Full stock pictures and progress

Thought I might start a new thread about the test stock I am building, because info on it is kinda buried in other threads.

After a few days discussion about this concept, I went to the Home Depot and picked up some thin plywood and wood glue. The idea was to try and build a laminated stock out of cheap material before I invest any real money into a chunk of nice wood.

I drew up a template and traced it onto the first sheet of plywood, and cut it out with a scroll saw. I then traced this piece onto the plywood and cut the rest of the plys.

I then started to glue the plys together, starting with the inner plys which just happened to be the same width as the lower rail of the Condor frame. These parts were cut so the upper edge mated to the bottom rail.

The outer plies upper edge was cut in a different shape on the top edge, so they would fit on the outside of the lower rail. I found this easier than trying to cut the slot into the finished stock, because I only own hand tools. If I had access to a mill, I might try to mill out the slot instead.

I then glued one side of the outside plys to the inner piece, and cut a few slots into the inner plys so I could glue in pillars for mounting the stock. I used some thick walled carbon tubes for the pillars, but aluminum would work fine.

These pictures show the pillars glued into the stock, but I stuck the pillars in the wood with clay and test mounted the stock first. This ensured the pillars would be lined up with the mounting holes before I glued them in.

Pillar closeup

Next I mounted the stock to the rifle, and glued the second outer plies to the stock. I filled all holes and the trigger cutout with modeling clay, and smeared a thin amount of clay into the seams so glue could not get into the gun. A good epoxy release agent would have worked better, but I found my supply had dried out and I was impatient.

I glued it this way to be sure the stock would fit tightly to the lower rail.

I waited a few days and then removed the stock. A few hours of roughing the shape out with a sander and dremel tool resulted in this.

Since this is plywood, rasp files and chisels do not seem to work very well and was really getting on my nerves. So I busted out the power tools.

Bottom view, showing mounting bolt locations.

Grip closeup, right side. Almost have the shape perfect for my hand.

Grip closeup, partial front view.

Grip the way I hold it. I have a lot of tendon damage in my right hand and cannot make a tight fist. Having the middle finger raised and open like this makes shooting comfortable. As you can see, the bottom finger groove is not used but the grip has been shaped to allow it.

Two friends of mine have tried this, and really liked the way it felt.

This is as far as I have gotten. I still have some shaping to go, sanding, staining and oiling to finish up.

Test shooting has been very positive. The only real mistake in my design was leaving the tank unsupported. I overlooked the fact the your cheek presses against the tank, and this will allow the tophat to move laterally ever so slightly. I found POI did change very slightly by varying cheek pressure on the tank.

If you look close at the first profile picture, you will see a small modification I made, a small curved saddle to cradle the end of the bottle near the buttpad. This keeps the bottle in the same position and POI does not change at all when I shoot.

Overall I am very happy with the way this has turned out. I will probably put some effort into smoothing this stock out and actually use it until I can afford some nice wood. It probably would look nicer if I skeletonized the buttstock portion, but for now…

Will get more pictures when I stain and oil it.

Hope this inspires some of you, this really wasnt as hard to do as I thought it was going to be.