Not milsurp resto per se, but I thought this could be of interest

[louthepou]

Hi everyone, I'm posting this here, simply because this may be of interest to a few of us when it comes to fabricating a wood piece that can't be found used anywhere.

I recently got a Henry Survival Rifle, and although it's light as a feather, the length of pull is way too long for my 8 year old son. So, what is the logical solution? Fabricate a shorter stock.

I started with 3/4" plywood. I cut out the general rough shape I wanted, then glued the two sides together.



Using the outline of the receiver as a guide, I started drilling the socket for the receiver.




I used a dremel and chisels to finish the socket, until the receiver was snug in it.

Next step was a bit of an unexpected and challenging one. The receiver, in the original stock, is offset to the right. The stock bolt is centered where it goes in in the bottom of the stock. This means that it goes in at an angle, and the treaded hole that receives that bolt in the receiver is also at an angle. So I had to make sure I had the same angle for my stock bolt hole, and that it would be offset just the right amount. I took my time, it turned out ok.




I cut "lightening holes" in the stock. Also, I wanted this stock to have an "adjustable length of pull", because, well, I'm taller than my 8 year old son, so there's a removable chunk at the rear. Then came the sanding. This project was a great excuse to get a stationary belt / disc sander Lots of sanding, and the shape was getting nice.



After that, some staining, and finishing it with a spray-on, satin-finish acrylic stuff.




Far from perfect when looking at it up close, but it should do the job. Plus my son's reaction was (loosely translated from French): "Wow dad, it now looks, like, kind of, cool and, you know, cool!"

So I'm happy with the result

Lou

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[bigduke6]

Looks good Lou,

I seen a survival rifle on sunday at an arms fair, it was deactivated, whilst having a look and talking to the guy, he said the whole thing when its stripped and all inside the butt was designed to float? How true it it is i dont know. anyone ever heard of this?

[jmoore]

Quite true- They float!

Better when the rifle is assembled than stored, though.

Look up old "Charter Arms AR-7" adverts. (Originally an Armalite design.)

The barrel is a thin steel tube surrounded by aluminum, or in the newer versions, plastic, so it's even lighter than it looks.


Lou- Have you considered going "modern" and doing the stock in fiberglas resin? It's actually easy, if messy (for me at least). You could do a mold of your custom stock- won't hurt it if you're careful.