Has anyone out there made their own stocks for airguns? I have done some research and I want to do it myself but I don't know where to get blanks or what kinds of woods would work besides just walnut. I want to experiment with trying apple wood. I have a way over grown apple tree that I want to cut down, and possibly use the wood to make an air rifle stock, is that a terrible idea?
Making Stocks?
- Thread starter FluckigM
- Start date
I make a lot of stocks and wrote up a detailed how-to article for the Pyramydair Blog. You may want to check it out, here is a link to Part 6 that has links to the other parts...
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/?s=diy+gun+stock&btnGo=
Hope it helps!
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/?s=diy+gun+stock&btnGo=
Hope it helps!
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Years ago, I figured I'd put metal fabrication aside and take on a fun woodworking project..
My dad is a carpenter, so, he has plenty of nice wood lying around..
I found some I liked, glued/clamped the pieces together to make a large enough 'chunk' to start with, then got to work.
Long story short, it really was a fun project, and I ended up with a nice custom stock for one of my old Ruger 10/22s.
I debated getting back into building them over the years.. Even getting a 'duplicator' and other tools to speed up the process,
and/or be able to do production runs..
Anyways, as I said.. It's Fun!
I went with hardwood.
I just looked up Apple tree / Apple wood, and that's also a hardwood - So, if using that, you should be good to go!
One last thing.. "Boyds Hardwood Gunstocks" makes some killer rifle stocks..
If you go here: https://www.boydsgunstocks.com/custom-search-results You'll see a bunch of 'blanks' that are available..
There are some really awesome options!
Hope that helps a bit.
Sam -
My dad is a carpenter, so, he has plenty of nice wood lying around..
I found some I liked, glued/clamped the pieces together to make a large enough 'chunk' to start with, then got to work.
Long story short, it really was a fun project, and I ended up with a nice custom stock for one of my old Ruger 10/22s.
I debated getting back into building them over the years.. Even getting a 'duplicator' and other tools to speed up the process,
and/or be able to do production runs..
Anyways, as I said.. It's Fun!
I went with hardwood.
I just looked up Apple tree / Apple wood, and that's also a hardwood - So, if using that, you should be good to go!
One last thing.. "Boyds Hardwood Gunstocks" makes some killer rifle stocks..
If you go here: https://www.boydsgunstocks.com/custom-search-results You'll see a bunch of 'blanks' that are available..
There are some really awesome options!
Hope that helps a bit.
Sam -
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Vana2,
Thank you for sharing the link to your article / build! That should be a Big Help to anyone that's curious about the process..
I just bookmarked it so that I can check it all out start to finish. I love build-logs / how-to's, and checking out what people create.
Your 'firewood' / 'camo' stock turned out Awesome! I really like what you did to achieve the look, and man.. Job Well Done.
When I did the one I mentioned above, Apparently I took the easy route.
I stacked multiple colors/shades of wood,
and the end result was 'horizontally striped' - sort of resembling a wooden cutting-block. It was neat! But nothing compared to yours..
Anyways..
Thanks again for sharing!
Sam -
Thank you for sharing the link to your article / build! That should be a Big Help to anyone that's curious about the process..
I just bookmarked it so that I can check it all out start to finish. I love build-logs / how-to's, and checking out what people create.
Your 'firewood' / 'camo' stock turned out Awesome! I really like what you did to achieve the look, and man.. Job Well Done.
When I did the one I mentioned above, Apparently I took the easy route.
I stacked multiple colors/shades of wood, and the end result was 'horizontally striped' - sort of resembling a wooden cutting-block. It was neat! But nothing compared to yours..
Anyways..
Thanks again for sharing!
Sam -
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Only thing is ,wood need to be dry before you do anything and can take a year or so for fresh cut wood to dry out depends on the size or species.
B
B
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@DirtyDovi
Glad that the article is of interest! It's geared to people that are new to woodworking who might want to make or modify a gunstock. The only power tool needed is a table saw, everything else can be done with basic hand tools. The article covers everything from design and layout to applying finishes so you should be good to go.
I recommend making a couple of stocks from construction lumber (spruce or fir) to get a feel for the process before moving onto hardwoods. I have made some real nice stocks from (rough) hardwood shipping skids so you might want to consider that as a source of material as well.
Apple would be good for a stock, as "B" mentioned in his post, the wood needs to be dried before being used. Green wood dries (naturally) at a rate of about 1 year per inch of thickness, there are ways to dry wood faster so you might want to research that. Be sure you coat the end grain of the log with a sealer (as soon as possible) to reduce checking.
