I installed the GrovTech flush cups for QD sling swivels to the left side of the stock. Ideally, I would have used a ½” bit and bought the special 9/16” tap that’s required. My choice was to drill 5/8” holes and secure the flush cups with epoxy. I’m not real proud of my work with those, so I’m not going to go into further detail or post close-up pics. Time will tell if my install method holds.
Next up, I filled in the voids and other small imperfections with Bondo. I thought about using an epoxy, such as Devcon or Marine Tex, but I decided to go with the Bondo. I’m not sure if it’ll hold up quite as well as the other options, but it was less expensive and stated similar properties. The front portion of the stock was covered on all three sides, allowed to cure for 24 hours, and then given an initial sanding with 100 grit paper.
I also applied filler to the cut made for the raised cheek piece.
The goal with the filler here, in addition to filling in the tiny air bubbles, is to “hide” the recessed stop collars. When I originally installed them, I wanted to set them down into the stock slightly for two reasons. One, to ensure that the collars were firmly secured with the additional epoxy to their top surface and two, allow the set screw access holes to be further away from the cut line. In the above pic you can see that I placed a couple pieces of 3/8” rod into the collars to keep filler out of the holes. They were coated with Pam cooking spray, which served as a release agent. They popped free and slid out easily once the filler was cured. With the filler sanded and the holes contoured slightly, I was able to get a nice finished product.
While originally looking at ideas for the raised cheek piece, I found this post that went one step further.
http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...tall-pic-heavy
Instead of leaving the stock and riser as is (i.e. having the saw kerf spacing as a gap between the stock and cheek piece) the author added filler in between the cheek piece and stock to fill the original saw kerf. He applied filler to the stock or the cheek piece, and a release agent to the opposite surface. Then, he set it all back in place and allowed the filler to cure. The result was an almost seamless fit when the cheek piece was lowered. I’m not particularly concerned with that much attention to detail and don’t plan to ever shoot the gun with the cheek piece in its original position again. I felt this added step was a nice finishing touch but just beyond what I wanted to do.
Once all of the filler was cured and finish sanded, I moved onto texturing the “graspable” areas of the stock. I used blue painters tape to mask off the forearm and grip. I then drew on the tape, outlining the areas I wanted to texture. The grip proved to be the most tedious as it wasn’t a flat surface and all of the drawing I did was freehand. I followed up by cutting along my lines and removing the tape to expose the areas to receive the texturing.
I mixed up one of the smaller kits of Marine Tex and slathered it on the stock.
Using my gloved finger, I began to pull up on the texture to make small points and ridges. I then carefully peeled up the tape to reveal a nicely bordered area of texture.
When researching the texturing process, one poster said to wet a finger and smooth out the transition area between the texture and stock while the Marine Tex was still soft. Most folks then let the Marine Tex dry overnight and then sand or file it down to their liking the following day (to make it less aggressive). I questioned why the wet finger technique wouldn’t work with knocking down the texture as it was working really well to smooth out the transition. I spent about five minutes wetting my finger and rubbing it lightly over the Marine Tex which was, at that time, about three hours old. I thought the result was outstanding. Plus, there was no obnoxious dust to try and get out of those nooks and crannies
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