DIY Sassafras Laminated Wood Stock

[cbuck516]

Original stock from ~1954

I own a 1944 Mauser 98 that has been in our family since 1954. It had been sporter-ized and rebarreled as a 24” 270Win in the early 50’s sometime and was gifted to my wife’s great grandfather around 1954.

This M98 has internal magazine restrictions at 3.22” which didn’t end up working out well with the modern projectiles I have been trying to use in it which often have jam at 3.3-3.5” depending on the projectile. Additionally, this barrel seemed to be pretty picky, easily the most picky rifle that I own.

After successfully harvesting a cow elk in 2024 with the 270Win barrel, I decided it deserved a new barrel in a cartridge that wouldn’t have any COAL restrictions. After much deliberation, I settled on an 18” 308Win with 1:10” twist. I don’t own and have never even shot a 308Win, so it just seemed fitting to use somewhat of an “old school” cartridge in this old Mauser M98 action.

I ended up getting a stainless prefit from McGowen which ended up headspacing perfectly without any machining required. I wasn’t sure what to expect given the mass production that this model had experienced through time. I am assuming I just got lucky.

After assembly and break in, I was surprised how much recoil and muzzle jump this rifle had, especially considering it weighed 11.5# fully loaded. It behaved similarly with the 270Win, but I expected as much from a more exciting cartridge. The first 100 rounds down that barrel (in the original stock seen above) were pretty unpleasant to shoot. That gun jumped so much I felt like I was starting to develop a flinch. I haven’t shot it recently, but the only other gun I have that jumps this much is my 300PRC. After struggling to figure out how to control this thing, I eventually convinced myself that the butt of the stock was too far below the centerline of the bore which was increasing how much the rifle jumped. I really wanted to use the original stock, but I decided it was time to build one that would suit my personal preferences.

I will continue my progress in the following posts, but it seems I may have to compress some of the images.

 

[cbuck516]

I had originally planned to build this new stock in walnut, like the original, but I started this build two days after Christmas and couldn’t get any of the local lumber mills to answer their phone. I did find a quarter sawn sassafras slab in my stash, and after surface planing, decided to build the stock using a 3-ply laminate with the most figured pieces facing outwards. I’ve never used sassafras with this much figure so I’m not 100% sure how it will turn out, but my plan is to favor a stock profile that allow me to highlight the figured plays without carving away into the middle ply.

 

[cbuck516]

I spent the first evening of the build selecting the lumber, milling the final stack up, then gluing it all together on a straight beam. None of these pieces were perfectly straight before gluing, but after lamination, they have remained impressively straight for the past few weeks.

Wood stocks do have some amount of reputation for possible movement in the field, but I am going into this with the hopes that the laminated build will be more stable that a solid wood build due to variety of grain orientations. That being said, all three of the plays I used were nearly perfectly quarter sawn, and very straight grain which is not typical for sassafras. Sassafras is incredibly lightweight and very flexible. It is my first choice for canoe paddles due to these properties and its moisture tolerance. I was curious is the springy character of the wood might also contribute some ammount of recoil reduction. I’m sure it would be minimal if any at all.

 

[HighUintas]

I absolutely love this idea.

What stock design are you planning for? Do you have a layout you can share?

I think I've seen 1 sassafras stock before. It was beautiful.

 

[cbuck516]

I absolutely love this idea.

What stock design are you planning for? Do you have a layout you can share?

I think I've seen 1 sassafras stock before. It was beautiful.

I built my kids a rifle last year with a 16.25” 6.5CM in a KRG Bravo chassis. I really enjoyed the ergonomics of that stock so I traced its outline and created a pattern from it. I first built a 7-ply laminate sassafras stock for my 300 PRC with this same template, but that one isn’t totally done yet. That new 308Win barrel jumped that project to the from of my queue

For this 308 project I’m starting with the template as a baseline and adjusting the bore to recoil pad alignment based on my desire to reduce muzzle jump.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

Love this. Following!

 

[cbuck516]

I used double sided tape to stick the template to the stock blank and began a series of passes with a plunge router to create the outline of the stock.

For the equipment I have, it requires a few different types of pattern bits and flush trim bits, but it’s a reasonably simple routing process. I leave all surfaces flat for as long as possible while I am still narrowing down the final profile and determining where exactly to set the action in the stock.

After rough outline, the stock is still very straight after a 24 hour rest. Sometimes wood will twist and bow as you remove material, but this grain being so straight limits that effect.

 

[HighUintas]

The bravo sounds like a great idea. I've considered doing that a few times with some maple, but the one Tikka action I started on a couple years ago still isn't done. I dislike the odd shapes on the bottom of that action.

 

[cbuck516]

The bravo sounds like a great idea. I've considered doing that a few times with some maple, but the one Tikka action I started on a couple years ago still isn't done. I dislike the odd shapes on the bottom of that action.

I have only built for Howa 1500 and Mauser M98 so far which are both flat bottom actions.
I’m sure the round bottom actions are a little more challenging.

 

[cbuck516]

With the rough outline completed, my next step is to determine where exactly I want the trigger reach set. In this case, I set it to 1.75” from the front face of the vertical grip. I use a set of digital calipers to make precise measurements of the action and begin planning and laying out the action screw holes. This is also the point where I begin the plan exactly how deep I want to set the action. The ultimate goal of for the bottom metal to be flush with the bottom of the stock blank.

