https://thegreatmodel8.net/

Hey all,

So I recently got my hands on a 1949-dated .300 Sav Model 81. I like to tinker with things and have a tendency to look at things through the lens of "what it can be. So this one is a bit of a project, but still perfectly serviceable as-is.



Anyway, this one has a bit of a chip out of the tang area and I'd like to mount swing swivels, so I see this as an opportunity to carve a new buttstock and forend for it. I have a couple questions;

First of all, what's the deal with the little forend escutcheon that holds the screw? Is this a part that can just be removed from the old forend and fitted to the new one, or am I into finding weird NOS parts... or making my own?




Here's the big sliver that's come out of the tang. I noticed a weird gap, or depression where the tang meets the comb of the stock... is this intentional on the '81s, and from the factory, or is this damage to the stock? I hope it's intentional, the stock is numbers matching to the action and barrel.





Thanks in advance, any advice would be helpful!

As an aside, these are the blanks I'm thinking of using. Sort of going for a faux 81-B or 81-C kind of look in the end. There is quite a bit of sapwood in my two Turkish blanks but I do have a giant slab of straight-grained American black walnut as a fallback. Part of why I'm doing this is to get a recoil pad (both to protect my shoulder, as .300 Sav and a steel buttplate is a bit brutal - and to marginally extend the length of pull) and to get sling swivels without "ruining" the factory stock.

Good looking blanks! The factory stock looks pretty good too. That sliver isn't a detractor in my eyes.

The indentation* you're talking about isn't uncommon to see. A couple of mine look just like it.

Personally I'd leave the escutcheon in the factory forearm and try to make another. That part doesn't come available too often, likely faster if you can maage a way of making one.

Shooting the 300 Sav and 35 Rem from the bench can be punishing if you're too low. I always try and position myself so my body can move with the recoil, opposed to my shoulder eating it.hah

Limbsaver makes a huge difference with shoulder. I even use it with 7mm & 300WM. Keep 2 in the range bag, different sizes.
Had 2 stocks with the same chip, replaced one, glued the second back. Takes a very sharp eye to notice the glue line. Scape to blend the wood, sand very little, stain with Formbys rosewood, patch finish with 'trueoil. Nearly invisible....

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I think for now I'm going to cut a splinter of walnut off one of my other blanks and fit it to the tang area there, just for my own sanity's sake. And then probably gently refinish the stock, hoping to keep some of the scratches and dents.

It seems the escutcheon is essentially just a smooth brass tube with some knurling on the outside to grip it inside the hole in the forearm - very similar to what I've been working with for guitar bridge bushings (and I have a few spare!), so that seems like no problem to replicate at home when/if I get around to building new stocks for it.

I hope to be the last owner of this thing, so resale/collector's value isn't super important to me. Yet.

I'll 'double second' the use of the Limbsaver slip on pads. Won't destroy the original stock, look decent, and probably the best recoil pad I've ever used. Use them also on my fleet of MILSPEC rifles of various calibers. Make real pussy cats outa some of those hammering calibers. I have several of them.

I, too have a stock and forearm on an old gun that one day will have to be replaced from lots of use and water damage, warping, and splitting. I found this link below that might interest a few of you.
Looks like a fun project! can't wait to see the finished result. I alos have a guide on site with refinishing my Model 8 stock and forearm. Old Larry Potterfield's methods.

https://www.gunstocksinc.com/web_pages/ ... Stocks.htm