On the bench...Henry's big one...
 

So Henry sent me this bench gun to fit and finish. This thing is HUGE! The action alone weighs in at a whopping 8 pounds! Barrel is 1.15" in diameter. As close as we can figure it's a .270 weatherby short magnum. It's a monster. Should be on the deck of a ship somewhere. Anyway here we go. First I had to fit the action to the semi inlet stock from Richard's " mightnot fit". I have done a couple of their stocks before and they have had problems like the action holes off center and the likes.

Here is the action the pics don't do it justice. I just got it back from the bluing tank as the barrel was almost white. The action is an Interarms mark X with this floor jack handle sized barrel fitted to it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745417.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745438.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745460.jpg


Inletting the wood for the action. A few hours with the a rasp and a dremel tool...surprisingly the inletting from Richard's was pretty accurate but tight so I had to open everything up a bit.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745529.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745562.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745615.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745642.jpg

once the inletting was done it was a tight fit but that is a good thing....lookin good here..

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745953.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745970.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394745989.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394746009.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394746030.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394746052.jpg

Now to take it apart again and start sanding..

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394746160.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394746181.jpg


Once the machine sanding is done the detail hand sanding begins and then about 3 coats of nitro sanding sealer......that is for this weekend. More then...

And so it begins......... I'm looking forward to watch this come together.

What kind of wood is that? Beautiful work.

1/16" Laminated Birch

Is it going to have a few coats of clear lacquer by any chance????? We get a few "bench rest open class" shooters and their guns now and then and they usually come to the range early in the week when it is not crowded and they will not get bombarded with questions! I am amazed at the $$$$$ that is spent on the forged aluminum rest, scope, spotting scope, etc and most are like me having a van or similar where everything fits in just right!

yessir this is getting a few coats of nitro then hand rubbed tru oil over that. Henry just emailed me that he wants me to dump all the sharp edges and corners. I agree it does kinda look like an aircraft carrier. Gotta soften it up a bit. Now where is my rasp? Do not be fooled by the grey appearance...trust me it ain't grey..you will see......

I love the "On The Bench" installments!

Continuity baby...;-)

Beautiful work there, David!

Looks great Amigo!

thanks guys it's been a while since I have done one of these threads. It has a ways to go yet.

Wow, and Wow.

Nice work.

Looking at the pics, I was trying to figure out how the barrel, any barrel, transfers its force to the stock, and had a quick question.
Please forgive my ignorance as I'm probably missing something here.

On top, it looks like the barrel has a short sleeve (at the firing chamber) held in a small divet, but there are also two large fillets at the rear of the action (next to the safety switch) which takes most of the total brunt force. The barrel is sandwiched to the trigger guard, by pins screwed together, which might also transfer a bit.

On the trigger guard assembly, it looks like it has a large flat section:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394768450.jpg

This doesn't seem to correspond with the stock:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394768504.jpg

Please forgive my nativity.
I was curious about the dynamics, and am probably missing something in the pictures.
That area might be completely unrelated to my question.

It's a fascinating process and thanks for sharing.

User reported to moderaters for SPAM posts

Me, too. Thanks for letting us share in this a bit. You as well, Henry.

The barrel is located by the mounting lugs fore and aft on the receiver.
I believe that there is a wide plate removed from the forward mount that provides most of the positioning.
The magazine housing plays no role in locating the barrel.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394809130.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394809142.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394809342.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394809569.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394809579.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394809750.jpg

AS I've mentioned previously: none of the weapons seen in these threads actually exist. They are computer generated images for entertainment only...........

Nice graphics from a true artist.
Sorry for the thread tangent. I'll delete my posts if requested.