A few months back, I posted my model 8 and asked for some help in identification. The kind patrons on these forums helped me grade my gun. As stated in the title, it's a grade 5 model 8 in .35 rem. When I inherited this gun, it the wood was in sad shape. A poor stock repair had been done years earlier. My father wanted to hunt with this rifle this fall. He'd hunted with it as a kid and wanted to take it out to the field again. After looking over the repair job, I didn't feel that the gun was safe to shoot. So, I priced out what it would cost to have the gun restocked. The numbers weren't that bad, but I couldn't find a local stock maker who would do it with my wood. They all wanted me to buy wood from them, which put the price tag a bit out of my reach. After looking at the old stock, I figured I'd give it a go of making a new stock myself. This is my first attempt at carving a stock. There are mistakes. There are blemishes. There are obvious faults and probably poor technique to a collector's eye. And I shudder to think the faces that trained woodworkers are making as they look at this. But, being a layman, I'm happy with the results. I know it's safe to shoot and my dad like's it even though he may be biased. I haven't checkered it yet as I'm in the process of teaching myself how to checker. I won't touch it with checkering until I feel I'm proficient enough at it to do the gun justice... which may be awhile.
Since I had such a positive response the first time, I thought I'd post these pictures for your enjoyment. Of course I still have the original butt-stock, fore end, and butt plate.
Before 1
Before 2
After 1
After 2
After 3
After 4
After 5
Engraving for those who missed my post several months back
looks great good job
