Richards Bench Rest Thumbhole Stock

Well after lots of reading and debating I ordered this stock back in April. The UPS man delivered it today. I knew going into it to expect lots of work sanding and shaping the way I wanted the stock (to me that is going to be half the fun). I opened the box and was actually surprised! Apparently the day they worked on my stock the drunken beaver was on vacation :very_drunk:. I still plan to take several measurements before I get started working on this. This shouldn't take more than a couple hours of finishing to get this where I want it (unless I change my mind on something). I have a few ideas to make this exactly how I want it. I'll get pictures up tonight or tomorrow and I'll keep them as I go along.

Post some pictures and show us how it turns out when youre done.

put up the pics from start to finish, i'd like to see how it transforms into a butterfly!! i haven't been blessed with steady hands so i try to stay away from such projects.

I thin mine down in the wrist area just in front of the thumbhole to make it easier to get to the trigger. Whatever you do will make it YOURS. Not like there isn't enough wood to work with!

The wood they use is not very strong so be pretty careful. I have bought 2 and broke 2. I broke 1 after I glass bedded it and was removing the action the other one broke while shooting under the insane pressure and recoil that my 204 made. Both broke at the wrist.

To reinforce the wrist, go to Lowes or Home Depot and purchase their longest drill bit in 5/16" diameter. They have 8 or 12 " bits.
Then from the inside of the stock (you can use a hand held drill) drill down into the center of the wrist being careful not to drill through the bottom of the stock.
Then cut a piece of 1/4" threaded rod to fit, put a lot of JB Weld in the hole, insert the threaded rod and let it all sit for 24 hours.

If you put wax (release agent) on the wood around the hole you drill and mask off the area, any JB weld that overflows the hole will come off easily.

Here are some pictures of how it look just out of the box
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...-27-01_574.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...-27-27_853.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...-27-10_288.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...-28-17_680.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...-28-04_490.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...-27-43_350.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nuclabuyer

The wood they use is not very strong so be pretty careful. I have bought 2 and broke 2. I broke 1 after I glass bedded it and was removing the action the other one broke while shooting under the insane pressure and recoil that my 204 made. Both broke at the wrist.

---

The laminates used by Richards, Boyds, and pretty much all laminate users is the same product from the same company: Rutland Plywood Corp.

i'm thinking that ought to finish up real nice when you get it coated, lots of colors. i like it!
keep us posted on the progress!

Take your time andthe enjoy the project! Looks way better to start with than mine did from there. One tip i can give is after you have sanded and sanded with finer grits of sandpaper, sand and sand somemore. I thought i had mine smooth as a babies you know what but the oil i used(truoil) shows off every little tool mark i thought i had removed. Have fun!

That is how I repaired them but I used 2 sizes of drill bits and actually made one side a touch smaller then the all thread and then chucked it into my drill and threaded the all thread into one side filled the other side with epoxy and then put a nut on the other side of the all thread to pull it all togther. The forearm started to split with the grain and by that time I had enough and tossed it in the dumpster.

I know alot of people have had good luck with them so hopefully yours holds up. For me they didn't but I can contribute some of that to bad luck. I bought a mcmillan so that I didnt have to worry about it any more.

Even a drunkin beaver needs a vacation.Looks good