"Perfect" straight grain and clear pieces of wood are hard to find, personally I prefer pieces with knots as I like the character they give the finished stock. You can make some really cool and exceptional stocks from gnarly old pieces of wood.
My current stock-project is for a butt, grip and hamster for my Impact made from a local wood called "buckthorn".
Good luck and have fun! Please post your stock when you are done.
Glad that the article is of interest! It's geared to people that are new to woodworking who might want to make or modify a gunstock. The only power tool needed is a table saw, everything else can be done with basic hand tools. The article covers everything from design and layout to applying finishes so you should be good to go.
I recommend making a couple of stocks from construction lumber (spruce or fir) to get a feel for the process before moving onto hardwoods. I have made some real nice stocks from (rough) hardwood shipping skids so you might want to consider that as a source of material as well.
Apple would be good for a stock, as "B" mentioned in his post, the wood needs to be dried before being used. Green wood dries (naturally) at a rate of about 1 year per inch of thickness, there are ways to dry wood faster so you might want to research that. Be sure you coat the end grain of the log with a sealer (as soon as possible) to reduce checking.
"Perfect" straight grain and clear pieces of wood are hard to find, personally I prefer pieces with knots as I like the character they give the finished stock. You can make some really cool and exceptional stocks from gnarly old pieces of wood.
My current stock-project is for a butt, grip and hamster for my Impact made from a local wood called "buckthorn".
Good luck and have fun! Please post your stock when you are done.
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https://youtu.be/A54xUpM8bUI
Check out this video, I think this is the first stock he made, I think he made three so far. I’ve seen them in person and they are really nice
Check out this video, I think this is the first stock he made, I think he made three so far. I’ve seen them in person and they are really nice
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G
Guest
Guest
You can go to https://www.cwp-usa.com/ for laminate. You can outlune a stock you like or freehand. 
The shape for this is based on a Gary Cane stock. The rest is/will be freehand. If you're going to do complicated shapes this tool help a great deal.
https://www.harborfreight.com/53-Amp-12-in-Heavy-Duty-Bandfile-Belt-Sander-62863.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/53-Amp-12-in-Heavy-Duty-Bandfile-Belt-Sander-62863.html
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First stock? go to home depot or lowes and get a CLEAN clear grained 2x6 or 2x8 (depending on your desired finished size..) and cut the stock out of that.
you'll learn a lot and not waste a decent blank. The second one will be better
you'll learn a lot and not waste a decent blank. The second one will be better
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No Oak for gunstocks please! Wood must be dry. If you can stay away from plain sliced instead get quarter sawn or radial sawn.
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Good idea, I'm planning on trying to make one myself first out of some cheaper wood, try experimenting but making it as good as I can, workable if possible, then taking note of everything I want to change, then do it for real. I might do some crazy fir wood or something for the first stock. Chances are it will look cool, but eventually warp or crack so I'll have to find one that is super dry. Either way in the end it can't be the real stock.
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You can actually make a real nice stock from fir or spruce. It won't be as dent resistant as a hardwood but it will be lighter and can have some very nice grain.
Check this blog series (6 parts) fo some suggestions... https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/?s=diy+gun+stock&btnGo=
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If you are near any saw mills , they often save pieces of hardwood that have exceptionally nice figuring .
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Its hard work, You can buy blanks from Boyds and others http://www.rifle-stocks.com/laminated_blanks.htm
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I have made a few stocks and needed an aggressive wood rasp to shape inside curves. When I tried with a conventional rasp it would dig in and lock up on wood or just slide over wood. So I rembered that I had bought some half round carbide rasp’s for tile from Lowe’s that they had severely discounted. These things devour wood. They cut in both directions.Do not clog and work awesome for rough shaping. The right tool makes wood working fun,
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Heck ya! I'll keep you guys posted, i'm way excited to start the stock project, and I will let yall know how it goes. I'll post some pictures, and hopefully it works well. I'm thinking of just trying some fir for the first attempt, taking two 2x8 or 2x10 cutting down one side on both boards, then gluing them together so it is thicker than 1 1/2 inches, then putting it together from there. It may have a seem down the center but it will be less likely to warp if I glue it right. But I'll keep yall informed!
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Hey Guys, I've been working on a stock in Fir. I'm just about done now, I will post pictures soon of the process.
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You and vana2 inspired me as well. Started with a glued together 2x6 as a practice piece. I'm a fair amount of the way there. Action fits and it's mostly roughed out at this point.
