Found a Tikka M55 - now 6BR

[Gnome]

Very nice work there Mr Bruce, looking forward to seeing the end results.

Will it be tagging along to the next missed-a-thon?

[B4408]

Had a bit of time in the shed which was a mixed bag of results. Trying to inlet the bottom metal and that spot had the gnarliest knot in the wood and a big chunk came out but did a work around after sitting and looking at it for a while. How many pieces can you have in a laminated stock

So it is now sitting on pillars glued in the stock, pull it out later.
A frustrating day but progress was made.

Gnome, if it works it will be a regular in my travels.

Bruce

[B4408]

Did a bit more this morning.
The action came out of the bedding. Always a good feeling when it releases.
Cleaned up the bedding, cut the bolt handle slot and behind the tang so the bolt would cycle. Now shootable.
Made a decision to keep a similar shape to me 20VT as it works for me. Was thinking of a thumbhole stock but decided not to. So pencilled some lines on the blank and used the circular saw to get rid of the big bits not needed.

shaping

Also use the belt sander to get some curves started.

belt sander

Dust catcher isn't working properly. The shed smells nice from the Rosewood.

orange dust

To hold the angled pieces in the vice I use a pivot block, simple and works well. Dowell screwed to a scrap piece of wood.

vice helper

Was planning on doing more but had a water leak and some fencing to fix. Did get some loading done, ready for a test fire tomorrow. 105gn Hornady HPBT to start with 28 to 30.8gn of 2208. Keeping the Lapua 105s for later. Hopefully weather will be friendly.

Bruce

[B4408]

Attacked the stock with the electric plane and belt sander this morning to give the butt and pistol grip a bit of shape so that I could shoot it. Put a Meopro 6-18 on it which has been reliable on my No1.
Well it went OK. Using 2208 and the 105gn Hornady BTHP in some used brass that was given to me with Fed primers in them. Had 4 @28.0gn then 3 of each at.5gn increases to 30.5 the a single 30.8 and 31.0gn to see what the pressure was like.
Used 2 of the 28gn to get on target at 50m then went back to 100m shooting off bags.

Well the first two shots at went well one big hole. Trouble is it could only get worse from then .
MOA squares on target, 100m.

first shots

So it went well except for the 30.0gn load. Strange that the bolt was tighter on them than the higher loads . Primers start to get pretty flat from 30.5 and started cratering around firing pin at 31.
This is early days and will do some more careful load prep once the stock is finished and ready to shoot. But I think it will shoot OK and I will need to learn a bit to get the most out of it. Keen to get it finished. Big fat forend makes it a lot more stable compared to my sporter rifles.

Bruce

[macca]

Attacked the stock with the electric plane and belt sander this morning to give the butt and pistol grip a bit of shape so that I could shoot it. Put a Meopro 6-18 on it which has been reliable on my No1.
Well it went OK. Using 2208 and the 105gn Hornady BTHP in some used brass that was given to me with Fed primers in them. Had 4 @28.0gn then 3 of each at.5gn increases to 30.5 the a single 30.8 and 31.0gn to see what the pressure was like.
Used 2 of the 28gn to get on target at 50m then went back to 100m shooting off bags.

Well the first two shots at went well one big hole. Trouble is it could only get worse from then .
MOA squares on target, 100m.
20190414_114804a.jpg
20190414_114812a.jpg
20190414_114820a.jpg

So it went well except for the 30.0gn load. Strange that the bolt was tighter on them than the higher loads . Primers start to get pretty flat from 30.5 and started cratering around firing pin at 31.
This is early days and will do some more careful load prep once the stock is finished and ready to shoot. But I think it will shoot OK and I will need to learn a bit to get the most out of it. Keen to get it finished. Big fat forend makes it a lot more stable compared to my sporter rifles.

Bruce

Last batch of 2208 I tried showed very similar.
Found a node at 28.3 and another at 30.3 with 105 Bergers.
Shape of your groups suggests that's close.
How close to the lands were you seating the Hornadys.
cheers

[Branxhunter]

Promising start there Bruce.

Marcus

[B4408]

Macca, Seating just off the lands. Will need to get a bit more precise down the track.

Have been getting stuck into removing wood over Easter. Have it 95% shaped and will get it finished tomorrow and hopefully sanded and the first coat of oil on tomorrow arvo.
Photo showing it after wiping with awet rag to show some colour. Will darken to a rich red/brown as the Rosewood ages and exposed to the air and sunlight.

95% finished shaping

Bruce

[Camel]

Am liking that one Ruce, rosewood is a lovely native timber.

[jacksaligari]

Yes very nice

[Rabbitz]

Very pretty.

Just a heads up regarding Rosewood and our very good friends at Customs.

I only know this due to the odd act of luthery I have been known to commit. Various species of rosewood are now listed under CITES and are either illegal to export or import or have restrictions. Most luthiers (stringed instrument makers) are looking for alternatives.

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodivers ... s/rosewood

Australian rosewood (Dysoxylum fraserianum) appears ok, but as a precaution I wouldn't use the phrase rosewood if import/export/international border crossing is something that stock might be considered for.

[MISSED]

Do you speed read Rabbitz ?

[Rabbitz]

Being a tech author I do a lot of skimming.

What did I miss this time?

[B4408]

Finished shaping and sanding down to 400 grit. First coat of tung oil rubbed in with 1200 wet and dry. Added the red mahogany forend and grip cap similar to original stock.

First coat tung oil

Rabbitz, Originally came from a neighbours property in the early 80's, aged in our kitchen cupboards for about 25 years then stored for the last 10 years.
It's recycled so it must be ok

Bruce

[Sako 22-250]

Looking sensational Bruce

Sent from my HTC 2PZC100 using Tapatalk

[Rabbitz]

So any chance if I drop off a couple of old cupboard doors you could knock up a stock for me?