102 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
February, 1918 
HELPING NEIGHBOR JONES RESTOCK HIS GUN 
WITH A FEW NECESSARY TOOLS AND MATERIALS, SUPPLEMENTED BY PATIENCE 
AND DEEP INTEREST, HE MADE THE OLD GUN BARREL AN ARM TO BE PROUD OF 
By HERVEY LOVELL 
W ERE I asked to do so, it would be 
impossible for me to decide, after 
a lifetime devotion to the rifle, 
whether I had derived more pleasure from 
shooting rifles, reading about rifles, or 
tinkering over them in my spare hours. 
I have felt the pride of replenishing the 
farm family larder with venison, and I 
know the calm content that goes with 
trudging homeward on a crisp fall even¬ 
ing with a companion whom you have de¬ 
feated at a turkey match. That pile of 
well thumbed Forest and Streams in the 
corner of my room has 
served me well for many 
hours,, and assisted me to 
reduce many a pipe full of 
tobacco to its lowest de¬ 
nomination, as dear old 
Nessmuk used to say; but 
as I sit here writing,' my 
eyes fall with lasting satis¬ 
faction on several weapons 
matches, and our admiration for the 
weapon was tempered only by the fact 
that the stock did not match up or class 
with the splendid action of the barrel. It 
was one of those stingy little affairs that 
has nothing to recommend it. It did not 
hang right, and there was no way you 
could make it come up to a natural way 
of shooting. It was a case of cramping 
your neck and wriggling your head into an 
unnatural position to get an alignment. 
For a long time we had been consider¬ 
ing re-stocking this old gun, and finally 
standing' in the rack, all cared for with a 
lover’s attention, and whose well polished 
stocks are of my handiwork. I am not a 
gunsmith or mechanic, and have only ordi¬ 
nary facility with tools, but such as I have 
has been developed almost entirely by tin¬ 
kering over my rifles. I have at various 
times stocked and then re-stocked them. 
I have altered blanks and drops, and shaped 
grips and moulded cheek pieces until now 
—when I settle my face against them, I 
can feel that they know me, for they are 
my own. I have worked upon the rifles 
of my friends, or rather, we have worked 
together on them, and have followed every 
step, from the careful discussion as to 
length and drop, to drawing the diagrams 
and selecting 
the materials. 
We have fitted 
wood into iron, 
and set each 
bolt and screw 
with a care 
that has grown 
with interest, 
evening after 
evening, with 
the fascination 
oi a new game, 
until the pol¬ 
ished surfaces 
reflected each 
shade of light 
as the result of 
our handicraft. 
I have progressed so far that I want to 
tell others how to do it. My neighbor 
Jones, with whom I had been shooting for 
years, owned as fine a shooting rifle barrel 
as I have ever seen, and it had a good re¬ 
liable lock and action. The barrel had 
been rifled by a workman who knew his 
business. It was the right weight, the right 
length, and finely sighted, and from breech 
to muzzle there was not a rough scratch 
or pit on its polished surface. I have seen 
this rifle repeatedly get away with the 
major share of the birds at the shooting 
got around 
to it. In an 
old issue of 
Forest and 
Stream we 
had seen an 
article about 
restock¬ 
ing Spring- 
fields, so 
Jones or- 
d e r e d the 
materials 
needed to 
construct' a 
stock and 
fittings to match, all ready to fit and cut: 
a block of English walnut at $3.00, cast 
brass Schutzen butt plate at $1.00. In 
course of time the postman left a parcel 
from the gunshop and a few hints on fit¬ 
ting a stock. Jones did not know anything 
about gun stocking, so I was called over to 
help. Together we marked the design upon 
the planed block. Looking over our two 
kits of tools, we found almost everything 
needed, except a checking tool. The in¬ 
structions sounded very simple and the cost 
of a nice rifle would be small compared to 
the pleasure of owning one. 
An evening of pleasant anticipation was 
spent in making rough diagrams of just 
how the grip was to be shaped, and the 
drop at heel, kind of polish and checking 
were discussed. Surely Jones would soon 
be free from the slavery of getting knocked 
about with the old stock in a long day’s 
shooting. The boys readily agreed to try 
their hand at sand-papering and Mrs. Jones 
offered to make a case of an old sheepskin 
thrown out in the woodshed. 
With the clear instructions before us 
putting on the stock was like a new and 
interesting game, gaining in 
fascination as the evenings 
passed, and each evening 
brought the work nearer 
completion. When the work 
was finally done, the whole 
family trooped outdoors to 
see Dad and the boys try 
a few shots. There was a 
great surprise when they 
saw the ease with which a 
ten ring could be punctured. 
All remarked at the ease of 
lining up the sights. The 
T ~ rifle seemed to almost point 
itself, and no skinned 
// ' cheeks resulted from the 
jar of 40 grains of black 
powder. Each succeeding 
Saturday shoot made Jones 
earnestly hope that more 
lovers of the rifle might see 
that article and make the 
family rifle a thing of 
beauty and efficiency, to be 
cherished by the sons till 
their eyes grew too dim for 
shooting. 
What it will cost you to 
as Jones did depends on your taste. 
A good type of stock to make 
Send to some reliable shop for parts ; many 
shops keep every part of the gun in stock. 
The development of the modern rifle 
stock has taken a very long time. The 
styles in use have not changed as often as 
Milady’s apparel, but yet “the world do 
move.” Our great-grandfather- had a rifle 
made up by the local smith, and the 
following specifications would have been 
sufficient: American maple stock full 
length of barrel, but of boy’s size and 
weight, man-size barrel 40" long; cheap 
soft iron lock and furniture, stock brass 
trimmed. The barrel was bored to a 
gauge of so many round balls to the pound 
same as a shotgun. How those puny little 
stocks held up such a heavy barrel is a 
mystery. The fact is, the soft Eon locks 
usually fell off first. Give me one of that 
type of arms made by one of our private 
barrel makers of to-day, bored 28 or 32 
caliber for greased bullet, and I care not 
how many Springfields and other repeat¬ 
ing rifles are showing up at the turkey 
shoots, I would get mine, barring acci¬ 
dents. The barrel would be good for 2/2" 
groups at 200 yards. 
We will suppose that you have pur¬ 
chased a block of good imported walnut, 
