Recently someone posted about building a kit, Traditions as a matter of fact. Another person asked if the op intended to keep the two piece stock or not. Do most kits with two piece full stocks come with the thin brass piece to fit between the two pieces? Why & how would one go about making two pieces into one? Would the two pieces come with enough extra length to eliminate the brass connector piece? Would it not be very hard to blend the two together with no visible joint? Seems like it would look better with the brass separator.
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Two piece full stocks
- Thread starter tom in nc
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I would splice a piece of wood between the forestock ends , and join them . A standard brass nose cap would correct the end of the forestock.
The Traditions kits come with the bass spacer. Most people leave it as is and use the spacer, try to blend it in with the wood via blackening or heavily tarnishing, or fashion a spacer out of similar wood and stain it as close as they can to match the wood. I've even seen some rawhide wraps over the joint simulating a "field repair" so to speak.
If the two piece stock is bothersome Traditions made a Shenandoah rifle kit that is a single piece, not sure if they're in production anymore.
I left mine bright and rub it with a dirty patch to tarnish it and don't think it detracts too much from the looks of the rifle. It's an inexpensive kit after all. No sense in trying to make it something it's not in my opinion. That being said they're great for learning assembly and finishing skills before moving on to a more expensive kit.
Here's mine:
If the two piece stock is bothersome Traditions made a Shenandoah rifle kit that is a single piece, not sure if they're in production anymore.
I left mine bright and rub it with a dirty patch to tarnish it and don't think it detracts too much from the looks of the rifle. It's an inexpensive kit after all. No sense in trying to make it something it's not in my opinion. That being said they're great for learning assembly and finishing skills before moving on to a more expensive kit.
Here's mine:
Banjoman
45 Cal.
I have a couple guns with two piece stocks. The two piece stocks never bothered me. It just is what it is.
Kind of like a 4 door sports car. Love it for what it is.
I have done a couple of Traditions Kentucky kits. I eliminated the brass spacer and glued the two pieces together with WeldWood epoxy. The two connecting pins can either be roughed up or replaced with sections cut from long screws. Either option seems adequate. For added rigidity, I reamed out the ramrod hole to inlet a brass plumbing fitting. If I recall correctly, I used 3/8 in. x 3/8 in. Barb Brass Splicer Fittings.
This should be done before fitting the nose cap and drilling the holes for the barrel pins. When I finished the stock I painted on stripes with brown boot dye. They looked a lot more subtle before the Tru-Oil finish. I'll try something different next time.
One other thing, don't be afraid to put the stock on a belt sander. There is a lot of excess wood up front. You can make yours much sleeker than the factory finished ones.
This should be done before fitting the nose cap and drilling the holes for the barrel pins. When I finished the stock I painted on stripes with brown boot dye. They looked a lot more subtle before the Tru-Oil finish. I'll try something different next time.
One other thing, don't be afraid to put the stock on a belt sander. There is a lot of excess wood up front. You can make yours much sleeker than the factory finished ones.
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Gtrubicon
45 Cal.
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That looks really good!
I did the same thing with mine ,except I used a 6" section of 1/2" aluminum tubing fitted into the the ramrod hole after slightly enlarging it. I believe you posted this on AR15.com back when I was building my kit and it gave me the idea. I seem to remember the pictures of you rifle and you explain how you did it.
Sam squanch
62 Cal.
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I have seen a few examples of old guns with two piece stocks.
Yes, I did. And I think I got the idea from this site several years ago. It's good to pass the knowledge around. Can you post a picture of your rifle?
I have used the same method with an old CVA Kentucky and a miroku sears Kentucky with very good results. On both I cut an end grain spacer, so as to have the grain the same as the pieces and used marine epoxy which I have on hand. I used light brown leather dye as a stain on the Sears gun. You are 100% on target with the thinning of the fore part.
The answer is: you don't. Two piece stocks are a way (bad way) to make an El Cheapo so-called 'kentucky long rifle' for entry level ml'ers. The result is never pleasing. As one said, :it is what it is".
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I assume they made 2 piece stocks in order to keep the shipping boxes short.
I had to plug and redrill my pins because they missed it by a lot.
That brass spacer drove me so nuts I eventually carved a curly maple plank for it. One piece of course.
I had to plug and redrill my pins because they missed it by a lot.
That brass spacer drove me so nuts I eventually carved a curly maple plank for it. One piece of course.
Not the best picture, taken with my potato camera, but here it is. I went for the "poor boy" or trade rifle look and really liked how it turned out. Browned barrel and browned/ blackened the brass with cold blue, and finished stock with a few coats of BLO rubbed in after a coat of BC walnut stain.
I have never see a two piece stock that the pieces matched the grain pattern close enough to even begin to try to make the joint invisible. which to me is the only reason for trying to hide the joint in my humble opinion
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See comments in "A cheaper way" thread.
The 2-piece are a challenge, they should be priced cheap to encourage new blood in the hobby. Not every kid can plunk down $1000+ for a kit. So I encourage all you guys with out-grown CVAs to sell them cheap to newcomers, but don't just dump them and walk away. You are not "losing money", you may be "gaining a shooting buddy."
The challenge is to give them an affordable step in the process, but encourage them to tweak it into something that looks better.
Back in the 70s we buckskinners had a name for this creatively "experienced" look. We called it "uglification."
The 2-piece are a challenge, they should be priced cheap to encourage new blood in the hobby. Not every kid can plunk down $1000+ for a kit. So I encourage all you guys with out-grown CVAs to sell them cheap to newcomers, but don't just dump them and walk away. You are not "losing money", you may be "gaining a shooting buddy."
The challenge is to give them an affordable step in the process, but encourage them to tweak it into something that looks better.
Back in the 70s we buckskinners had a name for this creatively "experienced" look. We called it "uglification."
The two-piece stocks were toto get more economical use of their wood. Short pieces of wood are cheaper than long pieces.
yellowhammer
40 Cal
I have a Kentucky and a Shenandoah:
Both are very accurate and reliable caplock rifles. I'm ok with the spacer and enjoy the little gun as-is, but I've seen nice versions where it was eliminated. Understand there is a hierarchy in this hobby - people in here require you to own other high $$$ "haute couture" muzzleloaders for street cred. I would ignore that for now; I think you'll enjoy the KY; have fun & mod it like you want to.
Both are very accurate and reliable caplock rifles. I'm ok with the spacer and enjoy the little gun as-is, but I've seen nice versions where it was eliminated. Understand there is a hierarchy in this hobby - people in here require you to own other high $$$ "haute couture" muzzleloaders for street cred. I would ignore that for now; I think you'll enjoy the KY; have fun & mod it like you want to.
The brass spacer was discarded and a home made wood spacer was glued in. I used Fieblings brown leather dye for the wood stain and Tung oil on top of that. I aged the brass with brass black.