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So here it is! This is the Douglas fir stock I just finished. This one is basically a practice run for now, but it turned out pretty good, here is the process of me making it. This first picture is where I started to mill out the action or inside with a router. I glued down two 2x8 boards together. I clamped them as tight as I could, then let it dry two days. Once it was dry, I cut out the form enough to mill out the inside.
Then I sanded out the inside and made it as perfect as I could with the tools I had, I also used a piece of sand paper that I rubber cemented to a PVC pipe the same diameter of the air cylinder of the air gun I have.
Once that was done I sanded and grinded out the inside for about a day until I got the action to fit into the stock, I also had the stock roughly cut out at that point.
I was also pleasantly surprised to see how well the wood glue actually worked here. The two halves are virtually seamless. There were some areas where the wood warped a little, and I later filled it in with wood putty. As you can see it doesn't look too bad so far! I was mostly surprised that everything was working as well as it did up to this point, nothing major had really gone wrong.
Here is where I should've taken more pictures. I took the stock to a friend's house to use his equipment to sand down the stock and shape it. I had to use 40 grit sand paper on a hand sander, took a while but it really shaped pretty well. Here is before I sanded it finely. I also added the butt pad.
Once I had it sanded to where I wanted it, I went over it with Mineral spirits. The picture of stock that you see if after the mineral spirits was applied. After that I went down to Ace, found some wood stain conveniently entitled Gunstock, so I tested its color out on a piece of extra wood, and it looked good so I gave the stock one coat of it.
This was after I applied the stain and two layers of Tru-Oil. I did do one layer of Tru-Oil mixed with mineral spirits but it made the stain a little bubbly in some areas, so I then only treated with Tru-Oil. This is the stock finished.
This is everything pieced together. It actually looks really good with the grain I have going. Douglas fir makes some pretty stocks, however the wood is really easy to dent, so you have to choose what you'd rather have. The gun is a Hatsan Flash .22. It had the original synthetic stock on it which I thought was hideous. No hard feelings to Hatsan though, I was going for an accurate, adjustable, entry level PCP, and the Hatsan had good reviews. Looking forward to a new scope and an altaros regulator coming soon, so I can get it shooting good too.
Anyways, I was offered a piece of bird's-eye maple so hopefully I can get the good stock looking awesome! I will probably post pictures of that one too! Thank you guys for your help! It was a good project!
Matt
Then I sanded out the inside and made it as perfect as I could with the tools I had, I also used a piece of sand paper that I rubber cemented to a PVC pipe the same diameter of the air cylinder of the air gun I have.
Once that was done I sanded and grinded out the inside for about a day until I got the action to fit into the stock, I also had the stock roughly cut out at that point.
I was also pleasantly surprised to see how well the wood glue actually worked here. The two halves are virtually seamless. There were some areas where the wood warped a little, and I later filled it in with wood putty. As you can see it doesn't look too bad so far! I was mostly surprised that everything was working as well as it did up to this point, nothing major had really gone wrong.
Here is where I should've taken more pictures. I took the stock to a friend's house to use his equipment to sand down the stock and shape it. I had to use 40 grit sand paper on a hand sander, took a while but it really shaped pretty well. Here is before I sanded it finely. I also added the butt pad.
Once I had it sanded to where I wanted it, I went over it with Mineral spirits. The picture of stock that you see if after the mineral spirits was applied. After that I went down to Ace, found some wood stain conveniently entitled Gunstock, so I tested its color out on a piece of extra wood, and it looked good so I gave the stock one coat of it.
This was after I applied the stain and two layers of Tru-Oil. I did do one layer of Tru-Oil mixed with mineral spirits but it made the stain a little bubbly in some areas, so I then only treated with Tru-Oil. This is the stock finished.
This is everything pieced together. It actually looks really good with the grain I have going. Douglas fir makes some pretty stocks, however the wood is really easy to dent, so you have to choose what you'd rather have. The gun is a Hatsan Flash .22. It had the original synthetic stock on it which I thought was hideous. No hard feelings to Hatsan though, I was going for an accurate, adjustable, entry level PCP, and the Hatsan had good reviews. Looking forward to a new scope and an altaros regulator coming soon, so I can get it shooting good too.
Anyways, I was offered a piece of bird's-eye maple so hopefully I can get the good stock looking awesome! I will probably post pictures of that one too! Thank you guys for your help! It was a good project!
Matt
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