GPR restocking question

[ravenousfishing]

I've been wanting to restock one of my GPRs with a curly maple stock for quite some time but have been worried that I might not be up to the task. While sitting in a tree the other day, I noticed a couple small cracks originating at the rear of the lock, so I guess I may as well give it a try. As expected, I have several questions before jumping into this project.

Have any of you had any experience with Tiger Hunt Gunstocks out of Beavertail Pa? They seem to be the only place I can find that offers a replacement blank for the GPR. I am not expecting a 100% drop in stock, just looking for one that has the basic inlaying done and in the correct location. TOW has a full stock, but not a half stock.

Can you point me in the right direction to any books or videos I should obtain before attempting this?

 Thanks

 

[Phil Coffins]

That’s a tough question, most of what I have read about pre-carved stocks and what I have experienced is they are a manure shoot. If one part is out of place then you must be skilled enough to deal with adjusting for that. On the other hand working from a blank looks very intimating. It really isn’t. You can get a blank that has the barrel and ram rod cuts made then inlet the rest to match your needs. Many details have been addressed on this site to help you make a stock that not only is good but some thing to be proud of.

 

[hawkenhunter50]

Recreating the American Longrifle
Gunsmith of Grenville County
Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle

All good books on building. Show layout of the stock, tips for inletting, etc.

Bill Raby on here has good videos of building on Rumble.

 

[NRFord]

Tried Pecatonica River??

 

[ravenousfishing]

I called Pecatonica a few years back. Evidently they make many of the stocks for TOW, but not the GPR fullstock and they didn't offer a GPR stock at the time. Might be worth a call to see if that changed since then.

Thanks for the reading list hawkenhunter. I had seen them all mentioned on here before but I couldn't remember the titles.

 

[NRFord]

Knob Mountain

 

[longcruise]

Just shooting from the hip here, but I wonder if that full stock could be made into a half stock?

 

[TNTraveler]

Just shooting from the hip here, but I wonder if that full stock could be made into a half stock?

problem is full stocks are waaaaay more expensive than a half stock

 

[58 Caliber]

I bought a TC Hawken replacement stock from Tiger Hunt. Beautiful stock and inletting was very good. Did not take much work to convert.

 

[longcruise]

Ok, how about this. Get a stock from Pecatonica for a tc without the lock, trigger and tg inletting and fit the gpr parts to it. ???

 

[ravenousfishing]

I'm going to start with a couple of the books mentioned here and then see where my thoughts are. Problem is, I have plenty of free time during the Fall and Winter, but zero time from Spring through early Fall. I like the configuration of the GPR stock and was hoping to cut down on some of the build time with a somewhat precarved version of the same.

 

[Sean E Bug]

tiger hunt is good to work with. I have gotten several blanks from them. you can build a replacement from a blank because you have your stock top measure and copy from.

 

[billraby]

Starting from a blank is easier than starting with a pre carved stock.

 

[Kabulrocks]

Thanks for asking this question as I have been looking into the same subject. My first GPR has a large amount of sapwood in it, so my reasons are purely cosmetic.
Forum member @frankie is a pro stockmaker (guild member) that was interested in a similar project a year or so ago.

 

[longcruise]

Yeah, my GPR is over 40 years old now and has see plenty of hardships. Repaired cracks, etc. Lokkin at the Pecatonica "Hawken" half stock it should be a pretty easy swap.

Hawken Halfstock Rifle, Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply

Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply, Superb Crafstmanship

www.longrifles-pr.com

 

[flashpoint]

I'm going to start with a couple of the books mentioned here and then see where my thoughts are. Problem is, I have plenty of free time during the Fall and Winter, but zero time from Spring through early Fall. I like the configuration of the GPR stock and was hoping to cut down on some of the build time with a somewhat precarved version of the same.

As a percussion guy, I know nothing about flintlocks, but I am an artist. so... is it possible to take off the hammer and securely tape a piece of tracing paper on the the gun and then carefully trace the outline of the lock plate area? Once you have the accurate tracing, tape it to a piece of thin, white poster board and then carefully it out so you wind up with a template you could send to them to see if it fits one of their stocks? Just a thought.

 

[longcruise]

As a percussion guy, I know nothing about flintlocks, but I am an artist. so... is it possible to take off the hammer and securely tape a piece of tracing paper on the the gun and then carefully trace the outline of the lock plate area? Once you have the accurate tracing, tape it to a piece of thin, white poster board and then carefully it out so you wind up with a template you could send to them to see if it fits one of their stocks? Just a thought.

I think any stock producer could and would say whether or not a given lock would fit their inletting. They probably answer that question regularly.

Another option for creating an identical template is to go on TOW and download their PDF of the lock and then manipulate a printout that matches the size. These printouts are very handy. One can print up all the parts one proposes to use in a project to create a full size plan. Very handy for determining the feasibility of a build.