I was targeting a 2” thick laminate which allows me plenty of material to make a nice wide grip. The fore end and butt of the rifle will be shaped further at a later stage, but for now they need to be left bulky and square.

With the centerline marked, I drill two slightly oversized holes where the action screws are located using a drill press and fence. The oversized holes will allow me some tolerance to adjust the exact center of the holes as well as allow for some bedding material between the wood and insert. If the hole is too tight, the thick epoxy just gets wiped off and there is insufficient adhesive inside the holes.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

Very cool! I hope that laminate works. I’ve been scheming something similar for my next project.

 

[Decker9]

Following along!

The pitch in your walnut stock, looks quite sharp. I would suspect it’s playing a big roll in your muzzle jump. Ime, and talking with many stock makers, 90 degrees to the bore is best unless wing shooting.

Keep atter!!

 

[cbuck516]

Following along!

The pitch in your walnut stock, looks quite sharp. I would suspect it’s playing a big roll in your muzzle jump. Ime, and talking with many stock makers, 90 degrees to the bore is best unless wing shooting.

Keep atter!!

That is a really good point and I hadn't really paid that much attention to the angle of the recoil pad itself. The old stock had the recoil pad so far below the bore that only very top corner of the pad contacted my shoulder when shooting prone. It was a little more reasonable when shooting from a seated position from a tripod, but still felt goofy to me. I just measured the old stock and it has the recoil pad mounted 5 degrees from square. My new stock is set right at square, 90 degrees WRT to the bore.

 

[Wapiti1]

A couple of suggestions from experience.

Reinforce the wrist/grip. Drill a 1/2-3/4" hole from the tang inlet diagonally through the wrist stopping short of going through the bottom of the grip. Epoxy a hardwood dowel, or length of all-thread in there and make sure the epoxy wets out all the way to the bottom of the hole and you get 100% fill. Hardwood is preferred, IMO. You can crimp grooves into the sides with a vice grips to allow air to vent as you drive it in. Hardwood also hides the easiest if it is wider than the tang inlet and can be worked just like the rest of the wood. All thread works too but needs a little more thought in placement.

Laminating the boards helps, but the grain flow through the wrist is still parallel to the bore and you have an unsupported section halfway down the grip. It will shear through the unsupported wrist. Many makers that use laminations add some glass cloth or carbon fiber in between the laminations to give it more stiffness and shear strength through the grip and action inlet.

I'd also look very hard at cross pinning the recoil lug if you aren't already planning to do that. Could be a traditional cross bolt, all thread epoxied in with caps or a hardwood dowel epoxied in with the ends exposed for a little contrast.

Sassafras has such open grain that I would reinforce any area that will see force parallel to the grain flow.

Jeremy

 

[cbuck516]

A couple of suggestions from experience.

Reinforce the wrist/grip. Drill a 1/2-3/4" hole from the tang inlet diagonally through the wrist stopping short of going through the bottom of the grip. Epoxy a hardwood dowel, or length of all-thread in there and make sure the epoxy wets out all the way to the bottom of the hole and you get 100% fill. Hardwood is preferred, IMO. You can crimp grooves into the sides with a vice grips to allow air to vent as you drive it in. Hardwood also hides the easiest if it is wider than the tang inlet and can be worked just like the rest of the wood. All thread works too but needs a little more thought in placement.

Laminating the boards helps, but the grain flow through the wrist is still parallel to the bore and you have an unsupported section halfway down the grip. It will shear through the unsupported wrist. Many makers that use laminations add some glass cloth or carbon fiber in between the laminations to give it more stiffness and shear strength through the grip and action inlet.

I'd also look very hard at cross pinning the recoil lug if you aren't already planning to do that. Could be a traditional cross bolt, all thread epoxied in with caps or a hardwood dowel epoxied in with the ends exposed for a little contrast.

Sassafras has such open grain that I would reinforce any area that will see force parallel to the grain flow.

Jeremy

Yeah, the wrist area definitely is a weak point. I didn’t realize this until after it was too late. I typically have used all thread to reinforce similar weak areas in sassafras canoe paddle handles and that has worked extremely well for me. The rifle is totally finished and assembled at this point so my plan is to add a threaded rod from the bottom of the grip angle up towards the tang, but not exiting the top side. Refinishing that small bottom area will be pretty easy. If it doesn’t work, no big deal, I have $10 in this stock and have no complaints about building another.

Do you have any pictures referencing the cross pining you recommend? My google search did not return very many results with images and I want to make sure I understand what you meant.

 

[Wapiti1]

These are all thread epoxied in and covered with ebony plugs. Top rifle is a 458 Lott, bottom 416 Rem.

Jeremy

 

[cbuck516]

View attachment 821924

These are all thread epoxied in and covered with ebony plugs. Top rifle is a 458 Lott, bottom 416 Rem.

Jeremy

Thank you. I may try to mill out the area behind the recoil lug and insert a crossbar that doesn't extend all the way to the outer surface of the stock. The original stock didn't have any cross pins and I never saw any evidence of stress damage to the wood, but my new stock is a totally different wood species and stock design.