up of the checkering, and a good grain fill, red alkanet root, and slacum finish of about 30-50 layers, along with a high quality recoil pad and any steaming, cast or drop adjustments would be south of $750. It would make a tremendous difference to the overall appearance of the gun.

I would never dream of undertaking option one for the costs involved on a gun of your quality when option 2 will provide excellent results for you.

 

[REB1136]

Ok thanks

 

[wesheltonj]

You might try Larry Del Grego and Son. He did my Parker, not sure if he will work on anything other then Parker’s. His work is excellent.

 

[Rob404]

Depending on the make, you might try Numerich, or as others have mentioned refinish the stock yourself

 

[ChrisG]

Sandpaper, true oil and a $50 checkering tool set. You can do it yourself.

 

[rookhawk]

Sandpaper, true oil and a $50 checkering tool set. You can do it yourself.

Agree with 90% of what @ChrisG said. TruOil is really shiny stuff because it has some solids in it that are less than "oil". It is easier to use, hardens faster, and creates that "Perazzi" mirror finish. It also lets you do a job in 4-10 coats whereas a real oil finish might take 20-50 coats. (and the word coat is a misnomer, is a drop on the palm of the hand rubbed in every day for two months. (Trivia: Purdey's technique took >90 days. A coat a day for a week. A coat a week for a month. A coat a month for 3 months.) It also is a very modern look ala Roy Weatherby gloss rifles. I've tried to use TruOil and then to knock down the gloss on the final polish a bit. After a couple weeks of shooting the shotgun it burnished to gloss again wherever my hand and thumb were located making it look a bit wonky on a gun made in 1896. (A Lancaster Sidelock Single Trigger 12 bore)

There are finish kits out there that include the red alkanet root stain (or use vinegar and iron shavings if you want the alternative), slacum, and proper grain filler. If you want to restore it, you want to reapply the traditional finish techniques that will give you the right look. It appears from the photos its a German trade gun like a Simpson, a Sauer, or some other guild gun. They would have used a more subtle, subdued oil finish originally.

 

[ChrisG]

Agree with 90% of what @ChrisG said. TruOil is really shiny stuff because it has some solids in it that are less than "oil". It is easier to use, hardens faster, and creates that "Perazzi" mirror finish. It also lets you do a job in 4-10 coats whereas a real oil finish might take 20-50 coats. (and the word coat is a misnomer, is a drop on the palm of the hand rubbed in every day for two months. (Trivia: Purdey's technique took >90 days. A coat a day for a week. A coat a week for a month. A coat a month for 3 months.) It also is a very modern look ala Roy Weatherby gloss rifles. I've tried to use TruOil and then to knock down the gloss on the final polish a bit. After a couple weeks of shooting the shotgun it burnished to gloss again wherever my hand and thumb were located making it look a bit wonky on a gun made in 1896. (A Lancaster Sidelock Single Trigger 12 bore)

There are finish kits out there that include the red alkanet root stain (or use vinegar and iron shavings if you want the alternative), slacum, and proper grain filler. If you want to restore it, you want to reapply the traditional finish techniques that will give you the right look. It appears from the photos its a German trade gun like a Simpson, a Sauer, or some other guild gun. They would have used a more subtle, subdued oil finish originally.

I will add a caveat to that. I have used Tru-Oil a couple times. I NEVER use it straight up. I always cut it at least 40% with Paint Thinner prior to use and then I use a wet sand method to apply it. Once the wood has been sanded to at least 400 grit (I prefer 600), Apply a thin coat of tru oil with the tip of your finger (prefereably with gloves on) and then sand it in with a piece of 600-800 grit wet/dry sand paper. I sand until no more liquid is present and it has become a sort of wood/thinned Tru-Oil slurry. Then I let it sit for 15 minutes, then I buff it off then let it sit overnight. It will take about 10-12 coats like this to properly fill in the grain. Then, I apply a coat, let it sit for 15 minutes, buff it off and let it sit overnight. No sanding after grain is filled, there is no need. I do about 4-5 coats like this with the thinned out Tru-Oil. Then I let it sit for 3-5 days to fully set. After it is fully cured, I polish it off in the direction of the grain with ultra fine buffing wheel polish applied to a cotton rag (you may have to melt the polish a bit to get it to adhere to the rag.) ONLY go in the direction of the grain if you don't want swirl marks to show up. Then apply a paste wax designed for furniture.

This produces what I call the "deep semi-gloss finish" as opposed to the sprayed on polyuethane "cheap semi-gloss finish". It is hard to describe, but the oil produces a very high quality looking finish and the factory polyuerethane always looks cheap. Here is an example of what it looks like:

This is my Ruger M77 MkII 6.5x55 after two years of use and you can see that the grain fill has dried and in places has sunk in a bit, but it still looks pretty good. And the great thing about Tru-Oil, or any oil finish for that matter is that you can always touch it up! there is no need to remove the old finish.

This is a 7600 forend I am working on currently with the same finish. you can see the start of checkering on it but the finish is brand new. You can go glossier if you want but he wanted it toned down as it is a hunting rifle.

 

[Rob404]

I use Tru Oil straight up let it dry for 24 hrs then use the Finest grain steel wool to smooth it out and repeat until I get the desired smoothies, protection and soft gloss I'm looking for